Category Archives: Cleaning
Packing Away Christmas
This weekend I am packing away my Christmas decorations. I have been postponing since I just got back from Maui. I didn’t feel like I had enough time with my tree this year. I could tell our tree felt the same and didn’t want to go. He stayed fresh and fragrant until today.
To Nate’s chagrin, I bought new storage boxes for my ornaments. I may have an unhealthy appreciation for organizing supplies, but I truly felt I needed to start taking care of my heirlooms. I had a scare when I pulled out all my Christmas stuff and couldn’t find the majority of my Grandma’s ornaments. I had them stored in a nondescript, reused IKEA box. For a second I was certain we accidentally threw them away and my heart sunk until I found them safe in the shed.
After the scare, I vowed to take better care of my keepsakes and bought three containers specifically for the ornaments. I won’t misplace those beautiful glass bulbs ever again.
And what did I do with the old IKEA box? Well, Loki decided it was a perfect hiding spot. Nothing goes unused in our house.
Organizing my stuff
With some recent changes to our bedroom storage, I have had to relocate my clothes into my office closet. It has made me really take a look at what I own and see how I can cut it down. Although this is really difficult for me to do, I am determined to make my wardrobe the size of my closet not the other way around.
There are many different articles (here, here, here and here) and blog posts (here, here, and here) about how to go through your clothes and organize your closet so I won’t bore you with that.
I will just say that I have made a big dent by really looking how certain clothes fit me and also being honest about what clothes I actually wear to work and on the weekends. I think every girl has a secret hope to be a TV version of themselves that is coiffed, fashionable and perfect 24-7, but in reality most of us don’t often really go there. I impulse buy a lot of things I wear once and then never wear again. Those are the particular items I am going through right now. I also have pieces I don’t currently wear, but know will come back into style or are seasonal, like swimsuits, so I want to keep them. I am creating a special container for those items.
As far as the structure of my closet, I have made an effort to actual hang up most of my clothes, so I can actually see them versus cramming them all into a drawer and never seeing the light of day. This has also helped me weed through my many t-shirts since there was quite a few that I didn’t feel deserved to be hung up.
Above my clothes, I have a wire shelf for all shoes. I purchased this at Home Depot where they cut it down for me to size. I like have my shoes at eye level so I can see all my options in the morning.
The shelf at the very top of my closet holds my boots and a container of purses when I am not using them, plus office supplies.
I also have one dresser inserted into the left side of the closet. This holds my pjs, workout gear and undergarments that I don’t want on display even in my closet. The dresser wouldn’t fit in the room so it works to have it in the closet for now and compartmentalizing all my clothes into my contained space.
This is definitely a work in progress. I want to see how it works for me this week before I make final adjustments. I’ll give you a full tour of the office once I complete it in a week or so.
Consolidating the Madness
I have been slowly building a pile of odds and ends for the Goodwill store this last week. Nate and I have to temporarily move out of our bedroom and master bath in a few short days. Everything is being relocated into my office and the linen closet.
I am bound and determined to get rid of items as I go. So far, I have emptied out the bathroom and my closet. Now I am working on moving the rest of the bedroom. I have also gone through my office to make room.
Sometimes, I am amazed at the amount of crap I have. We only moved into this place a year ago and I feel I have begun to really fill it with endless amounts of clutter. It’s disheartening. I don’t want to be labeled a pack rat, but I definitely have the tendency to store. This cleaning exercise is tedious but well worth it. I should only keep what I need and cherish, not the rest.
Bargain Find: Reusable Microfiber Cloth
Well this is a silly post, but I couldn’t help myself. Sometimes you find a item in the bargain bin that seems too good to be true.
With concrete floors throughout the house, I like using my Swiffer to dust between sweepings, but I hate the waste and cost of the disposable Swiffer cloths.
I have seen a few patterns online to make your own reusable cloth, but I have to admit I am lazy and don’t see myself spending the time to make one.
I have also tried other products, but they don’t fit quite right on the Swiffer. (I know -crazy- since they were made for others mops!)
So guess how excited I was to find a pack of two microfiber cloths in the dollar bin at my local Target.
They fit perfectly over the mop and for $0.50 each I was able to get a bunch for the price of one Swiffer mop pad pack.
Woo hoo! Major score.
Working off the rust
You may remember our cute cast iron stove. In its original location, it was a fire hazard so we decided that when we painted the great room we would move it.
Well, when it was finally moved it into the back porch it began to rust. Its a natural thing – rust – but not something I really wanted to have on my new outdoor fireplace.
All untreated iron rusts or oxidizes. The trick is to coat the iron with something that is air tight. I decided to use Rust-oleum’s High Heat spray paint which is made specifically for this purpose.
I started by sanding down the rust and cleaning the stove as much as I could. Then I sprayed a coat of the Rust-oleum and let it dry before applying a second coat and letting it dry overnight.
And then it sat outside for a week and rusted again.
So I guess I need a few more coats! I’ll report back on how many coats it really takes.
