Pre Spring Cleaning Declutter

It looks like a bomb has gone off in my home after the weekend.  It is that time of year to start my pre-spring cleaning.  Time to go through each room and get rid of items I know longer want or need.  Time to get everything in tip-top shape and ready for a good spring scrubbing. 

I started in the back room.  The 'someone is coming over, hurry throw everything in there and shut the door' room.  It also serves as a guest room and my office.  Up until just recently, I had two babies in my daycare which also put two playpens along with various other baby items in this small room.  Have you ever seen the show Hoarders?  Yep, that would be this room.

I started the declutter process by first removing all baby items.  These are now in the living room needing to be put in totes and taken to storage.  Let's see, two playpens, a potty chair, a bumbo, two high chairs, baby toys and a walker.  I next put all Boy Scout and pre-school items in two piles on the bed.  I know, I know, I am just going to have to put them away at a later date, this at least helped me to get a bit more organized though in my decluttering and organizing.  Anything else left sitting around was either put in its proper place, thrown out or put in the pile to give away/yard sale.    Once the floor was cleaned (REALLY cleaned), I set up a play area for the children.  They have all they need to play house and they are so enjoying it this morning.

Once this room is complete, I will declutter each room, one at a time.  My goal is to have this entire process complete by Easter.  Once Holy Week and Easter are over, the Spring Cleaning will begin! If all goes according to plan, my house will be a lovey clean, decluttered, organized home just in time for nice weather and yard work to begin. 

Clean freezers and cooking

I have had a renewed interest in cooking and doing a menu. Friday, Papa Bear and I defrosted, cleaned and organized all three big freezes. I found strawberries in the bottom of the chest freezer I had vacuum packed before we got married (which will be 10 years in July) YIKES! Now that there is a place for everything and everything in its place, I can actually see what I have and am excited to be using it! Unfortunately, I ended up throwing out a 5 gallon bucket full of freezer burnt meat. It's my own fault though, and it did me good to see how wasteful and costly my disorganization can be.

I'm so very happy with the work we accomplished, I have gone out to the garage just to open the freezer doors and admire it all. I'm not being proud or boastful, just feeling accomplished at starting a project and actually seeing it through!

I am now inspired to start cooking again. WooHoo! I am very blessed to be married to a man who enjoys my making supper, but is also completely fine with getting himself something to eat. With the schedules we both keep, we aren't always able to be home at a decent meal time together, which just compounds the problem of cooking. This week seems to be looking pretty good, so I'm going to enjoy some meal planning and preparation.

Monday
Wild hog ribs

Tuesday
Turkey and dressing

Wednesday
Venison ham and beans

Thursday
Crispy oven fried chicken

Friday
Grilled salmon

April Declutter

I had mentioned earlier about a declutter calendar I have been following. I just can't hardly believe how much I've gotten done just by following it daily.

In case you are interested in starting along, you can click here for April's calendar. Honestly, doing one chore each day will soon have your home almost decluttering itself!

On another note, I must once again hang my head in shame as I admit to homemaker failure. Papa Bear was gone for two weeks and in his absence, my kitchen was spotless! Dishes done after every meal...AND put away. Table kept cleaned off. Floors mopped every day.

And then Papa came home...and the day he came home my counter and table looked like they belonged in a hoarder house! What's up with that? I so wish I was one of those women who keep a spotless home at all times. I would love to not cringe when someone stops by for a visit un-announced. I'd also love to be rich and never have to work again, but I don't see that happening either.

Fridge Addiction

I think I may have an addiction to cleaning out my fridge. I have it scheduled for Monday morning, and it seems I'm just itching to get in there and do it. Even throughout the week I *have* to keep it organized. Each shelf is designated to certain items. Heaven help the poor soul who puts a condiment on the left over shelf!

What I'm wondering is how I can get this clean/organized fridge addiction to spill over into the rest of my house?

Start of Spring Cleaning!

It's time! It's time!

With Spring right around the corner, I find myself in the Spring Cleaning mood. I have been doing a bit here and a bit there and this morning I am pleased to announce my kitchen has been purged, decluttered, organized and spring cleaned!

So, two rooms down (bathroom was the first I did), five areas left. I think the next will be the laundryroom. Once it is done, Papa Bear is going to build two more sets of cabinets for me. After that, the whole room is getting a fresh coat of paint and some new curtains.

I love this time of the year when it is barely warm enough to crack a window just a bit to let in some fresh air, yet not warm enough to really get out and do anything. Once it's warm enough to be out, I find I have to literally force myself to get anything done inside.

De-clutter Calandar

A wonderful website was brought to may attention and it is way too good not to share with all you.

http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2012.htm

Each day has one simple chore. It may be to get rid of expired medications, or clean under the bed, or declutter your candles. Yesterday had a chore I found to be great fun: Dance in your living room!

I shared this site with my dear friend Alicia as we are both on the organizational wagon right now. She asked me yesterday how I was doing with it...I laughed and told her I wasn't doing it, I only sent it to her! This resulted in me getting the evil stink eye and a copy of the calendar handed to me with instructions that I would be doing it.

Today's chore is to get rid of hair doo dads you never wear. This should be easy since I went from middle of the back hair to a short bob, leaving me with all sorts of hair doo dads I no longer have the hair for.

Give this site a look and see what you think.

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Closet cleaning time

Fall is upon us and it's time to change our closets and dressers from warm weather clothing to cool weather clothing. Here are some tips on doing just that:


1
Take everything out of your closet. Even your shoes. You can start with the hanging items and move to the folded clothes and drawers. Or start with folded clothes and drawers, whichever is more of a mess. But take everything out.

2
Dust all the shelves, hanging rods and shoe storage areas. You want your closet to sparkle and avoid having dusty marks on your spring clothes, so clean it out before putting anything back in.

3
Clean the inside of the drawers with a damp, soft cloth. This will remove all the lingering little pieces of fluff, dirt, drawer-sachet-explosion and mess.

4
Vacuum the floor and wipe down the baseboards.

5
Wipe down the closet door.

6
Put your spring and summer clothes into storage. Make sure they're neatly folded with tissue placed in easily wrinkled clothes. Use sachets to keep them smelling fresh and mothballs to deter varmints.

7
Pull out your fall and winter clothes. Evaluate each item. If it's stained, set it aside to be cleaned (either at the cleaners or your hamper). If it needs repair, put it into a repairs area. If it's too small, give it away. If it needs ironing, set it in the ironing pile. The goal is to walk into a closet that is full of clothes that you can get dressed into comfortably and quickly.

8
Place your clothes back in the closet and dresser. As you hang them, turn hangers around backwards. As you wear an item, place the hanger the right way. When it comes time to do your spring closet cleaning, you will be able to see which items you are not using and able to remove. Make sure to organize like items together as you put them away.

If your no longer wanted clothes are in good shape, consider donating them to your local thrift store.

Now, stand back and admire your work!

Bedroom checklist

A woman on Prairie Homemaker (a wonderful frugal Christian site) was asking about cleaning/organizing her bedroom. This led me to find something that I could also use as the bedroom is a constant trial in my domestic life. This week, I will be working on following this list.

bedroom checklist

{declutter}
clothes
 if you don't like something in your closet, you probably won't ever like it, so pass it on
 turn all of your hangars around backward and then when you wear something, hang it up the right way
 make a list of any essentials you need for the holiday
 pack away your seasonal wardrobe so that you have more space in your dresser and closet

flat surfaces
 scale back the number of knick knacks and mementos you keep
 clean off flat surfaces and find homes for the things you tend to just set down.
 sort through books & magazines and give away any that you won't read again

storage
 sort through the piles in your room and find homes for the items
 empty the closet shelves and sort through any long-term storage
 in the guest room, organize and sort through your storage to create an inviting space

{clean}
 wash mattress covers & replace any old or worn out pillows.
 wash sheets and hang comforters outside to air out.
 dust ceiling fans & reverse fan direction
 dust high shelves, window & door frames
 dust dressers/tvs
 dust shelves/knickknacks
 clean blinds and shades
 clean windows/mirrors/screens
 spot clean upholstery & carpet
 clean under/behind the couch
 wipe baseboards
 vacuum and/or mop

{maintain}
 don't let flat surfaces accumulate stuff, find a home for the stuff
 don't use your master bedroom as a catch all
 dust & clean glass/mirrors weekly
 pass on any clothes that you haven't worn after 6-8 weeks unless they're special occasion items

Cleaning Bug

This so applies to me!

Well dear friend, there is a bug in my house and I fully intend to take advantage of her visit....I'm talking about the ever elusive cleaning bug! She doesn't make a stop at my house all that often, however, I am embracing her visit with open arms. We sat down together this morning with pen and notebook and pretty much filled the front and back of a sheet of paper with the items we would like to accomplish while she is here.

Tomorrow, my day is completely empty ( I know, what's up with that??!) except for lunch with a dear friend. My bug friend and I are going to get an early start on our list and work straight through the day on it. Our goal is to have at least half of it done by the time we turn in for the night.

Due to previous plans, we may not get gobs of time on Sunday, but we're going to give it our best shot on getting the entire list done this weekend!

Hmmm...if my bug friend and I achieve this goal, I must reward us in some way. I'll have to put my thinking cap on about that. Maybe I'll let Papa Bear treat me to dinner out .

Well, off I go, I'll report back to you all on Monday how it went 'cause I'm sure you'll all be sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear.

Manage my life??

Since we all know my life is about un-managed as can be, I thought it would be a good idea to maybe do something about it. I've already been working towards having some of my nights free....and Papa Bear is sure liking it! It's not enough though. I need a kick in the rear to get me a bit more motivated.

I bought the book Life Management for Busy Women a couple of years ago...and it's been sitting on the bookshelf ever since. Now that I'm sitting outside with the children during the day, I thought it might be a good time to get it out.

The areas of my life that should be 'managed' when I am done with it are:
Spiritual life
Physical life
Home life
Financial life
Social life
Mental life
Ministry life
Time...and my LIFE

[wipes forehead] Phew! If I'm not a more manageable me by the time I'm done with this book, I do believe there is no hope for me!

My short term goal is to write a little something about each one of these areas as I complete it. Nothing like a little accountability to help motivate.

Tidy Tuesday

Today's decluttering is going to be on our purse. Or if you are like me, you have several purses going at one time...please tell me I'm not the only one who does that!

I have a fond memory from my childhood days of watching my mom clean out her purse. She would dump the entire contents out on the table and it was almost like Christmas for us kids as we got to help sort through it all. Change (LOTS of change), mints, gum, wrappers, receipts, tissues, pens (LOTS of pens), wallet, lipstick...the list goes on and on. I remember also how much lighter her purse was after one of these cleanings.

So today, empty that purse out on the table. Get the kids involved by letting them work on matching items...even if it's just seperating out the change. Get rid of anythng you don't need to carry....how many pens do you need, how many tubes of lipstick, is $72 in change really needed?

When this is all done, put it on your shoulder and listen carefully as your shoulder lets out a sigh of happiness!

Tidy Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, dear friends. How did the cleaning schedule go for you last week? I hope you were able to come up with a rough draft to work off of. Don't expect to have it cut in stone right off the bat, it takes time to work up a schedule that really fits. I'm interested in hearing how it is working out for you.

This week is the fridge. Yep...That place where science projects seem to happen all on their own.

What you will need:
garbage can
cleaner (I like my bleach water spray bottle)
cleaning rag, drying towel

Take everything out and decide if it's a keeper or a tosser. If it's not going to be used up, then cut your losses and toss it. After the fridge is empty, pull out the drawers and shelves and wash well. While those are drying you can clean all the gunk that has spilled and has been hiding under the drawers. Wipe the sides and top well. Don't forget to do the door storage area too.

After returning the shelves and drawers, return items. This is a great time to do a bit of organizing. I keep mine in sections:
milk, water and other drinks on top shelf.
Pickles, mayo, butter, cream cheese...the staples, on the left middle shelf.
Leftovers go on right middle shelf.
Eggs and yogurt on left bottom shelf.
One drawer has lunch meat and cheese.
One drawer has fruits.
One drawer has veggies.
Condiments and jelly go in the door.

Now, this is where I have to say, "Hi, my name is Mama Bear and I'm addicted to my label maker". I have gone so far as to label my shelves. Yes, I know it seems a bit odd, but even though *I* know where everything goes, the rest of my family seems to not remember. The leftover shelf is an important one as it cuts down the above mentioned science projects. Also, having a place for each thing cuts down on the 3 open jars of pickles and 2 bottles of ketchup that always seem to happen.

Tidy Tuesday--Schedule

Something different for today instead of just working on a specific area. This week we are going to work on a cleaning schedule. It's all too easy to get side-tracked and before you know it, half the day is gone and the bed isn't even made! A cleaning schedule not only helps to get the daily maintenance done, but to keep the home in semi-order so that it may not get out of control...leaving us feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start.

My schedule is broken down into three categories: daily, weekly and monthly.

Daily
make bed
cat litter
clean bathroom
gather and sort laundry
walk through and pick up each room
kitchen
vacuum
sweep
mop
weekday chore

Weekly
Monday: laundry, icebox, water plants
Tuesday: laundryroom, iron
Wednesday: bedding, bedroom, pantry
Thursday: laundry, dust, wipe down upholstery
Friday: office, iron
Saturday: Family projects

Monthly
check/change furnace filter
pull out icebox and stove
pull out washer and dryer
pull out bed

Do I follow this every day? Uummm...noooooo. But it does give me a guide that helps me. My goal IS to get to this every single day!

Tidy Tuesday

Can you guess from the picture what this weeks challenge is? That's right, this week we are going to hit the bathroom with gusto! I'm not talking about a little wipe down here, I'm talking about nooks and crannies.

Don't be overwhelmed, take it a little at a time. Break it down so that you do a little each day. Listed below are some areas that should be taken care of:

Declutter counter Get rid of of all the do-dads and what-nots that don't belong there and put them away, give them away or throw them away. After the counter is empty, give it a good cleaning..remember to get in the corners and the back splash.

Toilet Use a toilet bowl cleaner ( I like Lyson Cling Gel) and let sit while you are doing something else. After letting cleaner sit, use a cleaning brush or cleaning rag and wipe down entire toilet with cleaner. Remember to get the back of the bowl and the water line.

Medicine cabinet Throw out unused prescriptions and outdated over the counter medications. Wipe down all shelves. Return items in an organized manner. Clean mirror.

Drawers and cabinets Remove all items one drawer/cabinet at a time. Do the throw away/give away of any items that you don't use or haven't used in a while. Don't hold on to it thinking that you will get around to it at some point. Get little boxes or totes to keep like items in. Put all hair spray, gel, mousse, defrizzer..etc. it one box. All make up in one box...you get the idea. Cords to hairdryer/straightener/curling iron can be folded back and forth and place a toilet paper roll over to keep in place. Run toothbrushes through dishwasher. Hair brushes and combs can go through dishwasher or soaked in sink with hot water and dishsoap.

Sink Remove all items. Refill soap dispenser if needed. Spray sink and faucet with tub and tile cleaner. Wipe well and rinse. Shine sink with window cleaner. Replace wiped down items ONLY if they need to be sitting out.

Bathtub Basically same as sink. Keep only items in tub/shower that you need/use. Do you NEED to have 3 kinds of soaps and 2 kinds of shampoos? How can you declutter this area? Wash or replace shower curtain. Wash or replace bathmat.

Rest of room Wash curtains. Dust all corners, even the high ones. Clean vent. Wash all walls. Sweep and mop floor. Pay special attention around the toilet area. Sometimes a good mopping on the hands and knees is best.

Now, stand back and look at your clean and organized bathroom. Be proud of the work you have done.

Declutter challenge

Mel, from Prairie Homemaker, has challenged us to a declutter. If you all don't mind, I'll bring that same challenge to my little blog. Each week we will have a different area to work on.

This week our challenge is to get rid of at least one thing each day. Either throw it away, give it away, freecycle or thrift store it.

Each Tuesday for a while I will be listing the new challenge. Let's all work together and little by little we will declutter our homes.

Menu Monday

Here are before/after shots of the freezer above my fridge. It's all too easy to just open that little door and stuff things in there...even when that's not where they belong. In my cleaning, I found all sorts of things that need to be used up, so that is how we are eating this week.

Before giving my menu, I want you to notice the box in the bottom picture..the one on the top left of the freezer. That is where I will be putting my supper items for the week after I make up my menu. That way everything is right there and ready to be made.

Monday: Venison Steak, baked potato, peas

Tuesday: Venison brats, fried potatoes, sliced tomatoes

Wednesday: Turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, greenbeans, HM applesauce

Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs, lettuce salad, garlic bread

Friday: Going to the fair and making myself sick on fair food!!

Touch it once

We all are busy and so any little tip to save time and steps is a good thing. I've been working lately on touching things once if possible.

When the mail comes, go through it right then and put in the appropriate places...bills paid or where they go until bill paying day, junk in the garbage, recycling in the container...

Grocery shopping: Instead of taking the time to carry bags in and drop them, put the items away right then.

Cleaning: Pick up an item and put it away, not move it out of the way. After your shower, why drop your towel on the floor only to have to pick it up and hang it, hang it right away. After a bowl of ice cream, don't just set the bowl on the counter letting the remaining ice cream to dry and get hard on it. Rinse it and put in the dishwasher.

Laundry: Who hasn't taken the clothes out of the dryer only to leave them sit in a basket. Fold or hang up right from the dryer. This not only gets the job done and out of the way, it saves time on ironing later.

The point is to take care of things right then, not lay them aside for another time. This causes pile up and clutter, which then takes even more time to take care of later.