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!

Mood enhancer!

 Five days into the new year.... how are you doing? Me? I've had some set backs, but today I pulled it together and just told myself to go upstairs and do a quick pick up and clean. I finally unpacked the clean clothes out of our luggage.. yeah yeah yeah, I know. I gathered dirty laundry changed the sheets and cleaned the bathroom. I can't believe how much of a difference it made in my mood! I'm talking drug difference! I think I have finally realized that the cleaner/less cluttered my space is, the better I feel. I mean I have always known that, but for some reason it was this big revelation today. So I guess my point is try to just take 15 minutes a day, pick a spot and organize/clean. It could make your day brighter!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2012!

Happy New Year! I am ready for 2012! This Holiday season has been wonderful! I've managed to keep my house MUCH cleaner than usual, laundry is pretty caught up and everyone is happy. We have one more day off from work and school and I'm ready to start organizing toys! I am thinking tomorrow will be a good day to tackle Parker and Paxton's room. Tomorrow is donate and organize day. I am past the "I'm going to have a garage sale and try to make money on all of our unused things" point. Other people can use these things and they need to go. We also have the basement to start cleaning. I have a lot of plans for 2012, and I want to get started right away. With all of that said, our Christmas present to our family is a new puppy. (Yes we are crazy) I am a little nervous about keeping up the house with the dog hair, but I'm sure it will all be fine. It will be even better when Uptown buys me a Roomba to sweep up the pet hair! :)
What are your plans? What are your goals?

Have a great 2012!

Tidy Tuesday!

      It's Tuesday again... so I'm back on Kitchen and Dining room/Classroom. It's a dreary rainy day and I really just want to curl up and sleep, but the floor is sticky and the girls are asleep... so I'll make the best of my time and get down to business. First I want to ask anyone that might be reading... anyone? How do you get your family to pitch in? This is a pretty new thing for us, this whole trying to maintain a really tidy house, and I feel like I am the only person invested in this. Uptown helps but I have to ask him (read: get really upset and then make a snarky comment at him under my breath) and then he is happy (to kick me for being so nasty) to help. At what point does everyone realize that our house looks amazing,  and maybe having mom run around and pick up after everyone to maintain this awesomeness isn't fair?

       Typically from 1pm until 3pm is when I do my cleaning and organizing. Before I pick up the kids from school the house is beautiful, clean, and almost sparkling. Then the kids get home and all of a sudden there are papers, paint, crayons, shoes, socks, and toys EVERYWHERE! I feel like a broken record as I say, please clean up after yourself, and if I find this on the floor/table again it is going in the trash. I feel like a cranky, nasty tyrant! I tried to explain to Uptown the other day that it would be like me walking into his place of work and moving things and putting them back in all the wrong spots, leaving papers all over and then just going to sit down and watch a movie. Now in Uptown's defense, he works two jobs, and is really not here very much. BUT.... in my defense I am here ALL DAY EVERY DAY. This is my job, this is my place of business, and I never get to leave and go home to relax..... there is no replacement, no substitute, no days off, basically no relief. I know I have chosen this, and I am blissfully happy to be able to stay at home, but at some point it would be nice to get not only myself, but my family to coast through these schedules.
     I think for now as we are all still getting use to this whole new schedule/ tyranny, I'll have to relax a little ( a little!) and keep up the reminders and try to re train everyone.


     How long does it take to form a habit?

I would love to hear your tips. Please feel free to comment so it doesn't feel like I am talking to myself.

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.

Tidy Tuesday!

Tuesday is Kitchen and dining room (classroom for me) day! I think everyday is kitchen day around here. We are a family of six and usually every single time I turn around the area I just cleaned is messy again. So teaching our children to clean up after themselves is an every day chore as well. If anyone has good tips on how to get a 5 year old to actually listen and pick up... I'm all ears. I'm hoping that I didn't wait to long to teach our kids how to "clean up as you go". This is new to all of us and we are breaking new ground on the chores front, I'll be sure to keep you updated. The older two are doing alright, The youngest (2 year old) "helps" a lot.  OK enough about my family... What's on my list for today?

Tuesday
Kitchen and Classroom/Dining Room
Organize & wipe down cabinets
Clean out microwave & fridge
Wipe down fridge, dishwasher, toaster and microwave
Clean sliding glass doors & tops of cabinets
Wipe down walls
Organize classroom shelves and books
Wipe down tables and chairs in both rooms
Organize cabinet in classroom and craft cabinet in kitchen
Dust classroom shelves
Wash bed linens from M's room
Sweep and mop floors

Of course your list might be a bit different. If you have a dining room you might need to dust and clean your china cabinet, or buffet. Don't forget those baseboards! All they need is a quick wipe. If the first time you do them they are really dusty, it might take a bit longer. Ask me how I know this. Once you really clean these areas each daily and weekly task becomes easier, then you are just in maintenance mode. Maintenance mode is AWESOME!

 Please let me know how you are doing, or if you want to see anything specific. I can't do photo heavy posts currently, but hopefully I'll get my computer situation fixed and then load posts full of pictures. In the meantime please check out my facebook page and "like" it! I'll have photos posted over there.
Have a great Tidy Tuesday!

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!