Improving the view!

There isn't much you can do to improve the view off your balcony, but how about the view from inside the condo? Mine was pretty terrible- because my windows were pretty terrible! Living in Toronto, there is a certain layer of smog, which everyone seems to deny, but the proof is all over my balcony. Everything gets covered in a thin layer of dirt, and combined with wind and rain, this means my windows take a beating.

The lucky thing about my condo is that all windows are accessible from the balcony, so I can easily clean all my windows whenever the mood strikes. This used to be a huge, time-consuming task that resulted in the death of many rags and paper towel rolls. However this year I decided to up my game and buy a bucket and squeegee (couldn't store that before without my locker)!

I thought I would do a tutorial on how I get my windows sparkling clean. First, I fill my bucket with soap and water. I just use regular dish soap and hot water.

Make sure you don't leave it running so long that a bubble-monster appears! Yikes! Then carefully carry your bucket outside while praying that it doesn't tip or break in the condo.

Then, bring a radio out with you so you can dance like a fool while working.

Next, fold up your furniture and get it out of the way. Take a moment to stare in disgust at how dirty it is.

Then, dip your squeegee in your bucket and get to work! My squeegee is just a little one that I got from Canadian Tire. It isn't perfect, but it is much better than any method I tried before! Just soak the window with swipes of your squeegee sponge, then use the other side to clean it off

I will wash all my windows, even the fake ones (the building is designed to look like all glass. Some windows are false ones that don't look into the condo). I love to be able to look through my windows, but I also like having the balcony look spic and span, so I do everything- even the divider wall and the railing!

Oh, and in case you didn't believe me about how gross the windows can get- this is one of the "false" windows. Yuck!

You may find that your squeegee breaks- luckily this happened at the end of my cleaning job and it is repairable.

Next what I do is go over the "real" windows (the one I can see from inside the condo) with glass cleaner for a streak free shine! I am not a great squeegee-er so this is a critical step to making everything look pretty.

For this part, I spray all over the giant window and wipe it off using paper towel. The key is large circular motions and when your paper towel gets soaked, switch to a dry one to finish it off.

It is imperative that you take the time to get right into all the edges. This is the spot that is hardest to clean and will totally take away from all your hard work if some dirt is left there. So take a paper towel and wipe along the edge of all windows.

I even wipe down all the black edging out here- black shows dirt the WORST!

When it is all done, you will find your place flooded with more light and it will be more pleasant to look outside. This photo was taken THROUGH the glass. Heck ya!

All in all, it looks like a lot of work, but this honestly took me about 30 minutes! I realize it would be way more work for a house, since you would need a ladder, but it is totally worth it!