Week 2 of my journey to organise and clean my home saw me a little more relaxed and laid back. I had quite a busy week with school commitments, appointments and errands to run so I was glad that some of the jobs scheduled I’d already touched on. Nonetheless, I’m keeping on top of things although the dishes need doing after being out both days on the weekend. I really wonder if it would make things easier for me if I had a dishwasher? Oh well. Here’s how I went.
Day 6 – Bathroom
Not much changed in the toilet. This is a never ending job. I always see a new dirty mark on the walls or a nice little present waiting for me inside the toilet. Those kids of mine are feral sometimes.
Besides the vanity sink and floors, this small room had become a little neglected of late. My vanity is getting a little tired and hard to keep ‘looking’ clean because of rust stains and old taps. I might look around for a new one. I’ve been keeping on top of the washing. Trouble is, I have a 9.5kg washing machine, which is huge, and it is great for bed linen washing and towels etc but for the 3 of us, it takes a while to get a load of whites. I wait until the week’s over to do the whites washing and adjust the water level on the machine. We’ve been keeping on top of the keeping the bathroom clean and shoes are removed outside and not removed in the bathroom, which used to leave half the school’s sandpit on the floor!
This old stool that is in my bathroom belonged to my Nanna. I’m not sure how old it is but she had it from her mother and her mother before her. It is an old chair that the legs have been cut down and the back removed. When my grandparents retired to the Sunshine Coast back in the late 1960’s, as young kids, we’d return from the beach and have to go around to the back door and sit on this stool and wash our feet in a bowl of water to remove the sand. I knew that chair had to come with me. So many memories. I’ve used it to sit on to bath the kids and the kids stand on it to look at themselves in the bathroom mirror. I’ve been tempted to paint it but I kinda like its rough look. I might get around to making a cushion one day for it.
Day 7 – Fridge
Without knowing what was scheduled for Day 7, I’d already given my fridge a clean out the day before, the shelves a wipe out and removed the small container of baked beans from the back of the fridge that were forgotten about. I use document trays to store my smaller jars and miscellanous bits and pieces.
I did a cookbook cull early last year and I haven’t really bought any since then. Besides my favourite cookbooks, I tend to get all of my recipes from the Internet these days. The other part of our challenge today was to start organising our meal plans. I’ve been a meal planner over the years but I don’t do it now. I tend to think about it the night before or in the morning. That’s what works for our small family of three. Here are my thoughts on menu planning.
Day 8 – Spare Room, Toy Room, Craft Room
This was my daughter’s room and now that I have moved her and her brother into his room, it has freed up this space for me to turn it into a combined craft/sewing room and a Lego space for the kids. (Most of their toys are downstairs in the rumpus room but I won’t let the Lego downstairs. Once it gets outside it’ll breed like crazy and start popping up in the lawn and heaven knows where else!) Because I’m currently in limbo, deciding whether to stay in this house or move, I haven’t done much else here other than tidy, remove rubbish, a quick vacuum and a good clean of walls, door frames etc. The curtains were only washed a couple weeks back. If I decide to stay in this house, I’ll be ripping up the carpet and polishing the timber floor boards. I don’t want to have to move too much furniture out so stay tuned and watch this space.
Also, as part of our challenge, we were to look at family responsibilitis and chore charts. This is our most recent routine chart. It’s been like this for quite a while. The kids are pretty used to doing this day in, day out but occasionally it needs a re-print and posted on the wall. Since the age of 2, I’ve been getting them to pick up toys off the floor and do age appropriate jobs. My nearly 8 year old washes the dishes every night (except sharp knives and glasses) and my son takes out the garbage and wheelie bins every Sunday night. They both pack away their folded laundry too. I’ll be introducing more jobs as they get older.
Day 9 – Ceiling Fans, Junk Drawer & Calendar/Diaries
I’d been cleaning the ceiling fans in each room as I went and did the junk drawer the other week prior when I was supposed to clean under the sink, which I’d done only a week or so before. My calendar/diary system works pretty well at the moment with a “Jack & Miss Honey” wall calendar I’ve been using for the last couple of years. There’s a month to a page and about 6 columns across. A column for each person in the family, plus one for bills and one for pets medication or miscellaneous events. It’s right next to my handbag. I’ve tried using Google calendar and syncing it (listen to me) to my new smart phone but find it quicker to hand write things on the calendar.
Day 10 – Oven, Kitchen Cupboards & Tupperware cupboard
I think it had been about 9 years since I cleaned my oven, just before my first born which is such an awful long time. No amount of baking soda and vinegar was going to get the built up, burnt on gunk off my oven door. Other than the oven racks needing a bit of a soak in hot water, the rest of the oven was in relatively good condition. It was just the oven door that was the worst. I’ve hit it twice with oven cleaner and a steel scourer but I think one or two more goes and it should be right again. I usually only use my oven for baking cakes and biscuits now so it should be relatively easy to keep clean from now on.
The only other job I got done from this day’s challenge was to declutter two cupboards in the kitchen. My most used cupboard, the cups and glasses, was all over the place. I’ve still got more glasses to go in here. It was puzzling when I was getting down all the souvenirs I’d stashed at the top of this cupboard and I couldn’t remember why (or what) on earth I would keep some of these things for. I can remember the plastic sake cup I’d saved from a flight from Brisbane to Japan which got a lot of use but that’s now been relegated to the “donate” box (or the bin). I don’t need to hold onto this cup to have the memory. My Tupperware ‘drawer’ will be done during this week sometime. It’s not a major job. I can keep on top of this one now that I am the only one who has to find things in it.
I’m so looking forward to getting my linen cupboard back into some kind of order. I know my winter blankets and rugs will need to be stored but I’m just a bit reluctant to pack them away just yet. In year’s past, we’re still snuggling under blankets until October.
Wow you make me exhausted looking at this. You are amazing!!!
Please don't paint the stool. It is wonderful.
I am glad I am not the only one with the sand pit/bathroom floor issue….
I think you are amazing Anne.
WOW! Anne, you have made lots of progress! Congratulations! 'Love the story about the little stool in your bathroom!
Our home keeps getting better. It's nice to have so much done! I hope you have a wonderful week! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Oh wow! You've been super busy! Now that the kids are back in school I've been slowly trying to do some cleaning and organizing but it feels like it is slow going!
Anne, you have been one busy lady! I really need to get on the ball and organize my home too! 🙂
Wow such remarkable before and after photo's you have certainly been very busy, great work!!!
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