Top Drawer: Speed clean your kitchen

Real Simple magazine knows you're rushed for time most days, so the editors have come up with a 15-minute checklist for cleaning the kitchen.

Start by moving appliances off of the counters. This way you can make sure those crumbs hiding under the toaster get wiped away with other grime.

Clean countertops and the sink.

Spray disinfectant in the sink and let it soak. "Otherwise the product won't have time to kill all the bacteria and viruses you're trying to remove," says Janice Stewart, owner of Castle Keepers, a professional cleaning service in Charles, S.C.

Spritz the counters with disinfectant.

Scrub the sink with a sponge, rinse well and dry.

Return to the counters and wipe dry with a fresh cotton or microfiber cloth.

Sweep or dry-mop the floor. Make a pass with using an electrostatic mop (such as Swiffer) or cloth. This will pick up dirt and hair and make wet-mopping more efficient.

Clean the refrigerator handle. It takes only seconds to wipe down this bacteria-friendly spot with disinfectant.

If you have 30 minutes, wet-mop the floor. A few spritzes of an all-purpose cleaner and a damp microfiber mop will do the trick. "You can finish the kitchen floor in minutes - with no dirty water bucket," says speed-cleaning expert Laura Dellutri.

Chapel Hillian needs your vote

Chapel Hill resident Becky Broun was fed up with the slouch of a couch and striped chair occupying her living room. At a loss for what to do, she turned to the folks at www.dwell.com and made the case for why her family needs a room makeover. Her "Ode to a Slouchy Couch," chosen from hundreds of entries, is one of 20 finalists in the website's "Room for Improvement" contest. Here's where you can help the Brouns get the design makeover they so desperately need. From now until Aug. 25, you can go to www.tiny url.com/beckysroom to view Becky's entry and cast your vote for her room to get a $10,000 design makeover. We'll let you know if she wins. Good luck, Becky!

See Fuquay-Varina gardens

Fuquay-Varina will kick off its 11th annual Garden Tour next month with tours of 11 gardens. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 11 and 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 12, tour beauties such as the eclectic garden at the historic Fuquay Mineral Spring Inn bed and breakfast; a poolside hardscape at another site or an authentic Williamsburg Colonial home and garden.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $12 at The Garden Hut (1004 Old Honeycutt Road, Fuquay-Varina), the Mineral Spring Inn, or by calling 744-4274. Tickets the day of the tour cost $15 and can be purchased at any of the locations above or at the gardens themselves.

A reception for ticket holders will be held at The Garden Hut on Sept. 12 at 5:15 p.m. and will include a picnic supper, door prizes, a raffle and framed garden prints valued at $300 each. Raffle tickets can be bought in advance from The Garden Hut, Ashley's Art Gallery and Magnolia Art and Framing in Fuquay-Varina.

Make your windows sparkle

The ladies from the BBC America show "How Clean is Your House," Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie, have tackled some of the filthiest homes imaginable, using a horrifying yet hilarious combination of observation and what they know about the science of grime.

They say they have a sure-fire way to get sparkling windows:

Mix one part distilled clear vinegar to nine parts water in a spray bottle.

Spray the mixture sparingly onto the glass and either buff it dry using a paper towel

Or, using the traditional method, polish the window with scrunched-up newspaper. (The print on the paper adds to the shine, and it's cheap.) Wear gloves so the newspaper print doesn't get on your hands.

Wash very dirty windows using a bowl of warm water with a little dishwashing liquid. Wipe the soapy water over the window pane and dry with a clean lint-free cloth or chamois leather.

Take a free garden tous

Learn about North Carolina's native plants during free weekly tours at the N.C. Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill. Each Saturday at 10 a.m., the garden offers tours of the display gardens. Meet in the Pegg Exhibit Hall of the garden's Education Center for the tour. The garden also offers guided, behind-the-scene tours of its energy efficient education center once a month. One starts at 1:30 p.m. today, and the next one is Sept. 11. The gardens are at 100 Old Mason Farm Road. Visit www.ncbg.unc.edu or call 962-0522.