Ironing Marathon!

I can't claim to do all of my ironing myself. Since being unwell, I have employed the services of a lovely ironing lady Mrs M, who does most of it for me. This may seem like a luxury (and I suppose it is!) but it really is a much needed luxury! I would love to be able to keep up with the ironing demands of a family of 4, but some days I am just not up to it, so that's where Mrs M comes in.

This week, with school stopping and Easter weekend approaching, I have been concentrating on getting all the laundry up to date; including the ironing. The weather has been fine, so getting the laundry dry has been a "breeze" (pardon the pun) so ironing- wise, Mrs M has done half and I have done the other half of what was needed. This is what I have been working on this morning. It's all folded neatly and stacked on the dining room table ready to be put away.

I think I have earned a cuppa!

Baskets!

My baskets have arrived and they are gorgeous! (Remember I said I wanted one for the front porch area to help with the clutter situation there?). Am so pleased with them. Both are a great size and shape and are fully lined in a nice terracotta calico material. (Sorry forgot to take a picture of the inside - I will get better at this!). I got them from a company called Terracotta Spice - if I could work out how to do a link to their website- I would! (lol)

Anyway, the smaller of the 2 is now in situ at the bottom of the stairs in the front porch. This will be a catch-all for anything which should not be in the rooms downstairs and has to find its way back upstairs!




The larger of the 2 baskets is now in the small tv room at the back of the house. I will use this to store any toys which are kept in this room (more about this room later!). The basket is pretty sturdy and it can even double-up as a coffee table when needed. How efficient!



Anyway must fly - I have a wardrobe to de-clutter!

Day 2 - Sitting Room & Dining Room - The Spring Clean!

Having rooms with quite a minimal uncluttered look is great for speed cleaning, but the one drawback is that as soon as a few things are left out of place it can look untidy very quickly. On Day 2, I concentrated on the front sitting room and dining room. These 2 areas are always pretty tidy but they just needed that extra clean for Spring - especially as the sun was streaming through the window and showing up the dust! There are no before pictures because as I say, the areas were tidy enough to start with, but now they gleam! We have the luxury of having another small family tv room at the back of the house which is where the children can relax with their toys and computer games, so I always try to keep these 2 front rooms as tidy as possible as they are the first rooms you enter from the front porch.

I took everything out of the display unit, cleaned the inside and sorted and de-junked the contents of the cuboards and drawers. I vacuumed the curtains and dusted the curtain track. I cleaned the window and damp dusted all surfaces. With my trusty vacuum, I dusted the ceiling corners and picture frames and then moved all the furniture and cleaned behind and under everything. All paintwork was washed down with warm soapy water and dried with a clean cloth and the floor was cleaned (also behind and under the furniture!) with Lakeland's laminate floor wash and a microfibre cloth. The beauty of Lakeland's floor wash is that you use just a damp cloth wrung out in the solution and leave the floor to "dry" naturally. I have had my leather sofas a long time and everyone always comments on how new they look - they get a lot of daily use - I find the best thing to clean them with is just a barely damp cloth wrung out in some warm water with just a few drops of washing up liquid. Then dry with a soft clean cloth. I have my loose rugs cleaned once a year just before Christmas, so all they needed with a through vacuum (and yes I did clean the floor underneath!).

Anthea Turner (The Perfect Housewife) says that your sitting room should be clean, tidy, uncluttered and a reflection of your lifestyle. I finished these rooms exactly a week ago and with a quick 15 minute clean every other day they have stayed looking exactly as they do in the photos!

Day 1 - Small Area = Big Impact! Finished.

Although it may look as though I have just moved everything, I actually did quite a bit of work in this area - it took about an hour in total.

I started by cleaning and wiping out the shoe storage cabinet - removing any unworn or outgrown shoes for the charity bag (4 pairs!). This made room for all the shoes from the floor! I moved anything out of the area which shouldn't have been there - most of it went to the utility room where it should live i.e. school bags etc.

I dusted the ceiling corners (cobwebs!) with the hoover attachment and then I cleaned the painted walls with a solution of warm soapy water and dried with a clean cloth, wiped down the skirting boards, the radiator and the front door including surround. I then cleaned the glass on the front door window and the side window! Sparkling!

I mopped the tiled part of the floor then vacuumed the carpet and doormats - the result, a bright, light and clutter free area. All I need now is that basket!

Day 1 - Small Area = Big Impact!

The front porch area is a clutter hot-spot!

I thought this would be a good place to start de-cluttering and sorting. I figured it wouldn't take too long and that the difference would be noticed immediately.

Believe it or not, I actually have shoe-storage by the front door (hidden behind the alcove to the left). You will see this in the after picture.

I have ordered a big(ish) lidded storage basket for the area where the parcel and the blue rucksack are. This will be a good collection point for anything which needs to be placed somewhere else in the house (as it is by the foot of the stairs). It should be here in a few days!

My aim for this area was to get it back to the bright, light and clutter free area it once was!

The Starting Point

Ok, I have left it long enough. I need to get organised, seriously organised. Having trawled the internet looking for inspiration, I stumbled across 2 blogs which have really inspired me to get going! The Linen Cupboard and Cleaning Up The Clutter - so thanks!

For the past 12 months I have been dogged by ill-health (it's ongoing, but being managed) and I have fallen way behind with everything and somehow somewhere along the way I have lost my motivation. However, as of today I have resolved to start again and create a clean and organised home for my family.

I have no excuse - I only work 3 days a week and have four full days in a row to create a clean, organised and healthy home!

So here goes! This is the starting point. If anyone wants to follow my journey that would be great, I need all the help I can get!

I am very new to this blogging lark but I will try to post as often as I can (without it getting in the way of the task in hand).