The ABCs of Decorating | C
I know, I know. You came here looking for some kind of awesome secret on home decor and cleaning was the last thing you wanted to do. I'm sorry, but today is just good ol' sage wisdom. You will never, ever, EVER love your house when it is a mess. That may be harsh, but it's the truth. We all have goals we want to meet where home decor is concerned. The very first step is starting with a clean slate..... which is equal to a clean home.
I'm not going to elaborate on the need for organization and cleanliness. I did a short series on decluttering here. I also wrote a post with some simple tips for clutter control. I realize C is not for "clutter-free," but let's face facts: it's much easier to keep a clean house with less clutter!
Here are a few basic things our family does to keep my home clean on a regular basis. It's not perfect by any means, but it's mostly picked up and presentable on any given day. I think the things on this list are quick and easy enough for any family member to do, even the three year old.
1. Run the dishwasher nightly & unload in the morning. That way, you are never short dishes during the day and you have an empty dishwasher awaiting the items you've used throughout the day. My children are usually responsible for the unloading in the morning.
2. Do at least one load of laundry a day. See it through to the folding and putting away. I confess I have not kept up with this the last few weeks and I really do feel the weight of it.
3. Put things away immediately after using them. This is something that does not come natural to me (or my children!), but it makes the world of a difference. If you think about it, a really messy room is just a whole lot of little things that did not get put away after being used.
4. Clean the kitchen as you cook. There are always spare minutes while cooking. Use that short amount of time to wash a pot, put measuring spoons in the dishwasher, etc. That way, when dinner is done, you only have to rinse plates and pack up leftovers.
5. Don't step over it, pick it up! I really need to work on training my children to do this because they are master dodgers. We are all guilty of saying, "I'll get it later." Instead of later, do it now. Again, the little things are what adds up to a giant mess.
Hopefully these little tips help you to maintain a mostly clean home most of the time. If you have any you would like to add, please do so in the comments or on my facebook page. I'd love to hear them!
Room Refresh | Adding pretty to the kitchen.
I am going to try my best to not be too wordy with this post. I know pictures do a great job of speaking for themselves. I recently finished working with one of my first clients. She was an absolute dream to work with as she was willing to go along with all of my crazy ideas without question.
As you can see, she had a beautiful, clean, streamlined kitchen already. She just wanted to add some accents to make it feel a bit more homey.
A great feature of this beautiful kitchen is the cabinets with glass inserts. My client loves them, but felt unsure about how to arrange the contents. Luckily, she has the loveliest set of vintage Noritake china that had once belonged to her grandmother. Because it is something important to her that makes her feel joy, I thought it important to put on display. The set of everyday china was perfect to store in the glass front cabinets. I carefully arranged the dishes for her and she was happy with the result.
The one thing I frequently stress is only keeping things around you that you LOVE. I asked my client if she loved the crystal fruit dish on her island. She liked it, but did not love it for display. She kept it to use functionally, but I assigned her the task of finding a fruit bowl she LOVED. She did a phenomenal job. {Side note - I am now trying to find a similar one in cream for my own home!!}
Something else I asked my client to be on the lookout for were accent pieces for her kitchen. We picked out a few great things on our shopping trip together, but once I helped her define her style, she flew with it! Sometimes all you need is just a tiny bit of guidance.
My client loves the sage green color. Lucky for us both, I had a few things in my stash at home that really suited her style and taste. One of these was the super cute rooster pitcher to the right of the stove. That was the only piece in the picture above that I helped her with. She found the adorable tins on the left and the coordinating pig pitcher on the right completely on her own.
One of my favorite things to do in a kitchen is to put dish soap, hand soap and lotion into pretty soap dispensers. I then like to place the dispensers on a pretty dish or tray. The result is one of my favorite features in her kitchen. It's so silly, I know, but grouping things together like she did above has such a big impact! The tray she used is a bread plate she already had on hand. She purchased two coordinating soap dispensers for her hand soap and dish soap and then added a matching candle. The tray serves dual purpose. It contains the like items in a pretty display AND it catches the small drips of soap and water that are bound to occur on a daily basis.
Another one of my favorite kitchen tips is pretty storage for your single use coffee cups. My client really liked this idea as well. We found this gorgeous carved wood box on our trip together. It fits seamlessly with the rest of her kitchen style and it hides a good number of those all important coffee cups.
One final side by side comparison of her awesome kitchen. As you can see, there really wasn't a ton to do in the kitchen. It was fun to add just a few super pretty accent pieces and storage. Join me later this week as I share her living area and dining room!
20 Bags in 20 Days | An Organizational Challenge for YOU!
In my last post, I shared my thoughts on breaking down the clutter in your home. I also shared a great resource to declutter in 2013. Maybe you are looking for a smaller commitment? Maybe you don't have a ton of decluttering to do, but could still use a bit of a refresher. That is where I stand. So, I've come up with this: 20 bags in 20 days. It's not an original idea. I believe the first suggestion was 40 bags in 40 days and I've seen all sorts of numbers in between. I looked at my calendar. I assessed the needs in my home. I realized this could all be done in time for the beginning of Lent. Just imagine: a clear, clean home in time for all the wonderful reflection of the season. I'm excited about it.
So, here's what you do.
1. Grab a trash bag.
2. Go to your designated spot.
3. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Just 15 minutes.
4. Clean out and clear out!
5. Take that bag to the trash, the thrift shop, your neighbor's house... wherever. Just get it out.
6. Sit back, relax, enjoy less stuff.
PS - This is a list I personalized for the needs in my own home. I'm sharing with you all in order to give you an idea of what may need to be done in your home.
PPS - Yes, I do need FOUR days to concentrate on our school closet.
Clutter | Does it ever end?
A very common topic that comes up when I am speaking with others about home decor and organization is clutter control. No matter how hard we try, it seems to never fully go away. I admit that I am constantly working on getting rid of clutter in my own home and it is still always there. I've just gotten good at hiding it.
Last year, I embarked on a decluttering adventure beginning in January. I documented my experiences, including before and after pictures all the way through April. I quit documenting the decluttering process only because taking the pictures, editing them and typing up a post each week was very time consuming. The actual decluttering was not. It was a very simple process and one I'd recommend again in a heartbeat. If you struggle in this area, go visit Beth at My Simpler Life right now. She has an awesome decluttering calendar that breaks it down week by week. I've said this before and I stand behind it 100% today, it is extremely difficult to have a comfortable, pretty and functional home when it is consumed with clutter. I say it in love, but it is true.
My number one tip on keeping clutter under control is to recycle, donate, throw away, get rid of stuff you do not use or need! I admit because we move every 1 to 3 years, I am forced to do this much more often than the average person. I grew up as a packrat, but I have absolutely zero qualms about getting rid of things anymore.
If you don't need it, don't even bring it in the house. Don't accept free samples, gifts, leftover craft supplies, etc. I am extremely tempted by these things. But you know what happens when I do bring home those free samples, leftover craft supplies, or things other people are getting rid of? They sit in my bathroom drawer unused or in a box on the top shelf of our school closet or worse.... they create clutter in my home. I don't need that and you don't either. Just say no to free stuff!! (Unless you will really, truly use it.)
Bring one in, take one out. Better yet, bring one in, take TWO out. This goes for clothing, toys, shoes, dishes, appliances, etc. We let Christmas win this year, but I still very much intend to get this done by the end of January. For every toy my kids received, we will be donating at LEAST one. (hopefully more) We weed through the kids' clothing regularly and send outgrown items to family members or to the thrift shop. I used to save it just in case, but I no longer do that. I do keep a few very sentimental pieces of clothing that belonged to my children, but certainly not everything. * One exception to this would be if you have the space and you know without a doubt there will be a sibling coming up that could use this clothes, go ahead and store it away. I am all for saving money!
So there are my top three tips for cutting back clutter. It isn't easy and it's not always fun, but the result is so, so worth it. Having a clutter free home creates serenity and a place of refuge from our otherwise chaotic life. Take the time to invest in the peace of your family!
Last year, I embarked on a decluttering adventure beginning in January. I documented my experiences, including before and after pictures all the way through April. I quit documenting the decluttering process only because taking the pictures, editing them and typing up a post each week was very time consuming. The actual decluttering was not. It was a very simple process and one I'd recommend again in a heartbeat. If you struggle in this area, go visit Beth at My Simpler Life right now. She has an awesome decluttering calendar that breaks it down week by week. I've said this before and I stand behind it 100% today, it is extremely difficult to have a comfortable, pretty and functional home when it is consumed with clutter. I say it in love, but it is true.
My number one tip on keeping clutter under control is to recycle, donate, throw away, get rid of stuff you do not use or need! I admit because we move every 1 to 3 years, I am forced to do this much more often than the average person. I grew up as a packrat, but I have absolutely zero qualms about getting rid of things anymore.
If you don't need it, don't even bring it in the house. Don't accept free samples, gifts, leftover craft supplies, etc. I am extremely tempted by these things. But you know what happens when I do bring home those free samples, leftover craft supplies, or things other people are getting rid of? They sit in my bathroom drawer unused or in a box on the top shelf of our school closet or worse.... they create clutter in my home. I don't need that and you don't either. Just say no to free stuff!! (Unless you will really, truly use it.)
Bring one in, take one out. Better yet, bring one in, take TWO out. This goes for clothing, toys, shoes, dishes, appliances, etc. We let Christmas win this year, but I still very much intend to get this done by the end of January. For every toy my kids received, we will be donating at LEAST one. (hopefully more) We weed through the kids' clothing regularly and send outgrown items to family members or to the thrift shop. I used to save it just in case, but I no longer do that. I do keep a few very sentimental pieces of clothing that belonged to my children, but certainly not everything. * One exception to this would be if you have the space and you know without a doubt there will be a sibling coming up that could use this clothes, go ahead and store it away. I am all for saving money!
So there are my top three tips for cutting back clutter. It isn't easy and it's not always fun, but the result is so, so worth it. Having a clutter free home creates serenity and a place of refuge from our otherwise chaotic life. Take the time to invest in the peace of your family!
The Makings of a Boy's Room | Part 4
Add Complimentary Storage Options
One thing is for certain: When you have a baby, you will need storage. In the infant months, it's for diapers, wipes and burp cloths. With toddlerhood comes the invasion of toys and the collection just keeps growing from there. It's best to think about storage options from the beginning. I like to try to find versatile pieces that will grow with our needs.
The Expedit Shelving Unit from IKEA is one of my favorites for this reason. We actually purchased it to store toys in our girls' room. When we moved, it became a storage/display piece in the baby's room.
And as he's grown, our needs have changed. We turned it horizontally once again and it's the perfect height for him to play with his toys on... or to climb on and look out his window.
Another one of my favorite storage options is this laundry basket. I know it sounds crazy, but the color of it works nicely with his room and it's just perfect for throwing in those random toys at the end of the day.
And of course, there is the armoire I discussed in my Part 3. No matter what storage options you choose, remember to think outside the box and to think towards the future!
The makings of a boy's room.
Once upon a time, I posted a picture on Facebook of my daughter studying in her bed. It was meant to tell the story of how peaceful and quiet our home was for all of those five minutes. Instead, it got quite a response from friends about the decor of her room. One response {from my sister}, lovingly stated, "I bet you can't make your little boy's room that beautiful." While it was in jest, I took this challenge head on. My son's room was already cute enough, but it wasn't quite exactly how I envisioned it. Some changes needed to be made, so I got to work..... slowly. Did I mention the photo and comment were posted on April 11? So, six months later, here I am.
Over the next few days, I am going to share with you what I think are key elements of a child's room. Of course, this is just my opinion. But I do hope you find these posts useful or at the very least, entertaining.
Declutter With Me On Monday | Week 13
We are one quarter of the way done! How have you been doing? Can you tell a difference in your home? I have to say, in some places of my homes (such as the ones most recently decluttered), it is noticeable. In other areas that haven't been decluttered since January.... well, they could stand to be decluttered again. I have a tendency to be frustrated or angry at myself for letting this happen, but then I choose to remember this is life. Life is fluid. Always moving. Kids are always, always moving. Most of the time, they carry things with them and move items from one place to a perfectly decluttered space. It happens. So, I choose to stow away my frustrations (for now) and move on to this week's list.
First up, get rid of cleaners you don't use.
We don't really use cleaners in our house other than Norwex antibac microfiber cloths. The microfiber is so fine that it picks up everything. As for the bacteria, Norwex uses silver that is interwoven into the cloths to kill bacteria on contact. I love them. My hubby even loves them. We've been using Norwex for about four years and I don't see us ever going to conventional cleaners again. I did find a random bottle of Clorox wipes under our bathroom sink this past week though. Actually, Sam found it and I promptly threw it out. It's something he obviously doesn't need to play with and we haven't had the need for.
Replace any mops, dusters, brooms, brushes that need it and get rid of the old ones.
We have a Libman upright broom, brush and dustpan that is still going strong. We also have the Norwex mop that is also in great condition. No need for us to replace anything yet, so there is nothing to get rid of either. Love that!
Update your car first aid kit.
For a long time, I had a great first aid kit in the car that I bought at Target for $9.99. It was perfect and had everything you could ever potentially need. About six months ago, I took a closer look at it and realized all but the bandages was expired. I now have a fantastic collection of bandaids. This is a great reminder to nudge me in the direction of replacing the ointments, medications and creams in that kit. If you aren't sure what to put in the kit, click here for a great resource.
Return items you have borrowed to friends, family and the library.
Good reminder! We do have some books & movies to turn in!
Do a quick pick up of clutter areas you have already decluttered.
Yes! and NO!! This is where my hard work truly occured this week. Of course, this is something I pretty much do on a daily basis, you?
I apologize for the lack of pictures this week, but it's basic cleaning out and I didn't feel pictures of my Clorox wipes in the trash can would really be helpful. Stay tuned this week for pretty pictures!
The 2012 Declutter Calendar was created by Beth at www.mysimplerlife.com You can jump in at any time and join in!
First up, get rid of cleaners you don't use.
We don't really use cleaners in our house other than Norwex antibac microfiber cloths. The microfiber is so fine that it picks up everything. As for the bacteria, Norwex uses silver that is interwoven into the cloths to kill bacteria on contact. I love them. My hubby even loves them. We've been using Norwex for about four years and I don't see us ever going to conventional cleaners again. I did find a random bottle of Clorox wipes under our bathroom sink this past week though. Actually, Sam found it and I promptly threw it out. It's something he obviously doesn't need to play with and we haven't had the need for.
Replace any mops, dusters, brooms, brushes that need it and get rid of the old ones.
We have a Libman upright broom, brush and dustpan that is still going strong. We also have the Norwex mop that is also in great condition. No need for us to replace anything yet, so there is nothing to get rid of either. Love that!
Update your car first aid kit.
For a long time, I had a great first aid kit in the car that I bought at Target for $9.99. It was perfect and had everything you could ever potentially need. About six months ago, I took a closer look at it and realized all but the bandages was expired. I now have a fantastic collection of bandaids. This is a great reminder to nudge me in the direction of replacing the ointments, medications and creams in that kit. If you aren't sure what to put in the kit, click here for a great resource.
Return items you have borrowed to friends, family and the library.
Good reminder! We do have some books & movies to turn in!
Do a quick pick up of clutter areas you have already decluttered.
Yes! and NO!! This is where my hard work truly occured this week. Of course, this is something I pretty much do on a daily basis, you?
I apologize for the lack of pictures this week, but it's basic cleaning out and I didn't feel pictures of my Clorox wipes in the trash can would really be helpful. Stay tuned this week for pretty pictures!
The 2012 Declutter Calendar was created by Beth at www.mysimplerlife.com You can jump in at any time and join in!
Seagrass Storage Baskets { Local Finds }
I love these baskets. They are pretty. They are functional. And they will forever tell a story for me.
When we moved into our farmhouse in Simmozheim, we quickly realized we lacked one thing: STORAGE. Our house did not have a single closet or cabinet. We made do pretty well with what we had plus a few armoires from IKEA. One area that proved a little tricky was the bathroom. I don't know about you, but I have a LOT of bathroom stuff. Suddenly, I found myself sharing a bathroom with my entire family. This was going to be a challenge.
I envisioned the perfect solution to our bathroom storage dilemma. Something like this:
Or this:
Heck, even this:
One problem, I couldn't find anything remotely close to these options here in Germany. I looked online and either the item was too expensive to be shipped over here or the option wasn't even available.
A friend of mine told me while living over here you buy what you can when you find it. Basically, you have to settle. I was okay with digging a little more and being more creative. I was not okay with settling. I admit, first I was excited about the challenge. However, my excitement quickly turned to frustration.
I kept looking and looking. Finally, at Mömax I found these lovely sea grass baskets with a hinged lid on them.
I thought they'd be perfect because I could stack them. I put the items rarely used in the bottom baskets and kept the more essentials in the top basket.
I thought they'd be perfect because I could stack them. I put the items rarely used in the bottom baskets and kept the more essentials in the top basket.
We've had them for 18 months now. They worked well at our house in Simmozheim and they have transitioned well into our house on post. I imagine they will be part of our decor family for a long time to come. I can see them having a future as toy boxes or a place to store extra curriculum. Regardless of where they end up. I am sure they will be well loved and look lovely in the process.
{PS to my local friends. If you happen to be on the lookout for products with a safe rating on the EWG's Cosmetic Database, this Pure & Natural soap has a rating of 2 and can be found at the Exchange.}
Declutter With Me On Monday | Week 12
Raise your hand if you or your family has had the stomach bug in the last two weeks. *raises hand and waves it back and forth* I am sorry for the silence around here for the last two weeks. My home has been somewhat of a small time infirmary and/or pharmacy during that time. It has not been fun. But that is life, no? Today we are working hard to get back on track. I have some fun posts in store for you this week.
Back to the decluttering! This week we are working in the bathroom. To be honest with you, I could go back into my own bathroom and declutter again. But I decided to work on our kids/guest bath.
I honestly don't spend much time in here... ever. It gets out of control. It gets really chaotic. Here is our girls' bathroom before:
I didn't need to declutter so much as organize what was in here. I did throw out a few expired items and random things Sam had carried in here. Other than that, it was basic picking up and cleaning. Pretty easy. Now, who wants to come mop the floor?
- Clear out under the bathroom sink.
- Declutter bathroom knick knacks and things on the wall.
- Get rid of multiples of hair dryers and curlers.
- Declutter the shower or bath area.
I honestly don't spend much time in here... ever. It gets out of control. It gets really chaotic. Here is our girls' bathroom before:
I didn't need to declutter so much as organize what was in here. I did throw out a few expired items and random things Sam had carried in here. Other than that, it was basic picking up and cleaning. Pretty easy. Now, who wants to come mop the floor?
Don't forget to spend 15 minutes each decluttering another bathroom or room. My girls and I actually set a timer and do this. Make yourself stop at 15 minutes. You'll be amazed at how much you can get done during that time!
One more week of decluttering and we will be 1/4 of the way done with 2012! Can you believe it?
Declutter With Me On Monday | Week 10
Hello, Monday. I can't believe you're here again. Where does the time go?
This week's pictures are going to be iPhone quality. I wasn't feeling inspired to drag out my real camera and do any editing at all. Hubby's TDY, baby's teething, school girls are whining and complaining. It's a wonder I got any decluttering done at all!
Clean, organize and declutter the microwave area. Here is my microwave area. Normally, I keep kitchen towels on the white tray on top of the microwave, but they are all dirty! Thank goodness I don't do laundry for this blog.
This week's pictures are going to be iPhone quality. I wasn't feeling inspired to drag out my real camera and do any editing at all. Hubby's TDY, baby's teething, school girls are whining and complaining. It's a wonder I got any decluttering done at all!
Clean, organize and declutter the microwave area. Here is my microwave area. Normally, I keep kitchen towels on the white tray on top of the microwave, but they are all dirty! Thank goodness I don't do laundry for this blog.
Empty out, clean and declutter your utensil crock. My utensil crock truly only has the few utensils I use. I did take them out and was pretty surprised and a teeny bit yucked out by the bottom of that crock! Make sure you clean yours out.
Declutter your small utensils and kitchen tool drawer. Get a drawer organizer if you don't already have one. We have very little flatware, so this task wasn't very daunting. We had some old coffee stirrers that needed to be thrown out. Other than that, I only needed to put a baby spoon in it's rightful place.
Clean off one kitchen shelf. I decided to tackle our coffee/tea cabinet. We have quite the tea and coffee obsession in our house. I guess it would be more accurate to say I have a tea obsession. You just never know what kind of mood you'll be in when the desire for tea strikes. Will you want the calming effect of Sleepy Time? Will you want the relaxing Vanille Rotbusch or the Chai? Maybe a little Earl Grey Creme is just what you need to start your day. I digress. Here is our coffee/tea cabinet before and after. Lots of clearing out expired tea, tossing a few packs of cocoa and organizing a few mugs. Oh, and I guess this isn't the correct place to keep the girls' DS and games, huh?
So, that it is for week 10. If you'd like to join in or you are curious about how this whole decluttering thing started, visit Beth's blog, My Simpler Life. Beth has all kinds of tips for simplifying as well as a free PDF download of the 2012 Decluttering Calendar.