Sunday Set-up For a Great Week

How are you doing? Are you finalizing your plans for the upcoming week? Even if you are not planning on joining in Cleaning ALL the Things, Sunday is a great day to get things set up for a stellar week.

I spent yesterday getting the house tidied up, mopping floors, catching up the laundry. Today I didn't do too much. Ran a few errands. I decided this morning that I would like to make a big pot of veggie chili for my lunches this week. I tend to eat more mindfully if I have my breakfast and lunches planned/made ahead of time. Tonight when I am cleaning up supper I will make a pot of Bob's Red Mills Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. I like to divide it into 4 or 5 half-pint mason jars. It makes for a quick, healthy breakfast.

This evening I will also spend some time looking over my calendar (I use Cozi)  to remind myself of any important dates this week. I also have a few appointments that I need to make, and I will put those on the calendar (so that I don't forget to make them again this week).

My big plan for this week is to start actually working on crossing things off on my "Clean ALL the Things" lists. My idea is to work on it a bit each day. In order for this to happen there are certain things I would like to try to accomplish each day. I'm going to try to be very disciplined and start my daily chores (making beds, empty dishwasher, etc) as soon as I get the big kids up for school. That way I will have my dailies done before taking my youngest to his morning activities. The other thing I would like to do is consistently do my evening clean up. Making sure the kitchen is clean after supper, getting the kids to pick up their stuff, folding and putting away the laundry. Hopefully by doing that and waking up to a mostly cleaned up house, I can get through dailies quickly. That will leave my afternoons free to work on my Cleaning ALL the Things, and anything else that pops up.

One last thing I wanted to share with you today. Remember the other day in my post I told you about my friend K, who had the brilliant 13 week plan idea? She emailed me her lists and she said that I could share them with you.

Her lists are an edited version of my lists, so again there is nothing fancy about the lists but they are functional! She added some things on her lists that I do not have - she has a basement, wine cellar, and a couple other rooms; along with some jobs that I didn't think of putting on mine. I'm sure there will be some great ideas for you to add to your lists. Here are the lists from my very smart friend. I hope that you'll find them helpful. 

What are some things that you try to do in order to set yourself up for a great week?

Sunday Set-up For a Great Week

Getting Past My Brain

(Click picture for source)

 Have you decided to join in with the 2013 Cleaning Grand Plan Challenge or as I refer to it "The Clean ALL the Things" challenge? I was talking with a friend about this challenge (she is going to attempt to Clean ALL the Things!) and one thing she pointed out to me is if we make this a 13 week plan, then it will repeat 4 times a year.

I thought this was fabulous! I've tried many, many times to do the monthly zones (from Flylady) and I always get so burnt out. I feel like I'm on a cleaning merry-go-round and there is never any breathing room. Certainly I  know how to take a break, but I guess what happens is that it leads to me feeling like a failure.
I do realize that this is just my perception and logically I'm not a failure because I don't stick with zones. I mean, clearly it's not the end of the world because I didn't vacuum under the couch every month.

I've read a lot about our mind and I know that when we continually perceive that we are failing it can have a profound effect on being able to move forward. We get stuck. And getting unstuck is a challenge, especially if we are going to try the same method or it has too many similarities to something else we've done and "failed" in completing to our expectations.

What happens is this: our lower brain (reactive brain) kicks in first and then communicates with our middle brain (deliberative brain) - checking memories and comparing. Together they lock out the top brain (reflective brain). And with the lower and middle brain in control they say "whoa! we're not doing that again, we fail!"and that increases the odds that we will fail if we try again. Physiologically our body goes into the fight or flight response.

I am hoping to by-pass the lower brain response by trying a new method that is just different enough that my odds of succeeding should increase. I have a couple of ideas on this.

First idea is this: I could tweak my current schedule and make it a 13 week (4 times a year) routine. I hopefully won't feel like I am on a constant cleanathon. I will tell myself the same things I wanted you to remember from my previous post - "If something on the list doesn't get done, it's okay!" Whatever I am able to accomplish in each round, I will check off. If some weeks I am unable to check everything off, then I will start with those unchecked things on the next round.

Second idea is this: Keep my schedule the way it is and when I'm done, I'm done. Sounds great right? The house will be "spring-cleaned" (hopefully) and I can be done until the end of August when the Christmas Grand Plan starts up. I think the only down-fall to this plan is if I am not able to cross everything off on the list in this round, I won't be going back to finish up until August! By then it will be like starting completely over.

It looks like the first idea is the best idea. I think it will take a lot of pressure off myself (yes, it's pressure I put on myself). Ultimately I want to get my home clean and organized, but if I can't complete a list all in one week, is it going to get fed up and clean/organize it's self? Oh I wish! No, it'll be there in 3 months for me to finish. Big deal. Let it go. I will do the best I can and no more. No outlandish expectations. No running myself ragged. No not living life because I have to get the cleaning done.

I found this great article on positive thinking and I thought I would pass it along and share with everyone. I especially love the 10 beliefs create positive emotions, better performance, and much better results. I think I'll try something like this when I'm doing jobs I usually dread by saying  "I'm the kind of woman that cleans the refrigerator!" Yeah! Go me! haha

What are areas that you can recognize your primal sense of fear takes over and keeps you from moving forward? I would love to hear some techniques that you use to get unstuck.

Getting Past My Brain

Follow the Pins

Have you heard of Pinterest? It's a social networking site where people share photos of their favorite events, interests and hobbies. I think just about everyone has at least heard of it but maybe you're not using it yet; you just might be inspired to try it after you read this post.

I just created a Pinterest page for Home Organization 365! How exciting is that?!

If you are looking for an excuse to join up - now you've got one! Not that I'm promoting another time waster...well, okay maybe I am promoting it, but really it can be useful! A couple of the ways that I use Pinterest are:

1. I use it instead of bookmarks. I set it up basically the same way I would bookmarks- instead of folders I name my boards accordingly. This works really well for me for two reasons: One - I have a visual reminder of what it is. There is nothing worse than looking for something you know you bookmarked and having to go through 50 bookmarks to find it. Two - they will always be there. My computer can die and I will always have my pins. 


2. I am using it as an idea board in my organizational quest. I have created boards for each room in my home and when I see a decorating or organizing idea I put the pin on that board. Then as I organize and clean a room, I can go look at the board and see what I can incorporate from my "idea board".

There are many more ways you can use Pinterest (organizing recipes and crafts) too. If you're inspired to give Pinterest a try and you need an account, you can just go to this page; and log in via Facebook, Twitter, or with an email address.

If you're already a Pinterest user, I'd love it if you would follow me! You can click the link at the top of this post or use the follow me button on the right hand sidebar.

I only have a few people I am following and I would love to be able to follow you and see your ideas for cleaning and organizing too! Hope to see you there! 

Follow the Pins

Happy New Year, Now Clean ALL the Things!

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2 years since I have last posted here. I wish I could say that during those two years I have conquered my home organization and I have since been sitting pool side drinking cocktails. Yeah, that's not what happened. I've been working on organizing and cleaning...rinse and repeat. Of course I've been doing other things too; like living life and enjoying my family and friends too. And reading...lots of reading.

 Here it is 2013. A brand new year full of endless possibility.

What better time to 

(Click picture for source)

Just before (or maybe it was after) New Years, I saw a post on Facebook from OrganizedHome.com about their 2013 Cleaning Grand Plan Challenge. It's a 14 week plan (one week of organizing, 12 weeks of cleaning and a week at the end to finish up) to get the house cleaned up and organized for Spring. I saw the first week involved making lists. Well, that was enough to perk up my interest. I'm an avid list maker (it's the follow-through that is questionable).

I set to work yesterday making my lists for the challenge. It took awhile, but I am happy to report they are done and ready for printing. I'm going to share them with you. They are all in Word format, so after you download the list, you should be able to edit the list to work for you. I have no idea what your home looks like, how many rooms you have, etc. Just take what works for you, move things around, change the weeks around - basically whatever you want to do.  There is nothing fancy to these lists. I didn't want to get caught up in making them all pretty.

Most of all, I want you to know this one thing - If something on the list doesn't get done, it's okay! Repeat that to yourself as you open each list. Repeat it to yourself as you set to work on each list. Repeat that to yourself when it's time to move on to the next week. Just do what you can, as much you want to do, and the rest will still be there later.

Without further delay here are all of the lists I have created:

• Clean ALL the Things Week 1
• Clean ALL the Things Week 2
• Clean ALL the Things Week 3 and 4
• Clean ALL the Things Week 5
• Clean ALL the Things Week 6
• Clean ALL the Things Week 7
• Clean ALL the Things Week 8
• Clean ALL the Things Week 9
• Clean ALL the Things Week 10 and 11
• Clean ALL the Things Week 12

I hope that these lists will be helpful for you to either use as they are or to create your own version. The only thing I ask is if you download any or all of the lists, would you please leave a comment letting me know you too are going to "Clean ALL the Things" and if you like the lists.  Thanks!

Happy New Year, Now Clean ALL the Things!

Organize This, Organize That

"Getting organized is one of the top five New Year's resolutions people make."
~Standolyn Robertson, president of the National Association of Professional Organizers

Did you make a resolution to get organized this year? I think the majority of us make this resolution in one way or another. My resolution was to set up household routines and stick to them so that I can have more fun. Part of that will be getting things organized, so yeah, I made that resolution too. :) I can certainly understand why so many of us make these types of resolutions. The new year symbolizes a "fresh start." And our external environment is often a reflection of our internal environment - a cluttered home (or work space) reflects a cluttered mind.

Since January is National Get-Organized Month, I thought I would list some tips and tools for getting organized.

Lighten Up: Feng shui experts have found that well-lit areas tend to have less clutter. Look around your home and see if this is true for you. I know it is for me! If it's cloudy or dark in the house I feel like I can get by with doing less - I don't see the dust and mess as clear as I would if it were bright in the house. Add some brighter lamps, open up the curtains - let the sun shine in.

A Home for Loose Items: We all have these areas in our homes, they tend to be the hot spots - where we set all the little things that seem to float around the house (magazines, remotes, keys). Find a basket for each type of item so that it will have a home - other than the flat surface you are trying to keep clean.

Store items close to where they are used: Does your family play games in the living room? Set a nearby shelf or closet aside to store them. Do you craft? Think about setting up a crafting area near where you craft. Storing items close to where we use them increases the likely hood that they will be put away when we are finished with them.

Websites: There are a ton of organizational websites out there for your use. Here a  few that I use on a regular basis.

• Organized Home - Clean House, Cut Clutter, Get Organized at Home!
• Flylady - Creating routines, decluttering, cleaning by zones all 15 minutes at a time. Flylady's system is done using a Household Notebook. I personally love the notebook but I pick and choose what I use from the Flylady site. It doesn't all work for me.
• My Messy House - I use this for my Weekly House Blessing (Flylady term). Flylady has WHB on hour a week, that's impossible for me no matter how hard I try. So I use the My Messy House plan to do my WHB one room (lucky room of the day) per day (Monday - Friday).
• S.H.E.'s Organized - This is the home of Pam Young and Peggy Jones' Sidetracked Home Executives™ household management system. This is where I started. I am a proud SHE. This system is often referred to as being "in the box". It's set up with 3x5 cards and a box holder. I have incorporated a lot of Pam & Peggy's system into my Household Notebook.

Apps: I am sure there are a lot more apps and computer programs you can use for helping you get organized but here are just a few I use or have tried.

• Google Calendar - You can use this in place of a household notebook. I also have a few friends that use Outlook instead of a notebook. 
• Cozi - This is a free online organizer (there is also a free mobile app). You can use it for appointments, lists, blogging and you can share with family members online too!
• Home Routines - This an app for the itouch/iphone. This is one of my favorite organizational apps. I love this app. I have recommended this app to a few friends on Twitter too and they have loved it too. It is one app that is absolutely worth buying. One friend bought an itouch just to download this app. :)
• Awesome Note - This is another app for the itouch/iphone/ipad. I just downloaded it this weekend and I love this app as well. There are so many things you can do with this app - it's amazing. It ranks right up there with the Home Routines app and I've only had it about 3 days. 

So go have some fun getting organized this year! Remember this though - motivation follows action. Don't let yourself stop you from reaching your goals. Waiting for the motivation to strike or waiting until (insert whatever you are waiting for) often results in never reaching our goals. Vision what you want and then just go for it! Once you start working towards your goal, you'll be surprised how much motivation you will find to continue. Progress not perfection - life, organizing, loving ourselves -it's all a journey!

Do you have any tips or tricks for getting and staying organized? I'd love to hear them!

☮peace.♥love.☺joy

Photo here

**This is a cross post from Typical Ramblings, Atypical Nonsense. You can read the original here.**

Organize This, Organize That

Spring Cleaning

Saturday was offically the first day of spring! I don't know about where you live but here, we couldn't have asked for a better spring day - it was sunny and 20C - don't be jealous it didn't last long, back to 8C today, but it was glorious while it lasted.  Last week my kids were off school on March Break - were your kids?  I had such grandiose plans of getting this and that accomplished...yeah, we ended up playing all week and finally on Friday I did a good Weekly House Blessing and called it good enough.  The kids are only going to be little once right? and believe me the housework isn't going anywhere. ;)

I know I have already made my cleaning plan to get things in order before summer break, and after the gorgeous weather last week I realized I really need to buckle down and make the most of my time. Use my time wisely.  Sometimes I'm not very good about that - I really like my play time.  But like I tell the kids, get your homework done right away and you'll have lots of time for play.  I need to take my own advice right? So looking at my schedule I'm a little off plan but I have until April 10 to play catch up.  That is definitely do-able if I use my time wisely.

Tomorrow I have a 2 year birthday party to throw for my little guy, so it'll be just the usual cleaning up and decorating.  But starting on Wednesday I will get busy spring cleaning and getting things organized.  Oh! I forgot to tell you that today I received part of my prize package from the 28 Day Organizing Challenge.  My box of Mabel's Labels arrived!

Check out the loot!  I can hardly wait to start organizing again and labeling!  This arrived at a perfect time, don't you think? I'll take pictures as I use some of the labels and show you how lovely they look - I know I'm going to love them. I'm still waiting for my BLIS to arrive, hopefully that will be here this week too. Can't wait to try that & let you know how it works. :)

So, that's whats been on my mind lately.  Are you airing out your home and freshening things up for spring? Do you have a schedule?  Happy Spring!!

Spring Cleaning

Natural Trash Can Deodorizer

How many times have you taken out the trash thinking "oh man the trash stinks!", then you come back and you can still smell that smell?? I've found a great way to clean out the trash cans using natural products. This is important to me for two big reasons. 1st - I don't have worry about having or using chemicals around the kids and 2nd - I don't have to worry about what those chemicals are doing to harm the environment.

What you will need:

• Hot water
• White vinegar
• Tea Tree Oil
• Long handled brush (an extra toilet brush works great for this)
• Baking Soda

What you will do:

• Fill the trash can about half way with hot water (I fill it in the bathtub)
• Add 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 8-10 drops of  Tea Tree Oil
• Mix that around and use the brush to scrub down the sides of the can
• Leave it to soak for 20-30 minutes (longer if you get sidetracked)
• Empty and I like to set it outdoors to dry, then sprinkle a little baking soda in the bottom before putting in a new trash bag.

That's it! It works for me. :) I hope you'll try it and let me know how it works for you!

Natural Trash Can Deodorizer

I Won! I Won!

I know it's a couple days late in coming and many of you have already congratulated me but for those not in the know - I won!

I was the third place winner in the 28 day Organizing Challenge! I was beyond thrilled when I read Laura's announcing blog post. Most people aim to win first place when they take on a project like this, I have to tell you though when this challenge was posted with the prizes, I really wanted to win third place. Yes, that's right I wanted to come in last lol! But the third place prizes are just what I wanted!  Want to know what I won?

I won a $100 prize package from Mabel’s Labels and One Year Subscription to Blis (Best Life Information System).  Both fabulous prizes and I can't wait til they arrive and I can start using them!  Go check them out if you have never heard of them - really awesome!

Go check out the very deserving winners of first and second place too! They both did such amazing jobs - seriously aaaahhh-mazing! Congrats to both of you!!

Thank you Laura and Tanna, I am thrilled! :)

I Won! I Won!

28 Day Organizing Challenge the Finale

Well, here we the last day of the challenge hosted by Laura at Organizing Junkie and I'm so very nervous and excited to show you the transformation of my bedroom. When I first decided to take on the bedroom for the organizing challenge I really wondered if I would be able to stick to it and get it finished.  I'm happy to say once I got started it was pretty easy to keep plugging away at it little by little to get it done.  I am, however, glad that we had 28 days to complete our rooms.

Are you ready to see what the room looked like 28 days ago and what it looks like now?  Let's get to it then!

View from the door before

View from the door after

View towards closet before

View towards closet after

View from bed before

View from bed after

Closet before

Closet after

Well, what do you think? I am so pleased with how clean and organized everything is. I actually love tidying my bedroom in the mornings now and I can't wait to go in there and relax at the end of the day because it truly is a relaxing space now.

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it? I think the hardest part for me was just getting started. Also when I emptied out the closet the huge mountain of stuff that I had to go through and determine if I wanted to keep it or if I could get rid of it - that was a daunting task for sure. Once the closet was complete (that was my first step in organizing the room) I was able to see I could do this and I would be able have the room of my dreams.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order? I decluttered a lot from the room. That was the biggest change for sure. We had way too much stuff for the room.  I love my bedroom now and I'm no longer using it as a dumping ground for other items around the house.  I also have stopped buying things without a purpose. And I've started a dream journal for decorating the space.  I think that having an idea of where we want to take the room next will help me keep my bedroom clean and organized.

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space? A lot of the stuff that I purged has been donated, sold or trashed. I had a full black garbage bag of shredding to do too! Who keeps that much stuff around that should be shredded?!? It was amazing seeing the amount of "stuff" we just kept holding on to and it was never used or even thought about. It was very liberating letting go of things we didn't use or love.

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries? We installed a new closet organization system ($40.00) to help better utilize the space we had in there. We decided to put the baby's clothes in bins in the closet ($2.00 each) so that we could take the dresser out of the room and create more space and leave less space to "hide" things. We decluttered our dressers so that we can easily open and close the drawers.  That should help with getting our clothes put away and if we buy something we now know exactly what we have so we can decide if we really need it or not.

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge?


I think the before and after pictures speak for themselves.  The transformation of the bedroom is really amazing.  I am so proud of the work and the results.  I feel excited to start tackling other areas of our home so that all of our rooms can make me feel just as happy as our bedroom does. The rest of the house doesn't even come close to the state this room was in, but now having the experience of really being ruthless when it came to decluttering I feel like I can take that to other areas.  We really do have a lot of stuff that we really don't use and I know I have many things I don't love but just keep.  Thank you Laura for hosting this challenge and teaching me that it's really okay to let go of things. Things don't make us who we are.

28 Day Organizing Challenge the Finale

Fate & a New Hallway Rug

Remember last week how I was saying I would love to get a new rug for the hallway?  Well, when we went to our big box store to get supplies for the bedroom closet organizer, my darling husband said "oh look there is a clearance section over there". You have to know it didn't take me long to steer the cart in that direction and I swear it was fate!  Look what I found!

This gorgeous rug! You'll never believe what I paid for it. 11 dollars!!  This was the only rug on that table that was marked so low. Every other one was marked much much more than that even on clearance. The colors are perfect for what I am envisioning for the hallway and the odds that the rug would be that price - fate I tell you, fate! :)  This rug was meant for me. :)  We're going to go this weekend and price up the cost to build the console table and that may get built this weekend.  Very exciting things happening here.

Fate & a New Hallway Rug

Organizing in the Bedroom Continued...

It's been a long week but at the same time a very quick week. Ever have weeks like that? I've been sick this week, not sure if it's just a run of the mill cold or the flu.  It hit me hard and fast which makes me lean towards the flu. Somehow I lost a day too.  I thought for sure today was Wednesday, but surprise it's Thursday! So that makes me feel like the week has flown by.  I haven't really done much work in the bedroom this week. I'm not quitting though. :)  I did take a little time Monday or Tuesday (can't remember now) and cleaned out the cedar chest in our bedroom.  Originally we bought it to store extra blankets and such, and maybe one day I can actually us it for that.

So here it is before crammed with a bunch of junk. Okay, it's not all junk.  There was a lot of the kids school papers and such in there, along with a set of dishes I haven't used in oh maybe 5 years. All of that stuff came out.  Papers will be sorted through and put into a Banker's box for each child.  That will be stored in their closets once I get to decluttering their bedrooms later in my "plan".  The dishes are going to consignment shop and I think just about everything else was donated or put into it's proper place.

Here it is after.  I decided for now to store all of our books in here. We're going to be building bedside stands (hopefully this spring or early summer) that will have plenty of room for both of us to have our books displayed, so I decluttered some but kept the ones we really love. Also kept extra wooden hangers, I didn't want to get rid of them because eventually we'll be moving to a bigger house and I will need them for guest's coats in the coat closet.  I also put little E's stuff in here that will be displayed on shelves once he get's his own bedroom.

This project didn't take more than 20-30 minutes I think.  It's amazing how we let things go and then it doesn't take very long to get it tidy and organized.  Too bad weight loss wasn't the same haha.

How are your organizing projects going? I haven't done too much this week, but I am planning on spending some time today working on decluttering and organizing dressers and the armoire. Should be do-able even though I am sick. :)

Organizing in the Bedroom Continued...

Organizing in the Kitchen - Menu Planning Step Two

This week we'll talk about my second step in menu planning. After I made my huge list of meals my family enjoys I started transferring the recipes (from cookbooks, printed recipes, ect) to recipe cards. Some of the recipes I did right away and some of them are still waiting.  When I make something from the list I now try to get the recipe card done that day or I will sometimes make up the cards when I do my menu planning.  The second way works best because then I have the recipe handy when I go to actually make the meal.

The reason you want to do the recipe cards is so that after you have planned your menu from your list (+ one or two new recipes to try) you can then get the recipes out that you will be using that week. You can put them in your home management binder or just put them right in the front of your recipe box.  Also this makes figuring out what you need to buy easy. You can look at each recipe and check to see what you need and immediately put it on your list. No more forgotten items or only having half the ingredients on hand when you go to cook your meals!

You can use plain index cards if you want, buy some cute recipe cards, you can even find them for free online.  The ones I use I found at MessyVegetarianCook. Some of the cards can be saved to your computer and edited in a photo editing program, others are pdf files that you can edit and print from. You can also just google free printable recipe cards and lots will show up.

Hope you're having fun getting all your recipes organized and ready to use!

Organizing in the Kitchen - Menu Planning Step Two

28 Day Organizing Challenge - Week One, The Closet

This weekend was devoted to getting the closet emptied and putting in a new organizer. When talking with Dh about how to go about getting the room organized we decided the best place to start would be the closet since so much needed to go in there (coats from the craft closet makeover, clothes, ect.).  So with his help I am now the proud owner of an organized closet.  You are not going to believe the difference in pictures.  I am so excited. It does make it easier to continue having the pictures to compare...I can do this!

Remember this picture? Where I couldn't even get to the closet...

All of that stuff is out of the room & the closet is revealed...oh yes it's bad.

And 24 hours later:

Can you believe the difference? I can hardly. The closet doors still need to go back up but they need some touch up paint first.  But holy wow! I am just amazed.  I really didn't think I was going to be able to do it when I had all the stuff out of there.  The mountain of stuff was huge!

Remember last week's picture when you walk in the room?

Here is the view today:

And the view from the bed last week:

The view from the bed today:

Still lots of work to do in there but it's coming along very nicely if I do say so myself. :)  Actually looking forward to going in the to go to bed tonight. That's a nice feeling.

28 Day Organizing Challenge - Week One, The Closet

Spotlight on Flylady

Today I didn't really do a specific organization project, I mostly worked on getting the house cleaned up (minus my room - yikes!) for the weekend.  We are planning on spending the weekend working on the bedroom of doom. Getting started with the closet is our first project.  Since I don't have a project to share with you today I thought I would feature a website that has been helpful for me - flylady.net. If you follow me on twitter you see me using #flylady in quite a few of my tweets. If you've wondered what that was all about now is your chance to find out.

Guess I should tell you a little bit about me first.  When I first started with Flylady I was not your typical living in c.h.a.o.s.(can't have anyone over syndrome) person. I am more of the Born Organized type. Generally speaking my house is ready for company , of course I'm human and have areas where clutter lives - hidden clutter, my bedroom (door closed), closets, drawers. The problem was, I was obsessed with cleaning. I couldn't just sit with my family and enjoy watching a movie, I couldn't just leave the house and go for breakfast without stressing out.  This is where Flylady came to help me.  She helped me find a way to get the things done I needed to and be able to relax and enjoy life outside of constant cleaning.  That housework even done imperfectly is okay. She gave me permission to relax.

Key Flylady principles for me are:

• You can do anything for 15 minutes - Flylady is big on using a timer. She suggests if you’re having trouble starting a project, just set a timer for 15 minutes and work on it until the timer goes off. You might keep going, you might not. But at the very least, you’ve made progress. (This flew out the window when I had little E, for the first 13-14 months some days I couldn't do anything for 5 minutes.  I'll talk more about this later)
• Routines, Routines, Routines - These will get you through.  When I am sick I can do nothing more than my basic routines and the house will stay in decent shape.

Some things that may turn people off Flylady:

• The shoes - She's big on putting your sneakers on first thing. I don't do shoes in the house ever, so i just ignore this little reminder.
• Some find her ideas to have religious overtones or come across as anti-feminist. I never really thought about it or paid much attention.  I take what works for me & leave the rest. I don't have to agree with everything that's on the website to use it. Just like in real life we don't have to agree 100%, all of the time to be friends. :)
• The endless emails - This used to be a huge issue for some. I think since she switched to Big Tent it's set up a lot better. You can read all the emails right online.

I have made up my Home Management Binder (what she calls a control journal) and parts of it still work for me.  At some point I need to revamp it, but that'll come eventually.  I have the files for my binder done in MS Word so if anyone would like them let me know & I'll put together a post for them.

So if you think Flylady can help you get your home out of chaos or even just help you learn to let go - check out her site.  There is tons of good information on there to hep you.

Spotlight on Flylady

Entryway and Hallway Clean-Up

Room Two on the Schedule - Entryway and Hallway

Since I didn't have to babysit again today, I thought I would go ahead and get the entry and hall clean.  I know according to my schedule I have almost two more weeks to complete these areas, but starting this weekend I am hoping to put a lot of time working on the bedroom project (yes, I really want to win one of those fantastic prizes!).  I figured that today was a good day to get it done.  Little E was in a very good mood, and not too demanding.  All signs pointed to go clean. :)

Here are the before pictures:

It doesn't look too bad but there are things I notice that others may not - dust! 

Entryway Cleaning List:                                                       
- dust mop & damp mop walls                                                
- clean blinds & window
- dust shelf & contents
- vacuum rug
- scrub floor & stairs
{need to get paint & touch-up wall, baseboards & rail}

Hallway Cleaning List:
- dust mop & damp mop walls and doors
- clean light fixture
- dust shelf
- windex picture & mirror (vinegar & water solution)
- vacuum rug
- scrub floor

Here they are all clean & shiny:

I added some cute little Valentines decorations to the mirrored shelf:

I would love to get a new runner for the hall & a new mat for the entryway.  The craft closet door needs a new knob.  The wall in between the two doors on the right hand side is blank and I have no idea what to put there.

The wall on the left side currently holds this picture from our wedding day 

That is going to be replaced with a collage similar to this:

I am planning on making this console table to place under the collage

Image from Better Homes and Garden

Do you have any ideas of what would look great on that right wall? Or any other decorating ideas for these two spaces are more than welcome. :)

Entryway and Hallway Clean-Up

Living Room Clean-Up

Room One on the Schedule - Living Room

Since we are now officially in February I decided that I needed to finish up the chores in the living room so that I could cross that room off my list.  Since Miss. Bean was home from school and could help entertain Little E, I figured today was as good a day as any.  I really want to be able to spend the weekends when daddy is home working on the bedroom for the next few weeks.  I also don't want to fall behind on my schedule for cleaning either - so far so good!

Before I show you my cleaning list for this room, I thought I would show you the before pictures I took the morning before starting.

Living Room Cleaning List
- remove any trash from room
- clean up and declutter toys
- dust mop & damp mop walls
- dust all furniture
- windex all glass (I use vinegar & water solution)
- vacuum all furniture & under cushions
- move all furniture and vacuum
- clean window & window sill
- put up Valentine's Day decorations

This is the play area after cleaning:

This is the living room area after cleaning:

It was so nice after all this was finished to sit in this room and just enjoy how it looked.  I find it so much more relaxing when everything is in it's proper place.  There are some things I want to do to redecorate now that the room is all clean. These will be gradual things - I would love to have new furniture (couch and chairs), I want to go with something neutral so I can accent more for the seasons. I want to paint the mirror on the back wall - unsure what colour yet though. The big project that we are going to do is build a new entertainment center - like this one:

Image from Pottery Barn

The plans for it can be found on Ana's site - Knock off Wood. I'm not sure if I want to paint it black or a dark brown.  Remember I want to go neutral but I know for sure I do not want white or a variation of it in the living room.  I want something warm.  I think I'm leaning towards black though.  What do you think? What other decorating ideas do you see for this room?  I'm up for hearing your ideas too!

Living Room Clean-Up

28 Day Organizing Challenge in My Bedroom

I've known about this challenge for a couple of weeks now and I've tossed around the idea of joining. Two things were holding me back. First of all once you see the room you'll see it's going to be a huge commitment. Can I follow through? Or will I start and then freeze on it? Secondly I would have to take before pictures and share my embarrassing mess with all of you.  Admit I've got a dungeon - who likes to do that??  Well, I'm taking the plunge.  I'm joining the challenge and I hope by the end of the month I'll have a beautiful retreat to show you.

Before I get started on the great organizing mission I'm going to share the before shots *deep breath*

This is what you are greeted with when you walk in the bedroom. Not exactly the most welcoming retreat to walk into. 

And here we have the view from the bed. Best just to close your eyes and go right to sleep to avoid starring at the mess for too long.

And the view towards the closet. Lovely isn't it? I would have taken pictures of inside the closet but *ahem* I couldn't exactly get to the closet. Trust me, it isn't any better than the rest of the room though.

There you have it, in all it's glory - the mess from hell.  Now, in a little fairness some of this mess wasn't created until the great craft closet makeover. Everything from that closet was dumped into  my room and the leftover bins were also dumped in there. So it wasn't quite this bad a couple weeks ago - well, the closet was but not so much the rest of the room.

Just in case you've already forgotten - here it is again for you ;)

I hope to take pictures as I tackle this challenge and share some progress pictures with you. Now, don't flame me for my mess okay? Just hold my hand and tell me I can do this. Been there, done it? Have some tips for me? Have some ideas? Please share!

28 Day Organizing Challenge in My Bedroom