Day 16: Home Upkeep

I am beginning to wonder how I am going to be able to maintain all of the work I have been doing this month. I mean, at one point my house was organized, but look what I let happen. I let my house get to be a huge mess. What's the point of doing all of this work if it isn't going to stick?

Answer: I'm not going to let it go back. I decided that I needed to come up with a system for maintaining  Something written down and posted so that I know what I need to do everyday.
This is what I came up with:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8KY06Gol1GJWnZ5VEx6dlVBMEU

Now, all you have to do is type "cleaning schedule" into Pinterest and tons of these templates come up. Simply customize them so that they work with your house and your schedule.



This is day 16 of a 31 day series. To see the rest of the series, click here.

Day 15: Bathroom Drawers

Before...

Everything was just thrown in the drawers wherever it would fit. The hair dryer and straightener were on the counter, but the the cords were strung into the one of the drawers. It was a hot mess.

I decided to relocate the hair appliances (to be posted later this month). This way I could have my own drawer and Colin could have his own drawer.

First I sorted and separated my stuff from Colins stuff.

I bought these little organizing baskets today. They were 3 for $1.34 at Walmart in the kitchen section. 

I put all of my hair ties, bobby pins, and my hair scissors in one tray. I put all of the manicure stuff in the manicure set case. The case, nail polish, and a couple other things were put in another tray. I put the rest of my stuff, including my lotion, body spray, hair brushes, etc., back in the drawer neatly.




I took all of Colin's nail clippers, tweezers, etc and put them in the remaining tray. Then I neatly put everything else in the drawer.

...After

This is day 15 of a 31 day series. To see the rest of the series, click here.

Day 14: Baby Dresser

Before...

I try really hard to keep on top of Rowen's clothes. I try to go through and take out stuff that is too small every month or two and straighten out her dresser. Lately its seems like the second I take out the next size up, she outgrows it too. I don't know how many times I have gone to put something new on her, and it be too small. It seems like such a lost cause, that I have been seriously neglecting it.

First I took all of her drawers out and dumped the contents into a huge pile in the middle of my living room.

Then I sorted everything into keep and give away piles. This was really hard. Its really easy to get sentimental and nostalgic with baby clothes. I would remember what she looked like when she would wear it, how small she is, what if we have another baby that's a girl...then I would have to remind myself to be realistic. They are too small, they are taking up space that we really don't have, and we are not even planning on discussing having more children for at least 5 years. Do I REALLY want to hold on to them that long? No, no I don't. I put away a couple things for nostalgia sake, but everything else went into a box to give away.

The remaining clothes were those that still fit Rowen. Now, this probably seems silly, but I actually looked up the most space efficient methods of folding baby clothes..I know, I know...it's really not that hard...but... every time I fold and put away clothes I find that it's really difficult to fit everything in the drawers, or I have to  tear through the drawers to find something, which ends up making a huge mess. So, I found this video by Baby Riddle and followed it.

I also found this picture on Pinterest on how to fold 2-piece pjs! Its originally from the blog Attempting Aloha. I was browsing it today, and she has some really awesome ideas for storing and organizing kids stuff.

The PJ drawer has always been a major problem for me. No matter what I tried I could not get everything to fit. Following the video and the step by step picture, I was not only able to fit all of the PJs in one drawer, but I had room for her Babylegs and socks too!

...After...

Following the video, I folded and put away the remaining clothes.

I put all pants and dresses in one drawer.

...After...

And all onsies and shirts in another.

...and After.

This is day 14 of a 31 day series. To see the rest of the series click here.

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Day 13: Under the Kitchen Sink

Before...

I pulled everything out for a fresh start.

So... we have a lot of plastic bags. we usually use the cloth shopping bags, but sometimes forget them at home. We reuse the plastic grocery bags for our smaller trash cans. Apparently we weren't using them fast enough. 

So, I took out 20 to keep, the rest we returned to the store.

The 20 I kept I put in an empty Clorox wipes container. I followed this tutorial so that they pull out one at a time.

The rest of the stuff I neatly organized and put back.

...After

I want to start making my own cleaners. What are some recipes that you use?

This is day 13 of a 31 day series. Click here for the rest of the series.

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Day 12: Making the Most of Your Days Off

I am home 4 days out of the week (Friday-Monday). However, instead of being productive and doing fun things, we usually stay home and relax. I put everything off until Monday night and am scrambling to get things done. Where did the weekend go? Why didn't we do fun stuff?


This is the culprit:

Now, ok..this is an exaggeration.. This picture was taken at 4am one morning when Rowen decided it was a good time to get up. I turned on Dinosaurs and we snuggled until dad got up. We don't spend our entire time camped out on the couch watching TV. We get down on the floor and play, sometimes we go (window) shopping, and we go for walks around our complex.

But I am always wanting to do more.

I want to expose Rowen to more than just our apartment.I want to get her outside and play. I want her to become more social, especially she is already having a hard time with people who are not Colin or myself. I want to do fun things with her, even if she wont remember it now, someday she will and I don't want her to reflect on family time as what TV shows we used to watch.

Last Friday, we went to the fair. If you want to see more, you can click here. It was so much fun to get out of the house and spend time together as a family. I want more of that.

I think that organizing day to day activities is really important when it comes to being productive and succeeding. So I decided that I am going to try to add a little more structure to my day.

Last night I jotted down a couple things I wanted to do and a couple things I needed to do today:

1. Go to the park.
2. Go swimming (weather permitting).
3. Bake cookies.
4.Finish a couple of homework assignments.
5.Finish up tomorrow's blog.

Not a very exciting list, but when you spend your days cooped up at home, bored, its nice to have some direction.

1. Go to the park.

2. Go Swimming
Unfortunately, it was cloudy and cold out so we could not go swimming.

3.Bake Cookies
Apparently we ate more eggs than I was expecting this week, so I was unable to bake cookies.

4. Finish Homework Assignments
While Rowen was napping, I was able to finish all of my homework that is due next week! Woo hoo!

So, it may seem like today was a bust. I only managed to get 2 things done on my list. It wasn't a bust at all. The point of today was to organize and put structure to my day. I did that. No, things didn't work out like I wanted to, but the point was to do SOMETHING. And I did that. I completed 2 things on my original list. I replaced the remaining things with things I was able to do today.
Instead of going swimming, we went and exchanged a pair of too small baby pants and saw a friend at the mall.

Instead of baking cookies, I cleaned my kitchen and washed all of Rowen's fall wardrobe,

If you cant do everything you want, do something...anything... You wont regret getting things done and there will be less to do tomorrow.


O and as for number 5 on my list..I guess you will just have to check back tomorrow ;P


This is day 12 of a 31 day series. To see the rest of the series, click here.

Day 11: Living Room Bookshelves

Before....

Bookshelf 1

Bookshelf 2 

Clutter, Clutter, Clutter... Story of my life.
Lets start with Bookshelf 1.
The majority of the bookshelf wasnt that bad.. The bottom shelf was the worst.
First I pulled everything out.


I found about 4 inches of old notes. Because of the field I am in, the information I am learning now, probably wont drastically change in the next 100 or even 1000 years. The human body is most likely going to remain close to what it is today. As a result, I want to keep my notes. They will serve as resources for the entirety of my career. However, 4inches worth is a bit much.

I took my notes and copied them so that they would be printed front-and-back. They now took up half of the space. I then put them in binders by subject. I put dividers between each subject and Voila! They now occupy 1 binder, rather than 3.





I straightened everything else and put it back on the shelf in a nice, neat manner.

I cleared off the top of the shelf as well, which was covered in old Carters coupons, the TomTom box and other random things.

After...

Now on to Bookshelf 2.
This shelf was much worse than the first one. It was full of random papers from 2 years ago, a mess of books that were just lazily thrown any which way that they would fit, along with other random things.
I pulled everything off of the top and out of the first shelf, (since thats where the bulk of the mess was) and put it in a pile on the floor.

I then sorted the pile into 2 smaller piles; a keep pile, and a toss pile. The papers in the keep pile were sorted and put into designated places (manila envelopes in the end table). The books were put back on the shelf.





I took the purple yoga mat and inflatable boat that were  in the corner and put them away. I relocated our floor lamp in their place. Two of my books were to tall to fit in the bookshelf, so I set them against it instead.

After...

This is day 11 of a 31 day series. To see the rest of the series, click here.

Day 10: Changing Table and Diaper Organization

Before.....

We cloth diaper. In attempts to stay organized, we have been using these canvas tote boxes for storage...however, putting away diapers is tedious, and they usually just get shoved in whatever box they fit in.

We have also been storing diaper rash cream, hair detangler, and other products we use daily on the back rail of the crib. This usually ends up in our daughter messing with the stuff during diaper changes, or it falling behind the crib. Either way, something needed to be done.

So... I went to Target. I found his shelf/ledge for $5.99! Since I am on such a tight budget, I was ecstatic. I originally tried to hang these up with Command strips...but... despite the package claiming they could hold up to 3 lbs, they could not hold up the shelf.. So, reluctantly I had my fiance install it with the mounting screws. Luckily they are small enough that there wont be noticeable holes in the wall after we move out.

After the shelf was installed, I moved all of the items from the back of the crib to the shelf. Much much better!





After I took care of the back of the crib, the diapers needed to be organized.
So I started like I start every one of these projects, I took everything out and dumped it in a pile.

Then I sorted..

Inserts, Fleece soakers, pockets/covers, fitteds, and NB size prefolds

Since we dont use the inserts, or newborn prefolds, I put them in tote together. I put this tote on the top shelf, behind the wipe warmer. This allows for them to be easily accessed if we do decide we need them, but still out of the way. 

Pockets are our everyday diaper. I put all of the pockets in a tote and put them in the middle shelf of the changing table. 

Next, I took the fitteds and fleece soakers and put them in a tote together. This tote went on the bottom shelf. These are our night time diapers.

As I mentioned before, we do not use the inserts for our pocket diapers. We use prefolds instead. Since these are the most used, they need to be the easiest to access. Because of his, I put them in a diaper stacker and tied it to the changing table.

....After

p.s. for any cloth diapering mamas out there looking for fitteds...This is the most AWESOME diaper I have ever used!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DollBabyCouture

This is day 10 of a 31 day series. To see the rest of the series, click here.

Day 9: End Table

This is a very simple, very easy project. .

I've begun to notice that a lot of my organization projects intertwine with each other. This is one of those.

Exhibit A: The Living Room End Table

Random papers, formula coupons (we don't even use formula), envelopes of pictures...













Inside was no different. Random papers, important papers, note cards-new and used.

Printer just hanging out not getting any use.












Upon digging I found MORE pens! Seriously, I think I have enough pens to last me a lifetime.







So, I started sorting.

Rowen wanted to help too.

Remember those envelopes of important papers from the desk post? I filed anything that belonged, into its corresponding envelope.
I moved the copy paper to the desk, where the printer was now located.
I also put the pens in their designated place in the desk.

I even got some pictures put up.

The end table will now be specifically used for holding
 our important papers and nothing else.

Before....

....After

This is day 9 of a 31 day series. To see the rest of the series, click here.