Laundry room AFTER

OK so this wasn't a total laundry room makeover, it was just a quick re organizing and sprucing. A "tide me over until I can do more" type of project. I need shelves, and maybe a new light fixture, but all in all it looks much better.

I used only what I had available in my house. I spent nothing. The small paintings are our eldest daughter's paintings from when she was little, and the Mona Lisa is a project Uptown did with his Kindergarten class. The dog crate is ugly, but that's where it lives. I have some fabric, maybe I'll try to spruce it up a bit. hmmm ideas for new projects running rampant through my brain.

Tomorrow or Wednesday we are getting a new puppy and hopefully his crate will fit next to Taj's crate. It looked so plain before I hung the pictures. I don't have time today to paint or else I would have added a fun color or pattern to the walls. I had these paintings just sitting in our basement and it adds a little bit of color to the wall.  Now I'm off to do my scheduled living room/Family room pick up.


Before                                                After

 

Before                                                   After

Need to re organize my laundry room

I walked into our laundry room today and realized... it sucks. Up until Thursday I had our Dryer venting into a bucket contraption like this....

This is what I had when I was living in an apartment and had no way to vent my dryer. When we bought our house, there were/are two washer dryer locations. Since I'm lazy I'm practical I wanted our main washer and dryer to be next to the kitchen, so I didn't have to walk down two flights of stairs so that I could make the best use of my time. So last week I had a fire inspector come to give me the ok to send in my application for a home daycare. I had everything perfect, except for the dryer. So it was time for me to put on my big girl panties and vent that dryer outside. There was already a vent hole cut, all I had to do was buy the venting kit and install it. Easy peasy! UNLESS you have two dryer vents and you are so excited to do a "project" that you don't double check which old vent you are removing. Yeah, I ripped that old vent out with gusto.... and out came a long piece of metal vent. huh? "where was THAT?" I wondered as I sat and looked at the vent pipe hanging out of the back of my house. Then I looked up, and saw the kitchen window, then over to my right.... where I saw the OTHER vent that I was suppose to remove. Yeah I totally disconnected the basement dryer vent. Don't be jealous of my awesome, it takes a lot of skill.  The good thing to come out of this was I got to see the inside of the dryer vent pipe. OMG! Let's talk about fire safety, and how NOT SAFE that vent was! I took that as a sign to not hook that bad boy back up. (We don't use that dryer anyway)
     To make a long story even longer, I fixed the broken vent, then properly installed the new vent in the proper location. Now our dryer vents properly outside and I no longer have a laundry room full of lint. So when I decided to organize my laundry room and started clearing this off the changing table I noticed HOW MUCH LINT was all over everything. So now it's a deep clean and re org.

There has to be a better way. This is the "it gets worse before it gets better" stage.  I'm embarassed that it's this bad, and this is actually light years better than it was 6 months ago. Progress... even baby steps move you forward. 

Hmmmm... wheels turning. I have a lot that I want to do today. I'll post after pictures, hopefully they will be better than the before. lol!

Schedule change.. doing what works for you

     The other day I realized.. my current cleaning schedule isn't really working for me, I mean my house is fairly clean... downstairs. It was Wednesday when I realized I couldn't get to my Master Bedroom/Bathroom that this schedule isn't going to work. See, I am licensing for a home child care, and I'm not comfortable cleaning upstairs while the kids are napping downstairs. I'm afraid I won't hear them or be able to watch them appropriately, SO a change is in order. See, I can do that because it's MY schedule. This is the important part.. so read this...

You make a schedule that works for you! 

      I am loving pinterest, and all of the inspiration I get there, especially the organizing tips, blogs, pictures, etc.. that I have pinned. I use all of those as a starting point. Not all of those schedules work for me, not all of them make sense to me. It became confusing and I had to sort it all out. It was all trial and error. I kept what worked and filed away what didn't. Notice I didn't throw out what didn't work. Why? I file them, because our lives change daily, and they are good ideas, they just didn't happen to work AT THAT TIME. Week by week things change enough that you can see if it will be a long term change or just happened to change that week. For example we just got a new puppy about 3 weeks ago. THAT was a HUGE change. I started floundering, things were all out of whack, I just had to sit back and see how it would play out. It turns out that my nap time cleaning still works, however leaving the puppy downstairs for the first two weeks didn't work. He got scared and barked. He got scared and peed. He felt relaxed and pooped. I noticed he only did this when I went upstairs. SO I shifted my cleaning during the week to downstairs. Between the puppy and the children that will be in my house, this makes sense to me. I can clean our bedroom and bathroom on the weekends when someone can hang out downstairs playing video games instead of helping out around the house and help with the puppy. 

     Every once in awhile I can see that I am ready to look at how things are working out, or not working out and if they need to tweaking. Then I'm off to Pinterest to look through all of the lovely ideas I have gotten from lovely people. 

     Has anyone been following my schedule that I posted some time ago? Does it work for you? If not have you changed it? Did you switch up days? Did it prompt you to make your own? I would LOVE some feedback. Are you doing something that you think I would love to try? (No crack please) Talk to me people, I want your ideas and feedback!

Great tips for getting it together

From The Sunny SIde Up Blog:

•  Store sticky jars and things in your pantry on a baking sheet to keep your cabinet shelves clean. <3 this!
• Pre make snack bags and store them in a basket, so when you are making lunches, or running out the door to a double header soccer game you can quickly grab snack bags. (Totally doing this!)

I LOVE those tips! I have a baking sheet that I burnt (yeah I set it on the stove and turned on the burner) but it would work great for catching stickies!

I have been loving my snap and lock containers, and am probably going to get more ASAP. I try to store our snacks in containers, rather than snack bags. I don't like to buy snack bag, and I don't like the waste. My friend Mel uses reusable fabric snack bags. Some day I will get some (or better yet make some) and possibly use those. 

Anyway I was checking out blogs and ran across The Sunny Side Up blog and wanted to share her tips. Hope you liked them! Do you have any tips to share with me? Feel free to leave a link to your favorite organizing/ cleaning/ decorating blog in the comments. 

Closet clean up

Here are a couple of pictures of my closet. Today I took about 15 minutes and just cleaned it up a bit. One day soon it will get a total transformation, but not today. 

UGH

This is after. Like I said... 15 minutes. It was a quick pick up and hang up. It looks better.

Typically I like to organize my clothes from light to dark, but I have several other things that need to get done today, so I'll have to get back to this another time... maybe tonight while Parker is taking her bath.

I am loving this schedule. My house is staying clean, and looks a HUNDRED times better and I feel better. I was talking to my mom the other day about having junk and clutter all over the house and how cloudy and sluggish I feel. As soon as rooms are picked up and tidy I immediately feel better. We have both agreed that there are several house projects that we want to work on. The first is Matt is moving his music studio from our third floor bonus room, down to the basement. This is his project. He said he wanted to get in on the organizing too! YES! The second is my project of organizing the bonus room and turning it into my mama cave! I have my sewing machine and craft supplies up there already, but hopefully soon I'll be putting my exercise stuff up there too. We are moving the chaise from the living room , which is currently in our bedroom to make room for the christmas tree, up to my new room. I have an older tv up there and it will be a nie place to hide when I need to do so. The third project is a HUGE one. We are moving the kids theater from the front living room, downstairs to the basement. We have a large basement area that was being used as my exercise area, but we would both rather move the kids tv and video games downstairs. This means I have a LOT of work to get done. With the holidays coming up so quickly, I'm a bit nervous that we won't get it all done in time, but I also don't know if it all needs to be done before Christmas. So maybe that means I should get off of here and get started? 

What plans do you have? Are you taking it easy for the season, or are you taking it all on and cramming in as many things as you can? I tend to work best under pressure. I will do my best to get pictures on here, because really what fun is just reading about me doing stuff if you can't see how awful it looks at first and how much better it looks when I'm done.

Master bed & bath before and after post.

This challenge was rough! Or bedroom and bathroom were really messy! I didn't realize how unorganized our bedroom and bathroom were/are,  until I started cleaning. With that being said, I just cleaned and my Sunday challenge will be to organize our book shelves, closet, and bathroom. Now for the fun part....
First is the before picture of the bedroom.

And after I cleaned. It took me about an hour and a half for both rooms. Since I will be doing these rooms weekly the upkeep should be A LOT quicker!

SO MUCH BETTER! I can't wait to organize.

Now on to the bathroom before....

 UGH it wasn't too bad, but still every time I walked in it bothered me. It feels SO MUCH BETTER now!


After pictures of the master bathroom...

Please ignore the fact that there are no decorations or anything, one thing at a time. lol

Feel free to comment, or link to pictures of your project! I'd love to see what other people are doing!

Wednesday Challenge

When my friend Mel and I started this challenge to try to get our houses clean I had no idea I would love it this much! If you know me at all, you know I LOVE a challenge! If anyone ever tells me I can't do something you can believe I bust my bum to get it done. This last month has been one of the hardest of my life. Uptown and I lost our baby boy. I was 16 weeks pregnant and something went wrong. Throughout the whole pregnancy I kept telling Mel that when I was pregnant I have this nesting urge that is overwhelming. It has progressively gotten stronger with each pregnancy. With this pregnancy I had a list a mile long of things I wanted to organize and get done. For once in my life I actually started getting it together! So when I lost the baby I was heartbroken to put it mildly, but I found that organizing and cleaning has really helped me process. Every time I start to feel out of control I throw myself into a challenge, and by the end of the challenge my brain feels a bit clearer and my house looks a little bit better. I am trying to focus on one area of my life at a time. For example I am trying to get into a groove of this cleaning schedule before I move into meal planning. I figure that eventually, maybe by the time I'm 40, I'll have a clean house and I'll have learned how to meal plan!

Ok so enough with all the heavy stuff, let's move on to the fun part! Today on my schedule is my Master bedroom and Master bath. I've made a daily cleaning list and a weekly chore list. Each day on my list are basic things to keep the house tidy, and each day of the week there is a challenge. Today is my Master bedroom and master bath, both are in need of serious help. Really they are! I am going to do my best to always do before and after pictures, but until I get my computer fixed you will have to settle for pics from my phone. Another thing I feel I should mention. I have always looked at cleaning/organizing  blogs and have been intimidated. I mean you go to these sites and the areas that they show are BEAUTIFUL! They are usually already clean, as far as I am concerned. I really do strive to be there, but it is a constant struggle around here. With that being said... my house is not in tip top shape. You are following along on my journey and struggle to get organized and get it together! I would LOVE comments, suggestions, etc...  Just in case you want to follow along, here is my schedule:

Daily
Load/empty /run dishwasher
wipe down counters, table and stove
pick up and put away as you go
wipe down mirrors, make beds
vacuum and sweep as needed
laundry

Monday

        Living room
Pick up items that don’t belong
Return items to where they belong
Dust furniture, blinds, shelves, ceiling fan
Wipe down walls, baseboards.
Vacuum, wipe down TV, sweep hardwood
This includes the hallway and front door.
Wash bed linens from Parker’s room
          

Tuesday
Kitchen and Classroom
Organize &Wipe down cabinets
Clean out & wipe down wicrowave & fridge,
Wipe down fridge and dishwasher
Organize school cabinet, wipe down toaster
clean sliding glass doors, tops of cabinets
Sweep and mop floor, wipe down walls
Organize classroom shelves, go through books,
sweep and mop floor, clean window, dust shelves
dust cabinet and organize, wipe down tables
Wash bed linens from Miranda’s room

Wednesday
Master bedroom & Bathroom
Gather laundry, clear off end tables,
Empty trash from bedroom/bathroom
Dust furniture, wipe down TV and mirror
Wipe down ceiling fans, and door handles
Organize/wipe vanity area, wipe down sinks
Clean mirrors, tub, shower, toilet. Wash rugs
Wipe down blinds, refill towels, sweep/mop



Thursday
Kids bathroom
Wipe down tub and shower
Wipe down toilet and scrub inside
Wipe outside of toilet near the floor
Wipe down sink and vanity, clean mirror
refill towel rack, remove any laundry
Wipe down door handles and walls
Sweep floor and mop, scrub floor near
the bottom of the toilet.  Empty trash can.
Wash bed linens from Gryphon’s room

Friday
  Guest Bathroom
Clean toilet and vanity
Take out trash, wipe down walls
Wipe down doors , clean mirrors
Change hand towels, Clean baseboards
Sweep and mop the floor



Saturday
     Laundry room
Do all left over laundry.
Wipe down walls and washing machine
and dryer. Sweep and mop the floor
Organize pantry.

     I use Sunday for anything that I haven't gotten around to cleaning or organizing. We are a family of six, and that leads to A LOT of stuff. I have recently giving the kids chore charts. I kept it simple to get them started, and will give them more to do as they incorporate the small tasks into their daily lives.

Organize and Organize again...and again...and....

I've always been a mess, a big hot mess. My house was always the house with clothes and toys EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really do mean everywhere. When Uptown and I bought our house and moved in, a dear friend of mine made a funny comment that has stuck in my head. She said "Your house is beautiful, DO NOT let it get as messy as your apartment!" of course she was joking. It has eaten away at me ever since we moved in. So in the last month my friend Pres and I started an organization challenge. Every day we pick a trouble spot in our respective houses and we organize. We have gotten a lot done, but (and this is a big but) BUT we both found that we can't just organize a spot and move on and forget about it. We had to come up with a schedule to maintain as well. So Today is Tuesday and on my schedule is Kitchen and Dining room/Classroom (I use my dining room as a classroom) So every Tuesday I go through and pick up, wipe down, sweep and mop. Now keep in mind I have 4 kids so this is a daily struggle. I am still trying to balance living in our space and keeping it clean and organized. I've been reading blogs, pinning pins, reading magazines, but it really comes down to what works best for our family, and I've yet to discover that. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.