Today my goal is laundry.

Today Ellie and I are staying home until this evening when I drop her off at Taylor's and head to New Consultant Training. SO... I'm taking advantage of the day at home and spending it in the basement! My goal is to finish cleaning the craft room and get all the laundry done. If I stay down in the basement I can actually hear the washing machine ding, which is a plus for getting clothes out without having them too wrinkly! So I have a load of Ellie's stuff in the wash right now and in 45 minutes I'll switch it over to dry and put our laundry in. I'm hoping to get our sheets washed today, too, if I can. Now... on to cleaning the craft room! Just as soon as I figure out what Ellie did to make the washing machine stop mid-cycle while it was on child lock!

Put Away, Give Away, Throw Away!

When I was talking to Erika the other day, she mentioned that she saw these pop up sorting bins on flylady. According to the website, these were made for people who don't declutter using the "Put Away, Give Away, Throw Away" sorting method because they can't find 3 boxes or the bins they try to use aren't the right size, etc. I am SO that person!

Of course, I'm also too cheap to pay for shipping when I purchase something online (which is partly why I offer free shipping on my MK website!) so I headed to Walmart and found the same pop up bins in the laundry section for under $5 each. Of course, mine are the not-so-attractive blue and white, and all 3 of mine are the same color, but they are great for sorting! I set my timer today and sorted down in the craft room and actually made noticeable progress using the bins! And they fold up to pretty much nothing when you're done and want to store them!

So I'm going to have to try this more often... Put Away (the things that belong in other rooms - just carry the bin to the next room and put away anything in it that belongs in that room), Throw Away (a large trashbag fits perfectly inside the sorter to make emptying the trash that much easier! Just tie the bag and pull it out!), and Give Away (this would be my Freecycle pile). It's that simple!

For the first time in a long time....

... my house is clean.

The upstairs is clean, at least. There are some dishes in the sink, but I will get to them in a bit and then they won't be there anymore. But my house is clean.

Eliana decided to take a nap today, so I took the opportunity to pick things up around the place! The bed was already made, so I just had to put away the shoes and dirty clothes in the bedroom. I put away all the stuff that was out in the kitchen and I wiped down the counters. I cleared off the table and put a tablecloth on, and cut some flowers from the garden to put in a vase for the centerpiece. I straightened the rug and dusted the furniture, including the door frames! I even dusted the ceiling fan blades in Ellie's room. Of course, then there were nasty dust bunnies on the floor, so I vacuumed her room. I lit candles in the living room and kitchen, something I really haven't done in a long time. But it feels like home. Nice, relaxing home. Oh, and I tidied up the front bathroom and cleaned the toilet in there.

And it all took less than an hour.

One, glorious, uninterrupted hour.

I just need to do the dishes....

It won't take that long. All I have to do is empty the dishwasher and reload it and then clean up the counters. If I'm really good I should shine my sink since I haven't done it in forever. It won't take long, I just need to do it.

My hope is to go for a walk with Taylor in the morning and then Cheryl is coming over in the afternoon, so I'd really like to have a clean(ish) house when she arrives. But in order for that to happen it would be good if I went to bed with a dishwasher full of dishes and a shiny sink.

So I just need to do the dishes, and I ought to do it right now.

Organizing Frenzy...

I think I'm turning into my mother.

I have been in the mood to organize lately, and I'm organizing up a storm. And not just one room, either... In the last week I have...

• Completely reorganized the pantry, moving the large tupperware items to the top shelf and the juice stores to the bottom. It's clean and tidy and hopefully will stay that way now that I reworked the tupperware situation.
• Sorted through all of the rubbermaid and threw out the lids and bottoms that didn't have mates. I put lids on all the remaining containers and put them back in the box - and it turns out that we don't need the lid drawer in the kitchen anymore, so I'm turning that into my bento drawer.
• Finished cleaning and organizing the laundry center. I think it's going to work out marvelously.
• Sorted and organized items in the under-stairs storage closet in the basement. Moved things that shouldn't be down there and consolidated some totes. It left me with extra room.
• Turned the extra room from the under-stairs storage closet into a gift wrapping station, complete with rolls of wrapping and tissue paper hanging down the wall and a table on which to work. I love it!
• Finished putting away the mound-o-laundry I spent the earlier portion of the week washing.
• Started sorting through Ellie's clothes to pull out the too-small sizes and put them away. That project still needs some finishing.
• Scrubbed the guest bathroom tile floor, hands and knees style. I did it while Ellie was in the tub and now it looks pretty clean.

That's pretty much what I've been up to. The insane organizing bug has taken over and I'm getting lots done. Weirdest of all? I'm enjoying it and it makes me happy.

Help! Help!

I'm drowning in laundry!!!

So much to do... I think I'll be doing laundry all day today and tomorrow, too. Hopefully then it will all be done, because we're out of washcloths for Ellie and running low on clothes for the rest of us, too!

New bedding...

Ah... I love new bedding. We just got some new flannel sheets at Costco for our bed. They're not on the bed yet, but they will be nice come fall and winter. And we got a new comforter and bedskirt set, too. All deep red, just the color I am transitioning things int he bedroom to. It's been a several-year-long project, this color transition, but I am slowly making my way. Leif isn't much into painting the walls any "color", so I've been sneaking color in other ways. A red vase here, a red body pillow there... now we have a big red comforter to cover the bed, so there's really very little left to do! I'd love to get some curtains in there, but we'll have to see. And I think they'll probably be cream like the curtains in the rest of our house anyway, simply because I have more of the material and that way the rooms will look cohesive when the doors are open.

Anyway, since we have new bedding, I figured it was time for a mattress flip and vacuum at the same time. Did that this morning when I put the new bedskirt on. It's very nice! We bought new pillows, too, (since washing them after our camping trip was sort of a soggy pillow disaster) so it feels almost like a new bed all around!

I love new bedding...

Today I Scrubbed...

Today I scrubbed the entryway tiles. They look SO GOOD! I can't believe how long it has been since I last scrubbed them...

Zone 5: Living Areas

These are the things I want done to clean the living room and family room each month:

Living Room:

• Vacuum Couch / Chair
• Straighten Rug
• Dust with Pledge
• Shampoo / Spot Clean Carpet
• Vacuum Baseboards
• Vacuum
• Clean Windowsill
• Wash Windows / Mirror
• Rearrange / Straighten Bookcases
• Check Seasonal Decorations (put out / put away)
• Clean Ceiling Fan Blades
• Cull Magazines / Put Out New Seasons
  

Family Room:

• Swiffer / Sweep Floor
• Straighten Rug
• Rearrange Eliana's Play Area
• Dust Furniture
• Put Away Movies / Games / Toys
• Check Seasonal Decorations (put out / put away)
• Clean Ceiling Fan Blades

Zone 4: Bedrooms

These are the things I want done each month to zone clean the bedrooms:

Master Bedroom:

• Polish Furniture
• Wash Dust Ruffle / Extra Bedding
• Flip Mattress
• Vacuum Mattress
• Wash Windows
• Straighten Drawers / Bed Stands
• Arrange Shoes
• Vacuum Baseboards
• Vacuum Floors

Eliana's Room:

• Sort Toys - Store Unused
• Sort Clothes - Store Outgrown
• Dust Furniture
• Vacuum Baseboards
• Vacuum Floors

Guest Rooms:

• Get out seasonal bedding
• Make Bed (if needed)
• Vacuum
• Dust
• Empty Trash

The shiny sink in each room is the bed.
The hotspot in the master bedroom is the bedstands.
The hotspot in Eliana's room is outside the door.

Zone 3: Office / Craft Room / Laundry Room

These are the things I want done each month for zone cleaning in these rooms:

Office:

• Vacuum
• Dust Piano Keys
• Dust Picture Frames / Computer / Shelves / Decorations
• Organize Closet
• Wash Windows
• Straighten Bookshelves
• Straighten Desk
• Empty Trash
• List Freecycle Items
  

Craft Room:

• Clear Tables
• Wipe Down Tables
• Clean Stamps
• Put Away Embellishments
• Sort and Put Away Paper
• Pick Up Floor
• Vacuum
• DO NOT GET DISTRACTED!

Laundry Room:

• Put away any laundry still down there
• Iron
• Tidy Laundry Area
• Empty Trash
• Replenish Hangers

Zone 2: Bathrooms

These are the things I would like done each month for zone cleaning in the main, guest, and master bathrooms:

• Wash Rug
• Clean Toilet
• Sweep Floor
• Vacuum Baseboards
• Scrub / Mop Floor
• Clean Shower
• Wash Bath Toys
  
• Replenish Toilet Paper
• Replenish Towels (if needed)
• Dust Pictures
• Clean Mirror
• Clean Counter Tops
• Organize Under the Sink
• Replenish Cleaning Supplies (if needed)
  

My shiny sink in this room is the toilet.

Zone 1: Entrance / Dining Room / Kitchen

These are the things I would like to have done in these rooms each month:

Entrance:

• Scrub Entry Tiles
• Wipe Doors
  
• Sweep Porch
• Beat Front Mat
• Check Seasonal Decorations (lights, wreaths, etc. - put out / put away)

Dining Room:

• Dust / Clean window sills
• Wipe Walls
  
• Vacuum Baseboards
• Sweep and Mop Floors
• Wash Windows
• Polish Dining Table
• Finish Table with Cloth, Flowers, Centerpiece, etc.

My shiny sink for this room is the dining room table.
The hotspot is the floor by the garage door.

Kitchen:

• Empty Refrigerator / Clean Thoroughly
• Clean Microwave Inside and Out
• Clean Stove / Oven
• Wash Canisters / Utensil Containers
• Straighten Drawers / Cupboards
• Wipe Walls / Door
  
• Wash Windows
• Wipe Cabinet Doors
• Clean Under Sink
• Deep Clean Sink

My shiny sink for this room is the kitchen sink.
The hotspot for this room is the counter.

Clutter

There is so much clutter in my life right now it is driving me crazy. Not just stuff clutter, either, but I am tackling that right now. I need to clean out the craft room and get rid of the stuff I am just never going to do. Like homemade paper. Not going to happen. Candle making? Nope. There is just a lot of stuff down there that I don't need and can do without.

Now... I just need to find the time to clear stuff out down there and organize so that everything has a place and is in its place....