Friday, March 5, 2010

Cleaning for the Cleaner - DAY 5 of the GIVEAWAY

Why you ask?
Why is my living room furniture sitting on the back patio?
Why is my couch stuffed in the kitchen?
Why are the kitchen chairs feeling right at home with the outdoor swing set?
Why is the pup sleeping on the indoor rugs outside?



Today a good friend of ours is coming to clean our carpets. Can I get a whoop whoop!!! He is a professional floor/carpet cleaner who maintains several of the largest buildings in the city. From marble to vinyl, he has done it all.

So you can imagine my delight when he offered to bring the fancy cleaning gizzmos to my home and clean the carpets - for FREE! Oh my word! What a blessing!


But I have discoverd something: it takes a lot of work to clean in preparation for the cleaner-guy! Everything had to be cleared out before he got here. And since hubby is not feeling well, guess who enptied the main living space. And guess who might be suffering from another pulled muscle tomorrow.

Yep, that would be me. I just may very well be immobile by tomorrow, but if it's all for clean carpets.... it's worth it!


I really thought that I was more organized. But it seems you just can't get a real grasp on your organizational needs till you have to clear half a house by yourself and put it back together in one day. Interestingly enough, I came to 5 organizing conclusions as I shuffled things around.

1. I had no idea that the pup buried so many of her treats around the house. Note to self: buy new brand of treats for pup.

2. No more crafting in the living room without a trash can right next to me. No more of this, “I’ll pick up all the scraps when I’m done.” Famous last words.

3. The time has come to find a new home for my wonderful cookbooks. They are too big for the tiny cookbook cupboard and they can no longer have a permanent stay in the living room. Cookbooks, this is your final notice: find a new room to move into!

4. There are way too many unfinished crafts in this house! What is my deal? Where did I lose my inspiration? I’d like to think of it as having saved their completion for my blog, but who am I kidding…. I just got distracted. Refocusing as we speak… Attention all crafts: you WILL be completed!

5. Clutter control needs to happen right now. Do two people and a dog really need this much stuff? Nope! That’s why I am declaring tomorrow Donation/Decluttering Day and hubby and I are making a trip to Goodwill’s donation drop off….. and then a “once through” the showroom floor. Hey, you can’t get that close to a thrift store and not just pop in for a minute… or two.

So in honor of my official-unofficial declaration of Donation/Decluttering Day, the newest addition to the giveaway is this cute Organizer. It has 8 files inside, perfect for recipes, receipts, coupons, scrapbooking odds and ends, etc. Just the perfect item for a decluttering mission.

For today's entry in the GIVEAWAY, leave a comment below telling me your best decluttering or organizing tip. Feel free to share as many as you like - the more ideas the better! Just remember that it all counts as one entry.

So what are you waiting for? Spring is {kinda sorta on it's way} here! Time to declutter, freshen up and clean our homes. Today we work... tomorrow we can all colapse of exhaustion together. I'll bring the ice cream, who wants to bring the Aleve?

All photos taken by yours truly.

8 comments:

  1. I started going through my kitchen cabinets and getting rid of everything that I didn't use. I decided that every time I went to the bank, I would take a load of stuff to the thirft store. (They are near each other and my only reasons to go to that end of town.)

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  2. I need help in that area myself! One thing I HAVE done is sort my kids toys into plastic containers with lids, and put them on the shelves in their closet. Blocks in one, play food in one, cars in one, etc. This way, if they want to switch what they are playing with, it has to be put up before something else can be gotten down.
    Rebekah {All Thingz Related}

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  3. I guess mine would be mail that piles up! When I get the mail from the mailbox as I am walking up the driveway with it - I go thru it, throw out the junk mail in the recycling bin before I even get in the house!!

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  4. My little 'ol house is in a constant state of disorganization...it's sad. I told my Hubby the other day that I don't want to live in too big of a house, if I can't keep the 750 sq foot house we have now organized I definitely don't want more room to make a mess in!

    Tips, um...let's see. One of the main ones I can think of is kinda obvious. Don't have more stuff that you have room for. That and use EVERY inch of space you can for storing what you do have. I know, pearls of wisdom there, huh?;)

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  5. I am a neat freak and I love having everything organized. My hubby could care less about that stuff, but my son is good at putting things where they go- thankfully!

    I think it helps to store things close to where they will be used. Attractive & practical storage containers make me very happy! And you need to be constantly going through things to evaluate what you can get rid of & what would make more sense somewhere else.

    It's all about having a place for everything you have & keeping those things in their place!

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  6. I think all crafters must struggle with clutter, because we are more likely to have a lot of stuff (GOOD, USEFUL, IMPORTANT stuff, of course, lol).
    I read about a family recently that played the "500 game". They picked a day, and spent the day finding 500 things that they could throw or give away. While doing this, they set rewards for each 100 things, and they made it really fun. Recently, my kids and I did this, too! It took us about 1-1/2 hours to find 500 things (pathetic, I know--it should have been MUCH more difficult!). I am hoping that we will be able to do this again SOON!
    I also have tried hard lately to use what I already have, rather than buying something new. STUFF takes time; the more stuff, the more time it takes. So my goal is to save time by getting rid of more stuff! :-)(Sounds good, but I'm not too good at it yet, lol!)
    Hope you're not too sore! But Happy Clean Rugs!!
    *smiles*
    debbi

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  7. I'm generally a pretty organized person. At the moment, though, the only tip I can think of offering is this: If you don't use it, lose it. I have a rule of thumb that if I haven't used it, seen it or thought of it in one year, it gets donated. If it's a big/expensive item like skies or golf clubs then I stretch the time to 5 years.
    Patricia :o)
    PS: I go through my closets about once a year.

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  8. I just cleaned my spare bedroom closet, and transformed it into my craft closet. It was a total mess. I used a lot of binds, and got rid of all kinds of stuff we didn't use or were broken. Two T.V.'s that didn't work gone. Why were we keeping them? Hubby maybe thought he could fix them..

    You can go here and see the before and after photos..

    http://lifeaslori.blogspot.com/2010/01/ive-organized-closet-and-made-it-my.html

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