Nesting

Tomorrow I will be 38 weeks pregnant!  How exciting (and overwhelming, and scary, and exhausting, and wonderful... and all of the other emotions that are buzzing through my brain at the moment!).  Just when I think that my belly can't possibly grow another inch, it stretches even further and I wonder what it ever felt like to be normal!

I have loved every moment of this amazing pregnancy journey, and have been so blessed to have had a lovely nine months of growing my little miracle.  Getting here was a different story, but that just makes me even more thankful that I am here, and we are about to embark on a wonderful new adventure!

20 Days to Clean and Organise Your Home - Week 2

I have been so proud of everyone who has been doing this challenge with the Organised Housewife!  What an impact she is having on households around our world!  There is nothing better than a little organising challenge, and it is great to see so many people inspired to participate.

I am finding it hard to do before/after photos of the little projects I have been doing, as I am mostly doing them late afternoon/night and it just is not the prime time for taking good photographs without the natural light... 

So, rather than post some awful before/after pics of how I am going with the challenge, I thought I would link back to some of my posts that show how I already organise some of the areas in my home that have been in the challenge this week.  And thankfully, most of these systems are still working a treat in my house, so it is just fine-tuning and tweaking that I have been doing to make sure that things are still running smoothly.

I am still in love with how I organise my baking tins, everytime I open the cupboard door...

Organising Baking Tins - here

20 Days to Clean and Organise Your Home with the Organised Housewife

Have you been over to visit the Organised Housewife lately?  She is setting us a challenge:

Zone 4 - Master Bedroom (Quick Afternoon Jobs for July)

Lots of you have been following my 'zone' posts this month, so I thought that I would keep up with the challenges, and even if you do just one, I am so proud of you :)

The Master Bedroom

Zone 3 - Bathroom and Laundry (Quick Afternoon Jobs for July)

Moving on from last week in Zone 2, we are now in the bathroom and laundry zone.  Well done to all of you who did the daily jobs last week.  I know my kitchen is thanking me for doing them!

This week's Bathroom and Laundry Jobs:

Zone 2 - Kitchen and Dining Room (Quick Afternoon Jobs for July)

I am back to school for Term 3 this week, and that means back into routines!

It is Zone 2 this week in Flylady land, so here are my 5 quick jobs that I am doing (one per day) when I get home:

Monday - Sync the time on the kitchen and dining room clocks with the phone/oven/microwave clocks.

Our Fairy Godmother(-in-Law)

Last year at some stage, I was reading organisation/house-keeping tips somewhere (I can never remember where I read everything!) and something struck a real chord with me - the general notion was about giving yourself permission to ask for help.  Rather than feeling overwhelmed by all of the jobs that need to be done, and the subsequent feelings of guilt we feel when everything is not up to date, sometimes we just have to admit that things ARE too much and we need a little help.   

It got me thinking... I work long hours (as do most people in today's world!).  I have always had systems in place to keep up with the housework, like daily and weekly chores, which I do each afternoon.  When we first moved in together many moons ago, I used to spend my Saturday mornings cleaning...  That worked for us then.  But quite a few years back, I decided to re-claim my weekends and allocate certain jobs to each day of the week.  It works when life isn's too hectic, but we all know that there are busy times and even the best laid plans fall by the wayside!

My New Laundry - Overhead Cupboard Organisation

This post follows on from my previous posts where I have shared my new laundry here and here.  Today we are going to have a tour of inside the overhead cupboards...

We will start with my treasured clothes airer cupboard.  The airer is at the very top of the cupboard, and I didn't want to waste the storage space at the bottom of this cupboard, so I decided that this is where I would keep my 'House' caddies, which hold my weekly cleaning products and cleaning rags.  These caddies are easy to lift out in the event that I need to use the clothes line, so it isn't really an issue having them in here as far as functionality of the clothes line goes.  It also keeps the caddies neatly tucked away (although they are so cute!), and is tall enough to fit them with the handle standing up. You can also see that I popped in a removable hook on the side of the cupboard for my favourite cleaning brush.

A Tea Towel A Day

For many years, I have been in the habit of laying out a clean tea towel each night, so that I am greeted in the morning by a crisp, fresh tea towel for my kitchen duties.  I believe that this is a great habit, as by doing this, I know that when I wipe my hands or kitchen utensils with a tea towel, that they are going to be dried clean, and not having germs or bacteria passed onto them.  When I have a baking day, I obviously use more than one tea towel, but the general rule in my house is 'A Tea Towel A Day'. 

As you all know, I heart matching things!  That is why I have a few piles of tea towels that I rotate throughout the month, which are sorted according to their colour...

I have these red and white tea towels:

Storing Rubbish Bags

I feel like I blog about rubbish an awful lot!  But rubbish just seems to breed in my house, and by having routines and systems in place, it helps to keep on top of it...  My 'I Love Rubbish Day' post (which you can read about here) is in the top 10 of my most-read posts - that tells me that it is a fact of daily life and everyone wants to know how to make it easier :)

My tip today is to make sure that you keep spare rubbish bags in the rooms of the 'busiest' bins.  I have already shown you my kitchen storage solution for my scented garbage bags (which you can read about here).

My bathroom is definitely next on the list for the room with the most rubbish.  I only have a small bin in my ensuite, so I find I have to change the rubbish liner at least once a week.  Like with any routine job, we tend to procrastinate doing it if it involves multiple steps.  For me, this used to involve (1) getting a replacement bag (recycled fruit/veg bag) from the kitchen, (2) walking to the ensuite, (3) taking out the old bag, (4) putting in the new bag and (5) walking outside to the wheelie bin to dump the full bag of rubbish.  Too many steps!  Life is busy and we need to simplify!  So, I now keep the spare bags in the ensuite cupboard - seems really logical, but I just didn't think to do it until this year ;)  By eliminating the first 2 steps, the job now takes half the time - around 30 seconds in total!!  And the best part is that I can do it when I think of it... I lost count of the number of times I walked out to get a new bag from the kitchen, got distracted and never made it back with the replacement bag!  Not anymore...

And the storage solution for these bags (that can take over an entire shelf if left to their own devices)??
An empty tissue box!

Keeping House - Zone 5 (Living Room)

The last zone for this month!  How have you been going with your 15 minutes per day of zone cleaning??

Day One
Declutter the room - put away any piles of 'stuff' that doesn't belong here!  By the phone, on a table, or on a bench - the 'stuff' seems to pile up when we aren't watching - put everything away where it belongs today.

Day Two
If you have a couch or lounge in your living room, this is a job for you...  Take the cushions off the couch. Wash the cushion covers and plump the pillows when you insert them back in the clean case.  While the cushions are off the couch, check down behind for any random items that have fallen in there.  Then vaccuum the couch from top to bottom.

Day Three
Our fireplace is in the Living Room.  It is getting warmer now, and we probably won't use the fire again until next year.  So, I am going to clean out the kindling/wood baskets, store the fireplace tools in the garage and do a good clean-out of the fire place today (read more about cleaning the fireplace here).  I love my fire in winter, but I don't miss the mess it makes!  If you don't have a fireplace, your job to do wipe over the light and power switch-plates with a damp sponge - it really should take you less than 2 minutes!  A small thing, but it makes a difference :)

Day Four
Wipe over the skirting boards in this room.  Get all of the dust off the base of the walls, and then vaccuum the room, ensuring to get to the edges.

Day Five
Brighten up the room with some flowers.  Buy a bunch of your favourite flowers and put them in a pretty vase, and admire them as you walk into the room.  If you can't afford to buy flowers, go out into your garden and pick some - even a small vase of a few flowers will make the room feel 'loved'.


So there you have it!  Five weeks of examples of how to stay on top of the detailed cleaning in your house.  By breaking things down into manageable steps, I hope that you have been able to see just how simple it can be to maintain your house, simply by dedicating 15 minutes per day to each zone in your house.

Keeping House - Zone 4 (Master Bedroom)

Your master bedroom is a very special place in your home - it should be your sanctuary, your haven, your love nest ;)  This week I have 5 things for you to do in here, to help you to keep it feeling this way.

Day One
Declutter your nightstand, bedside tables, dressing tables, or any flat surfaces in the room.  Make sure that the only items in this room are the items that belong there.

Day Two

Declutter your wardrobe.  A few months back, I shared this tip with you... To put all of your coathangers backwards in the cupboard, then as you wear an item you put the hanger back in the right way.  After a few months, any clothes that are on hangers facing the wrong way are clothes that you haven't worn, and clearly need to find a new home!

Today is the follow-up from this original post, take out all of the clothes that you haven't worn since you turned the hangers and make some tough decisions about what you can get rid of.  Winter is almost over, winter woolies you haven't worn this year may be able to be donated to someone who needs them more than you.  Put them into a bag and straight into your car so that you can drop them off next time you are out... (Read my original post here.)

My calendar reminder for August 27th!

Day Three
Shine your mirrors.  I use glass cleaner wipes and a microfibre cleaning rag to clean my mirrors.  This won't take long, shine all of the mirrors in your room - dressing table, ensuite, hand-held mirrors, cupboard doors.  It will make the world of difference to the room!

Day Four
Do a detailed vacuum of your bedroom floor - move any furniture that you can, and get those dust-bunnies hiding in behind!  Vacuum under the bed, and along the edge of the skirting boards too.  Since I have had my Robomaid, I haven't vacuumed the bedroom with my normal vacuum cleaner - this week I am going to get down and get into all of the corners, nooks and crannies that are hard to reach.

Day Five
Turn down your bed before bedtime...  I know that lots of you are now in the routine of doing this, since my post about it a while back.  Treat yourself to a nightly turn-down service - you deserve it!  (Read my original post here.)

Have a wonderful week!

Keeping House - Zone 3 (Bathroom)

This week we are in the bathroom.

Day One
Declutter the room. Return any items that don't live here to their proper home.  Purge any items off the benches/shelves that you haven't used in the past 3 months.  If in doubt, throw out!

Day Two
Refill the liquid soap. Wipe over the pump and bottle. Add a replacement to your shopping list if you have no more left.

Day Three
This week I am trying the new Viva shower wipes. So far, I am pretty impressed with them! They cut through soap scum really well, without having to use toxic smelling cleaning chemicals. So, today's job is to clean the shower screen and door until it sparkles!

Day Four
Continuing on from the shower glass, move on and clean the shower walls. Scrub from top to bottom.

Day Five
Today finish off that shower by scrubbing the shower floor. I love to use gumption and a mesh scourer to get my shower floor pearly white.

I hope you can see that Flying with these zones isn't about working yourself to the bone, rather it is about breaking things into smaller, more manageable steps. Be kind to yourself! Give yourself a shiny shower this week, plus a couple of other simple treats to make you smile each time you step into your bathroom!  I am sure that you will find that once your shower is nice and clean, it is much easier to maintain it :)

Keeping House - Zone 2 (Kitchen)

Week 2 of the month, and our focus area of the home is our Kitchen.  In most cases, the kitchen is the heart of the home.  We come together to share food, drinks and stories in this special place.  Below I have listed a little job to focus on each day of this week.  Each one, you can do in less than fifteen minutes, but is sure to have an impact on your kitchen...

Day One
On the first day, we always declutter.  My kitchen bench is a magnet for any and everything!  I keep boxes, caddies and folders here, in an attempt to organise the 'piles' that magically appear here every single day ;)  Take the time today to put away anything that doesn't belong on the bench, and tidy any caddies that you have there too.  Then quickly spray the bench and wipe it clean - I bet it makes you smile :)

Day Two
Wipe down the fridge doors.  A stainless steel fridge can be a bit of a pain, as it accumulates lots of fingerprints on it.  I use stainless steel wipes to clean my fridge, as it seems to put a nice coating over the surface, which reduces the number of spots that appear.

Day Three
Wipe down the cupboard doors.  It doesn't have to be perfect, just a quick spray and then wipe over with a damp cloth.  I bet you can do this in less than fifteen minutes!

Day Four
Refill the tea, coffee and sugar canisters.  Nothing says 'I love you' like a full canister of your favourite drink first thing in the morning...  Also give the sugar spoon a wash so that is sparkles again!

Day Five
Tidy your utensil drawers.  I did a post last month on organising kitchen drawers.  You can read about it here.  If you already have your drawers organised, take a minute to straighten things up again.  If not, spend 15 minutes decluttering and tidying those drawers that seem to take on a life of their own!!

Keeping House - Zone 1 (Entry, Porch & Dining Room) - August 2011

These are the dates for the Zones in August.  Add them to your calendar, to remind yourself where we are.  I use stickers to record the zones on my calendar (read more here).

• Zone 1: The Entrance, Front Porch and Dining Room (August 1 - 5)
• Zone 2: The Kitchen (August 8 - 12)
• Zone 3: The Bathroom and One Extra Room (August 15 - 19)
• Zone 4: The Master Bedroom (August 23 - 27)
• Zone 5: The Living Room (August 29 - 31)

Day One
The first thing we must do before we start our detailed cleaning is declutter the area. So today you need to put away any homeless items that have made their way into the entrance of your home. Things like shoes, hats and bags need to be put away. That pile of junk mail needs to be read or simply thrown out.
If you have nothing to put away - yay for you!! You can give your doormats a shake out and the porch/patio area a quick sweep.  Day one in Zone one is done!

Day Two
My plan for day two is to clean the front entrance window glass. I use Windex wipes, they are so quick and easy, and don't leave any streaks. I have a floor to ceiling window in my entry, and to wipe over both the inside and the outside takes less than 5 minutes! This is all I am doing here today - it makes the world of difference to the front of my home.

Day Three
I noticed the other day my front door is really dirty. So, for my third day in zone one I am going to clean the front of my wooden door. It has lots of grooves and detail in the wood, so this one takes a little time. I will use a rag and a bucket of soapy water to clean the door, and then I will wipe it down with an old towel.

Day Four
Today we move into the dining room. Just like in the entrance, the first thing we must do is declutter.  Put away anything that doesn't belong here.  Paperwork that is on the table, shoes that are hiding under the table on the floor, projects that were being done on the table, but have sat idle for the past week...  Whatever it is, put it away.  If you have nothing to put away, then your job is to rotate your chairs.  This ensures that your chairs wear evenly.  The sun can cause wear and tear on your furniture, and so can different people's weight.  Rotate the chairs to ensure that your chairs wear at a similar rate.

Day Five
The job in here is to shine your Dining Table.  I use Mr Sheen and a microfibre rag when doing detailed cleaning of my wooden furniture.  Clear everything off the table and clean that table until it shines! And then put a vase or ornament in the middle of the table when you are done - something that makes you smile :)

I hope that you can see how easy this system is - the jobs are few and simple. Next month we will do some different jobs and before you know it, your entry way and dining room will be permanently spring cleaned!

Keeping House with Flylady's Zones

For those of you who don't know the 'Flylady Zones', I am going to explain it in my own words for you today.  I have lots of friends and family that I have referred to Flylady over the years, but many of them have come back to me more confused than enlightened.

I will admit that the website is somewhat difficult to follow, and the best place to start is with reading her book 'Sink Reflections'.  It is a great read, and once you read it, it puts all of the pieces of the puzzle together.  It is available as a hard copy or an audio book - I love audio books!  They are great to listen to while you are cleaning or driving or straightening your hair ;)  I find them really inspiring, and a great use of time, as I struggle to find time to read generally.

So, Flylady breaks the house into five 'Zones'.  She then breaks each month into weeks, so that approximately 1 week is spent in each zone (some zones are smaller than others and hence have less time allocated to them).  By focussing on one zone for a week, the idea is that you will do detailed cleaning, organising and decluttering in one area of your house, and not feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the entire house - it is just one or two rooms at a time. This makes sense to me!  If we break things down into manageable chunks, we are much more likely to succeed :)

Cleaning Make Up Brushes

I have been addicted to Napoleon make-up ever since my sister-in-law's wedding.  Her gorgeous friend Tracey did an amazing job on our make-up, and I was inspired to spend more time learning how to apply my make-up properly.

A few months later, my sisters and I booked in for the Napoleon 'Paparrazi Ready' Make Up Course.  It was six hours of girly fun, playing with make-up and learning lots of tricks of the trade...

One of the most important things that I learnt, was to use brushes to apply make-up.  Not only do you get a more even/precise coverage, it is much more hygenic than using your fingertips.  And the best part is, that you use less product, because it not soaking into your fingertips or a sponge - and this ultimately saves you money!  It is surprising the amount of liquid foundation that I used to use, compared to now that I have my brush.  It is much, much less.

Dishwasher Tips

Just like all of our wonderful appliances, our dishwashers need a little TLC every now and then :)  My dishwasher hasn't been doing the best job of cleaning my dishes lately, and I was becoming frustrated with having to wash up a number of items that were consistently coming out dirty.

My friend, Melissa, recently moved into a house and apparently the dishwasher was left in a disgraceful state, and she said she was going to 'descale' the machine.  Hmmm.... that got me thinking.  I have lived here for almost 7 years and never once done anything to maintain my dishwasher - oops!

So, I did my trusty Google search and came up with some great tips, which I am going to share with you...

My Laundry - Part #1

A few months back, I did a bit of research on my favourite blogs around Laundry Organisation.  I wanted to 'spruce up' my laundry, since it somewhere that I have to spend time in each day.  As always, the prettier the area, the more likely I am to use it, and also keep it looking pretty!  Inspired by this quote, I set out on my mission...

I Love My Robomaid (Robot Vaccuum)

Last week I got some mail that has changed my life forever!  I received my Robomaid that I ordered as a treat for myself.  Robomaid has entered our home and now it is like a pet to me :)  It is my new best friend!

Ok, so who orders a robot vacuum cleaner, you may ask??  Me!  I have a fairly big house, with white tiles and cream carpet.  I work full time.  I have never had a cleaning lady, I have always managed to juggle the household chores and a demanding job, which really does take time away from spending time with my family and friends.  So, I ordered a vacuum that cleans the floor all by itself!  Yes - you read correctly... it VACUUMS and MOPS the floor for me!