How do you keep your home clean? Do you have a house cleaner come in? If so how often? Also if you have someone come into clean, do you pick up and clean before they come?
I am in search of a way to not only clean my home, but for it to be clean and stay clean for longer. I know that this is not an easy quest. I have three little ones and a hubby all home for the summer. However, I think it should be easier than it is and I am wondering am I missing something.
If you have any tips for me I would love to hear them. I just found two great posts today on Organizing Your Way. This one talks about three things you can do daily to help you feel happier when it comes to organizing. I was able to do the first two no problem. The second one is a little tricky.
Well I am off to go organize, clear some cluttered surfaces and hopefully find a chance to relax while two of the three kiddos are napping.
Today I cleaned, cleaned more and then continue to clean. I like having a clean, organized, clutter free home. Unfortunately, my home is rarely the way that I like it. I have three small children and a husband that are all home for the summer. I feel like I am a maid and if I quit no one really cares, but me. I am the only one who cares because I am the one that wants a clean, organized, clutter free home...the rest of the family just makes messes and either doesn't really care what condition our home is in or expect that it will get to me and I will break down and clean. Unfortunately, the latter is usually what happens. I have tried to let it go. I am always telling myself, "Relax, just let it go...enjoy life...this too shall pass." The problem is it I really don't enjoy life with a messy house.
So since this is my problem and right now the real thorn in my side is the laundry, today during my workout warm up I was searching for videos on organization, specifically laundry and all that goes into it when I came across Mandie's vlogs and blog called Organizing Your Way. I instantly lit up and made an important connection. After watching a few of her videos and doing a more intense workout without my phone I looked up her blog on my computer. She has an amazing blog with very helpful tips. Her home is very clean, organized and decorated in a modern functional style. I am so impressed with her blog and her home. She is doing something right. It is difficult to believe that she has four kids ages five and younger. Plus, her philosophy to organizing is that it has to work for you or you won't do it and maintain it. I have tried other organization methods that all sound great, but they have not truly stuck because they don't work for me. Recently a friend commented on FB that I am always posting on cleaning and why don’t I follow such and such online. I try, but such and such just didn’t fit my organization/cleaning style.
Here is her introduction video. She shares what she is going to create with her blog and videos. I found it to be refreshing and I love her approach on making it work for you.
Here is Mandi's laundry video. I really like her system, but unfortunately, we don't have room for a family closet in our laundry room and our laundry room is not off of our kitchen.
Things I learned from her blog today that I plan on implementing this week: 1. She does a section rags and organization. I am so excited to use her system of purchasing new rags for washing hands and faces every six months and then placing the old ones in the wipe up rag drawer. I love the little three drawer organizer as well. I am hoping to find one that will fit sideways in my pantry. We will see. Tons of great ideas from that one entry. 2. I learned several principles for streamlining laundry from a link that Mandi has on her site for The 365 Day Organizer. I am not sure I will be able to make the laundry basket work for my three kids, but I like the idea. 3. I moved an Ikea chair into my office that has been sitting in our master bedroom for quite a while. I figured it will be nice for my husband to have a place to sit in there and we won't be tempted to use the chair as a clothing organizer if it is no longer in the bedroom. I will try to post a picture soon.
I am exhausted and so this post will have to be in two segments. I am enjoying getting back into blogging though and hope that you will continue to read my blog.
We moved into our home new about three years ago. We love the neighborhood. We have wonderful neighbors with lots of kids about our children's ages. It is a nice neighborhood walking distance to a lake and our town still has that small town vibe. We have beautiful views from the backyard and upstairs bedrooms. Although we are grateful for our home and enjoy it a lot we have thought about moving a few times for a several reason. The first and main reason is the space layout of our home, starting with it being three levels (basement, main level and upstairs). Plus the house only has three official bedrooms (on the top floor); however, it has two bonus rooms one in the basement and one the main level. Plus an additional living room and family room. We decided to improve upon our living space in our current home instead of going through the hassle of moving. About six months ago we started the process of finishing our lower level basement (adding a bathroom, a rec room space, a kitchen and turning the previous bonus room into a bedroom). We also decided to build a wall to create a hallway and a closed office where our living room used to be. Here are the before and after pictures of the office. I am so excited that the space is finally completed. We are about 90 percent finished with the basement and I will be posting pictures of that project soon as well. I feel incredibly blessed to have this new space and use it daily.
The new wall being construct.
Now the new wall is complete, the doors are painted and my office is already moved inside. Here Big A and the dog are standing in the newly constructed hallway. What a difference! Here it is with the French doors open. You can see all my craft stuff on the shelves.. I am still working on organization with only open shelving. I wish I had some closed storage, but overall I am very happy with my new space.
