Come Into My Closet

Inspired by Jenni's post, I decided to take some time today and see what I could do to improve my closets within the couple hours that my daughter was at school. Want to see?

Okay, not really a closet, it's our entryway. But it works a little like a closet and this mess is the first thing people see when they come to my house - eep! It wasn't hard to fix, though. I just put the bags away and hung the bulkier coats in the coat closet around the corner (coming up next). Here's the after:





Next, the coat closet!

For this closet, I put away our winter coats and consolidated the things on the shelf. This is where we keep our emergency kits, as well, so I organized them a little bit too.

I still have some wintry coats here, yes, but we live in the Northwest; easy access to warm clothing is a year-round necessity. Oh, also, I'm in the process of painting all our trim and doors white, but the doors have to wait until it's warm outside. So, yes, the closet door is brown and the trim is white. For now.



In my/husband's closet:


I put away the laundry, re-stacked sweaters, and arranged hanging shirts by his/mine.




Not too bad for a morning's work. But it didn't end there! Once I was on that roll, I tackled:

The living room table:

(That stuff on the sofa is my growing pile of things to donate/consign after cleaning out the closets - hooray!)

And the sideboard (which is where I store most of my craft and sewing stuff these days):



With just a spark of inspiration and a little time, it's amazing what can be accomplished! Is there something you've been neglecting - whether temporal or spiritual, domestic or otherwise - because you've been taking care of everything else? Go on and do it! Chances are, it will be easier than you think.

Balanced Beginnings

My husband said to me a week or so ago that I was too busy.  I had too much on my plate and that I realised most of it was put there by me.  At first I was hurt and then maybe a little bit ashamed for making him feel this way and within a few seconds I told him he was right and that I was sorry.  I had been feeling extremely stressed out and making things a bigger deal then they were.  I then apologised and set my mind at work.  I knew I needed to de-clutter my life.  I was getting caught up in all of the projects around my house and the selfish desire to always be doing what I wanted instead of what my family needed me to be doing.  I should have been loving them and serving them.  Even when I was being a descent mom I was forgetting to be a good wife.  I was caught in my own messy web of selfishness and was getting more and more tangled.  I had lost my balance and I desperately needed a fresh new beginning. I'm grateful for my husband and his sweet way of pointing this out. 

 

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I have always loved the feelings that come with a new school year. There is this chance to begin fresh, get new school clothes, have perfectly sharpened pencils in a new clean backpack and a hope to get all As for once. It always seems like when fall comes around I get to start over. Do better. Try harder. Make better choices then I had the year before.  With school starting for my little Payton just last week I knew that this would be the perfect time to clean out, simplify and prioritize my life and my time as a mother and a wife.  He deserves a happy mom, Sadie deserves a mom who can take the place of her playmate brother while he 's away at school and Mark, my cute man, deserves a wife who thinks more about him then herself.

 

So... here is what I have come up with so far as I am physically continuing to remove all of the extra stuff from my home, as I am putting everything in it's own place and as I get rid of the cobwebs from the previous school year.  

 

(Which I realise will never be completely finished.  That is why I love this magnet given to me by Cortney and why I keep it on my fridge to remind me that even women who have enough time to put on lipstick before bed dream about having a clean home).

 

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1. I will continue to get up reasonably early each morning and ignore my computer until after I have fed myself spiritually and physically.  Only then will I take a peek at emails or whatever if I am dressed and ready for the day.
2. When my kids wake up I'm going to cuddle them first and then get them fed and ready for their day.  For Payton this means having everything he needs for school and then maybe we can watch a cartoon together or do some unloading of the dishwasher.
3. Then we get to walk to school, which gives us time to talk, sing and get our exercise in.  Oh and right now the blackberry bushes are full so we give ourselves some extra time to make it there and back.
4. After that I get time with my Sadie until lunch; mandatory play time with some time to work together.  This is becoming one of my favorite parts of our day.
5. Lunch happens after we pick Payton up from school only this time we'll take our time; chatting about our adventures and making fun plans for our afternoon. Usually it's a rush to get them down for naps.
6. Nap time. This is my "me time."  I can keep up on my almost newly organized home, or teach some violin lessons or I can do some sort of project.  This is my time to enjoy my ability to balance.
7. Dinners are making their way to our table homemade and healthy.  Again another time to be together and tell daddy about our adventures, and then listen to his.
8. Clean up, maybe a walk or trip to the gym as a family and then my favorite part of all...
9. Kidlets get a Snack, Jammies, Teeth Brushed, Stories, Prayers Cuddles, Loves and Bed.
10. Now I get to recharge and be with my sweet husband who at the end of the day can stand me because I am happier living my simplified life.

 

I know there will be days when this doesn't go as planned but so far (and there must be a beginning to everything) I am way less stressed, I feel happier in a clean home, I get time for myself without taking it from my family and I am enjoying my role as a mother and wife.  I feel like I am making progress and each day I am hoping to feel fulfilled and see the blessings from trying to live a balanced life.  Hey!  I even enjoyed doing laundry this week.  Everything seems more enjoyable if it has it's own place and when everything has it's own time.  This is my goal. 

 

So check up on me, join me and give it a thought.  What's keeping you from being completely happy? 

 

Here's to a new beginning!

 

A House of Order

I consider myself to be an organized person and a decent housekeeper. Today I tackled the whole house and am resting my bones with contentment. I thought I'd share some tips that work for me, and hopefully you can use something that will help you with organization and upkeep of your own little nest.

Some people clean a room each day of the week so as not to be overwhelmed with the task of the whole thing. I use a divide and conquer approach because I like everything to be clean all at once, but you can apply my tips to however you approach your housekeeping.

• Rise and shine! I'm a morning person, so before I'm able to find any distractions, I jump in full-bore. I even stay in my jammies to clean so that when I'm done, I can throw them into the laundry and have clean ones to wear the same night.


• Let it ring. Unless you are expecting an important phone call, don't answer when it rings. This breaks your focus from your task, and once this happens, you'll find other things to do that distract you from completing it.


• Top-down. Clean from the top down. I live in a 2-story house, so I start on the 2nd floor in the farthest corner room and work my way toward the stairs and down to the main level. If you have a main floor and basement, start downstairs and work your way up. In a split-level house, do the upstairs, then the downstairs and end on the main level. Basically end in the area where you'll take the garbage/recycling out. Same philosophy goes for what you're cleaning. Start on the top shelf of the closet, cabinet, fridge, etc.


• Lights out. This isn't the most energy-conscious way to do things, and I don't do it every time, but if I'm feeling overwhelmed by the task ahead, I'll turn the lights on in each room and when a room is finished, I turn it off. You could do the same thing with shutting the doors as the rooms get finished.


• Put it away! When you find something that goes somewhere else in the house, just put it in the destination room and go RIGHT back to your original room you're working on. This means some double handling of items, but you will keep your focus, avoid distraction, and get things done quicker in the long run. I usually find toys all over the house that need to go in the family room. By the time I get to the family room, there's a huge pile of toys waiting to be put away. Once you're cleaning that room, put stuff away NOW. Moving stuff from one pile to another in the same room is not efficient.


• Spin cycle. Keep the laundry going while you're cleaning. I empty baskets full of clean laundry onto the sofa, and after everything else is done, I can relax and fold laundry (which I actually enjoy) while I'm watching TV.


• Suck it up. Vacuum last. This goes along with the top-down strategy. There's nothing like seeing fresh vacuum tracks and not-yet-trampled carpet that says clean.


• Dear John. Clean bathrooms last (although I'm tempted to clean them first and get it out of the way). I personally don't like the idea of cleaning kitchen stuff after cleaning the bathrooms, even with thorough hand washing. Not sure if I should say this, but the easiest way for me to clean the shower is when I'm in the shower. It's too difficult to scrub the shower and rinse the cleanser off without getting myself and the rest of the bathroom soaked. So, spray something like Scrubbing Bubbles on the walls and when you're done with the house and are ready to shower, take a sponge with you and wipe down the surfaces before you get on with shining yourself up. Water stays in the shower and it's OK that I get wet. I can't be the only one who does this, right?


• No feathers. Feather or fuzzy dusters don't work. They just seem to stir the dust around. Get yourself an old soft t-shirt and some furniture polish and go to town. Use the fuzzies to get hard-to-reach places like under the DVD player.


• Nuke it! Who likes cleaning the microwave? Me either. Here's an easy tip. Get a sponge wet (don't wring it dry), and microwave it on high for 2 minutes. Take it out - careful it's hot! And all the little splatters inside will be softened enough to easily wipe them off. And your sponge is disinfected too!


• Air it out. Just like some fresh air is good for our bodies, same goes for our homes. Even on a chilly winter day, just 15 minutes of an open window will air it out nicely.

So, there you have it...a few tips for a happy, healthy home. Our humble abode is far from perfect - most of our walls have yet to be painted, there's a lack of adequate furniture, and there are bins of yet-to-be-hung artwork. But it's our HOME, and I think we're all a little more calm, happy and at peace when it's clean and orderly.

So what's next? Sit back and enjoy the show: