Spring Cleaning

It's March! It's March! It's March!! I'm slightly excited. Okay, I'm really excited. February is a rough month...it's cold, it's busy, and cloudy. At least that's how it is here. I think that's why February is the shortest month, to get us all through it. I'm excited for the oncoming warmth and bliss. While I'm excited for the warmth, it also means that it is time to get serious about getting my house in order and getting reorganized. That's a daunting task to me this year. I feel a little overwhelmed. But I'm finding some things that are giving me some ideas to help with the spring cleaning and getting motivated to jump into this project and I thought I'd share some of them with you. 

First off, Martha Stewart. Now, don't let those to words scare you off. She has some really neat daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal checklists that seem quite doable. These are definitely on my list of things to try out. 

http://www.marthastewart.com/274764/cleaning-checklists/@center/276998/organizing-checklists

Another cleaning list I found that looks pretty doable is this 30 minutes a week deep cleaning schedule:

http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2013/01/30-minutes-per-week-house-cleaning.html

Our house is in desperate need of a deep clean and I'm hoping those two schedules will help me get that done. I also found these pins that give some great tips on how to get specific items cleaned:

http://www.crunchybetty.com/clean-your-drains-with-baking-soda-and-vinegar-surprise

And natural cleaners are highly popular right now. Here's a great post with 2 recipes for some great natural cleaners:

http://missabigailshopechest.blogspot.com/2011/10/home-ec-lesson-natural-cleaners.html

And the fridge. Isn't that always one of the worst jobs when it gets time to deep clean the kitchen? I hate  it. But I did find an awesome idea that will help me out next time. After I clean the fridge this time I think I'm going to make me some of these awesome fridge mats. Just pull the mat out and clean it rather than having to climb into the fridge and awkwardly balance in the half squat position while trying to scrub the shelves. 

http://www.itsanorganizedchaos.com/tutorials/day-3-the-coolest-spot-in-the-house-just-became-even-cooler-fridge-coasters-tutorial/

In addition to wanting to get the house clean, I want to get organized and put together. I need to get the house where there is a specific place for everything. Right now we have a lot of floaters. Items without homes. But the problem is...we don't really have homes for them. There are a lot of things we need to get rid of, but there are the things we want/need to keep. We just need to create homes for those items. One idea I found will help give new homes to items and it will help free up our seating issue in the living room:

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-build-window-seat-from-wall-cabinets/index.html

I would love to have window seats. That'd by so handy and warm and fun. This is definitely on my to do list for this spring. 

There's a great idea on Miss Abigail's Hope Chest about creating a Homemaking File Box. 

http://missabigailshopechest.blogspot.com/2011/09/homemaking-file-box.html

At first I thought, "Hey! I should just make a Homemaking File Box Pinterest board!" but as I've thought on it I've realized reasons why having a physical box might actually be good. Right now I have full access to the internet at home, but that hasn't always been the case and it may not always be the case in the future, so it would be good to have it all handy and in place. Another thing is that with the Pinterest board, the pins would just be scattered all over the board and I've have to search through them all for the pin I want. With the file box I would know exactly which folder to look in for "Removing stains" or "Planning a Menu".

I've also decided lately that I want to learn to cook with fresh herbs and to have my own little herb garden, but I didn't want to use up counter space. They wouldn't survive outside either (we'll see if I can even keep them alive inside...I don't have a good history with plants). I did find this idea for a hanging herb garden and I love it. 

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/2011/08/18/kitchen-rail-turned-hanging-planter/

This would kill two birds with one stone. I'd have my herb garden, but then I'd also be fulfilling number 3 on this list I'm trying to incorporate in my home:

http://theclassywoman.blogspot.com/2011/03/decorating-mantras-to-live-by.html#.UTJWLzD_l8E

And then there's the decorating. I have so many ideas for how I want to decorate out home. I like a mixture of styles honestly. I'm kind of a shaker/arts and crafts/cottage/county/classic/naturalist kind of girl. Now I know, some of those styles contradict each other a little bit, but I'm slowly finding a way to make them work. Once I get the house clean, I want to try to decorate a little more. I've gotten some good ideas from this little gem from an earlier post we did:

http://www.lincolnapts.com/Apartments/module/blog/action/view_content/?p=542

Here are a few of the things I want to do in my attempt to decorate my home:

The Wall Vases:

http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2012/02/wine-bottle-wall-vase.html

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/5-favorite-wall-vases-119729

A framed pin cushion (which I'd hang on the wall right by my sewing desk):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/made_in_monty/4471670922/

Photos in Pie and Cake Tins for the awkward space between the tops of the cupboards and the roof:

http://homerestyleruk.blogspot.com/2011/10/bake-your-cake-hang-tin-on-wall.html

Pillow Cases:

http://www.honeybearlane.com/2012/01/ten-minute-pillow-cases.html

Embellished Dish Towels:

http://sweetwater.typepad.com/makelifesweet/2011/09/the-fair.html

So I know those are huge projects or ideas, but it's the little touches that can really give a good pop I think. We'll see at least. What plans do you have for Spring Cleaning and decorating? We'd love to see what you've got planned!