Saturday, March 2, 2013

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. 
Six Things to Do Every Day
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:
30 minutes per week house 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:

select cabinets to fit window seat area
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. 
dremel_plant_rod_1
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:
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:
Creative Ways To Decorate Small Space
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

061710wallvase-01_rect540
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:
Tn_IMG_1008 copy
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!

8 comments:

  1. I love the ways to decorate a small apartment. I'll have to try some out - fingers crossed I don't have to submit a pintrosity to you afterwards. Haha.

    Hope you can stop by and check out my latest posts, one on a box of thanks I'm doing this year. http://msmorgansrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2013/02/box-of-thanks.html

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  2. I did the mat thing in the fridge and I love it...so far :) I got 3 rolls of vinyl lining from the Dollar Tree in amazing patterns. Can't bear $3, right?

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  3. I use Vinegar and baking soda all the time, together or separate! Excellent for kitchen sinks, counter tops, you name it. I also add either baking soda and/or borax to my laundry, it boosts the laundry soap and stain removal, especially if you have hard water. And safe for HE machines.

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  4. What i do takes a bit of time to begin, but none later! Pick a room and clean it, just one room. Clean it up, down, inside out and in and out. Remove cushion, and pillow covers, curtains, and wash them.... Dust behind things, and between things. Get everything that doesn't belong in there out. (This usually only applies if you have kids.) The next day, do a different room the same way, then straighten the already clean room. Do this every chance you get until you've gotten all the rooms, then when you swing back to the original room, it's not as dirty, or messy, and it takes *maybe* half an hour to look the way it did when you were done the first time. I used to clean my whole house in 30-45 minutes, Then I went back to work. *sigh*

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  5. The fridge mats really work! Not only does it make your refrigerator easier to clean but it looks cleaner too. No matter how clean you are its easy to have little spills in there which always seem to stand out even more when your shelves steam up if you leave the doors open too long. I love mine! Just keep in mind they cut down on the light for lower shelves. I left it off of the top shelf and that seemed to help.

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  6. Am I the only person who grew up with salt in the recipe for cleaning drains? My husband was surprised when we got married, the vast majority of people only use baking soda/vinegar/boiling water to clean the drains.

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  7. Thanks for the heads up!! Yes we are ready to combat spring cleaning. Sorting out our cleaning weapons!! It looks very easy if I look through your lenses. I call this post a definite guide!

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