Rewind to just a few years ago and I was a slamming good housewife. Our home was always tidy, closets and drawers were organized, our laundry room floor was visible. Then, one day, it all changed. In early fall last year I decided to take a leap of faith and open up my little stationery shop on Etsy. Starting Delightfully Noted has been one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done for myself but as you know everything comes with its challenges and maintaining my household while running a store has become one of my biggest struggles. Somewhere between my personal and business "to-do" lists I've lost control of my tidy home. I’ve decided enough is enough. I am sick of being in a state of disorganization; it drives me cray-cray. You know the feeling right {just tell me "yes" so I can feel better about myself..hehe} Since bombing my house and starting over seemed a little on the dramatic side I decided I needed to implement some techniques. After all it seems to achieve great things you always need a plan. My goal is to give my plan a try and who knows maybe one day soon I will be that annoying fun-loving organized housewife again who:
- Welcomes neighbors and friends to stop by unannounced with out feeling like a participant of some game show where you have 60 seconds to do a clean sweep of your home before opening the front door.
- Enjoys being a couch potato for one night, guilt free.
- Remembers what a real "weekend" feels like, not one where I spend it covered in clorox and bleach {wait, that sounds like a potential explosive disaster!}
- Wakes up to my husband asking “good morning am I in the right house?” instead of “ I’m out of clean boxers….again”
{Image via Mail Online}
I know I am not alone in my quest to simplify my life and bring back some sanity into my home so hopefully these tips will prove just as helpful to you! My strategy to get my house back under control is a delightful combination of tips that I have gathered from others and techniques that worked for me in the good old days.
Household Tips
Make it a game~The timer game is one that use to work wonders for me when I was in college and when I lived alone in my first apartment. Of course cleaning a 725 square foot dwelling is a cakewalk compared to cleaning a whole house! I decided once a week I will set a timer and devote 1 hour to cleaning. The hour will be divided into 4 fifteen-minute blocks. These 4 periods will be assigned to the 4 rooms in our home that seem to collect the most clutter and mess; the kitchen/living room, master bedroom & bathroom, and my office. The point of the game is to see how much you can tidy up in each room before the timer dings.
15-minute pick-up~ Give myself 15 minutes every day to go through my home and pick up and put away stray items, sort my mail, start the dishwasher. All these little things add up!
Speaking of small things~Stay on top of the little things right away! Wiping down our bathroom sinks and kitchen counters once every day will keep them from growing into a larger mess later. Keeping a tub of those Clorox wipes in both your bathroom and kitchen should make this task easy peasy.
Sort Mail before it hits the counter~ Go through mail the second I pick it up from my mailbox. This is one chore I am actually pretty good with. Store your recycle bins in your garage or near an entrance like your mudroom and once you grab your mail you can sort and trash junk mail prior to entering your home.
Get into a routine~ Out of all my household chores laundry is my Achilles heel. I am amazed in an overwhelming way how much laundry we produce and we don’t even have kids yet! My plan includes doing one small load of laundry a day and clean laundry needs to be put away the minute it comes out of the dryer {can you hear my enthusiasm?} Seriously, if you're a laundry hater like myself wouldn't it be nice to see a little of your laundry floor again?
One Project a week~ Once a week I need to devote some time to my organization projects such as the junk drawer, linen closest, craft supplies, etcetera. It doesn’t matter if I work on the project for 15 minutes or an hour. Most of the time people will find once they start a project they can’t stop and either way doing something is better then nothing!
Well, I am hoping that since I am sharing this plan and will continue to report on my progress that it will force me to be more accountable! I can hear you now “go clean your room!”
Tell me what is your household Achilles heel?
