Wearing Dreses & Skirts - Day Five - Detailing & DeclutteringDay Five - Monday
Back on schedule with things today I did my House Blessing...
Blessing Your Home
Monday February 6, 2006
7:00 am - 8:00 am
This event repeats every week.
Notes:
Let's take an hour and bless our homes. I usually start in my kitchen and work my way around cleaning each bathroom. I end with vacuuming and mopping my floors. Dusting is done when I detail a room. |
I went into a little more detail of what I do when I bless my home on Wearing Dresses & Skirts - Day One (Thursday).
Everyday of the week, with exception to Sunday, I have an area of my home that I spend some time focusing on the details. On Mondays I detail the Master Bedroom...
Detailing
Monday February 6, 2006
8:00 am - 8:00 am
This event repeats every week.
Event Location: Master Bedroom/Bath Area
Notes:
Detail List:
Change Bed Linens
Laundry
Dust (furniture, blinds, pictures, molding trim above doors, etc.)
Vacuum (don't forget under the bed)
Wipe down baseboards and doors
Declutter
(Changing the bed linens)
Everyone in our home has a day where they too detail their room. We all change our sheets, wash them and put fresh ones on our beds and any laundry we may have. Monday is Blaine's and my day to detail our bedroom and wash any laundry we may have.
(Dusting)
Starting from the ceiling...I work my way down to the baseboards. One time when our son, Christopher, was home on leave watching me do my detailing and his comment was..."Mom! You would do well in the Navy!" When I asked him why that was he told me that they too work from the ceiling down when cleaning.
Don't forget that ceiling fan! Boy does that get dusty fast! I finish this off with wax polish. Maybe no one really notices your ceiling fans but I bet you will now! <smiling> I continue swiping (I use a lamb's wool duster - it picks up and holds onto the dust better) and then finish off with the baseboards. Our baseboards are wood and need polishing but if yours are painted...a nice warm washcloth will do a nice job cleaning off the stains/dust that mysteriously appear there.
Once the ceiling has been dusted for cobwebs and the door and door frames have been swiped and baseboards wiped down...I go back through with my furniture polish. Making sure to pick up items as I go along and dust underneath. If there any magazines or books on your night tables...now is a good time to go through them and organize them or donate. If you have little ones who want to help mommy...grab a pair of daddy's tube socks and put one on each arm and let them dust right along with you. It is silly looking but fun...you can't help but giggle when they have daddy's socks that come up all the way past their elbows!
I then go around and spritz my glass and mirrors with the blue stuff. After dusting the wood with furniture polish it tends to leave a greasy mark around the edges of the mirror...so a quick spritz and you are almost done!
The last thing I do is use the vacuum cleaner. I vacuum the floors and get that little nook & crannie area between the carpet and the wall that collects dust and everything else.
With this done I can now put fresh clean sheets on my bed, put my items away, check on the laundry and treat myself to a nice cup of coffee or tea. This detailing task only takes me about 15 - 20 minutes. It used to take me forever to do because of all the stuff I had cluttered about in our bedroom. I try to keep things uncluttered but still I try to have it look nice with our little trinkets and treasures. Cleaning is so much easier when you have decluttered. You are not only free from the clutter but free to do the things you want to do throughout the day. If you have not decluttered your home yet...might I suggest you try just doing the basics and then start on decluttering your home...room by room. I have a Decluttering & Challenge listed in the left side module to let you know what I did. Before you read that it is written in a day to day format...in no way should you expect to declutter each room of your home in a day if you have not even begun. Take a week to devote to a room. If you are a work outside the home lady...than devote 15 - 20 minutes a night to each room until you are able to complete the decluttering process.
On to decluttering. Here are some before pictures of our closet...
Not too bad but not good either. This is a project I wanted to do when I had some time but with moving here back in November, company and working on the magazine...this had to wait. When working on a task that may take a long time I follow that 45/15 rule. I work for 45 minutes and rest for 15.
When you have a big task ahead of you and it seems overwhelming...break it down! How do you eat an elephant? Bite by bite. I started by pulling out all of my scarves and hung them up where I could see them and can coordinate with my outfits. I had some out but the others were still in the bin we had when we moved in back in November.
Next I collected all my shirts and blouses and sorted them by color and then within their colors I sorted them by short sleeves to long sleeves. As I am going through my clothing I'm sorting "out" the things I don't wear any longer or is starting to look a bit worn. I have two piles set up...one for donation and one for trash. I have had some ladies comment that they are in between sizes or want to lose weight before they go through and declutter their closets. May I suggest something again here? Wear what looks good on you right now...that fits you right where you are at. When you wear clothing that makes you feel good about yourself...nothing baggie or too tight...you will take better care of yourself and your eating habits will change as well. It works!
Next our sweaters were folded neatly and placed in a bin that I had propped up sideways. Works great and I didn't have to buy anything new. Sometimes we see those closet organizers and want that for our closets which is a great thing and I love those neat and clean organizers as well...but don't let that stop you from organizing your space with what you have. No need to spend a fortune or wait for the perfect time or perfection - just get in there and do it!
Shoes were gone through and I grouped according to usage in a shoe organizer that hangs from the rod. The ones I wear most often go on the top. Purses were hung up on hangers and the miscellaneous items went inside the baskets. Looks much better and now Blaine and I can easily find our clothes and put outfits together.
Here is what went in the donation pile...
That's two kitchen bags full along with a grocery bag full of trash.
Tomorrow...Pick a Drawer! In our Making It Home Support & Encouragement Group on Yahoo we have a reminder every now and again to just pick a drawer! We also get reminders about getting dinner started. I will go into that as well.
On the magazine front...I am so very pleased to hear that ya'll are finally receiving your issues. This was the first time we used and were able to use a permit from the post office. We did not realize it would take longer for you to receive and we are working on making sure the next issue arrives to you on time.
I pray that God Bless you all in your efforts in making your home...home!
Catherine | 
I am not a nick nack type of person at all but others haven't caught on yet. You are right the less you have the easier to clean! I was telling dh, who tends to be a pack rat, around Christmas time that if we could get rid of the unneccesary stuff in our house it would make it much easier for me to keep things more tidy. Thankfully, he agreed and has given me his full blessing to rid the house of anything that just sits around and collects dust. YAY!! I have been lining boxes and bags of stuff in the hallway for him to take out almost every day. I can't tell you how freeing it has been for all of us! Now I need to downsize on the toys...
