The Bedroom: Sanctuary Part I

I’ve told my husband a few times over that I have a plan for our bedroom as we grow our family. And that plan does not include pictures of our children in our bedroom. He sees my point. But do you?
Let me explain. Ever other single wall in my home will be free real estate for school pictures, artwork, family fun pics, or family portraits. However, my bedroom needs to be a sanctuary. A haven where I can find my personal inner utopia. And if I am stressed about work, or my husband, or my kids, or the laundry…… I need a place where I can go to escape it all. When I am spending Q.T. with the hubs, I don’t need to be thinking about much more than… well, the Q.T. with the hubs!

I dream of serene colors that lift my spirits but not my heart rate. No yellows, no reds, no greens. I need to feel like I’m in a mental meditation room. A place to get away from the every day stresses. A good stretch for the mind and spirit. And a reset button to recharge me for later or tomorrow.

But, my room doesn’t look like this. I have beige walls with yellow undertones in the paint. I have laundry everywhere EXCEPT in the baskets! (Blame my husband, as I think he just can’t see the empty hamper beyond the piles of clothes he leaves around it!) I have tried to make my closet efficient, but so far, I’m just running out of room. It’s a mess! Thank God I don’t have the kiddos yet! lol
So I saw this Checklist from Real Simple Magazine the other day and thought I should give this a try. It’s tips on Organizing The Bedroom. Thought I’d apply this to my own life. I’m committing to trying this out! So, I guess I’m on my way to my Bedroom Sanctuary, Part I!  Step one is to do some laundry…

And I’ll share my success with you if you’d like. Just comment below. And I want to hear about you. If you beat me to it and have any luck, let’s hear about it! Just click the title above or the picture to the left to get the tips for building your own Bedroom Sanctuary!

Quick! They’re Coming!

My 10 minute clean up is… effortless.

I’d tell you this is my living room and it looks like this every day… but I don’t want to lie to you. This picture borrowed from HGTV’s blog post titled “Designing The Perfect Living Room” is what most of us dream our home could look like when its time to invite people over. A little bit of low lighting, and the warmth and glow of candlelight, seating for guests, and no visible storage or clutter.

Realistically, day to day, we have shoes by the back door, mail on the table in the entry, and disheveled pillows on the couch. It’s ok! But what happens when someone calls and says “Hi! Do you mind if we stop by?” or “We are coming for the holidays! Is your spare room still open?” Do you strenuously sprint around the house picking up shoes, books, and whatever else, trying to make thinks look at least presentable… and effortless?

Well, outside of making an effort to stay on top of your home organization and management, sometimes when faced with “last minute visitors”, it can be overwhelming to jump and scatter. Here’s a few quick tips for spending 10 minutes or less in each room to tidy up so that you can catch your breath before you have to answer the door. They may not all apply to you, but they’re just tips! A helpful pre-tips tip: set a timer for 10 minutes so you don’t get too involved and loose valuable time!

Entry/Foyer- place keys and accessories in a basket, take mail to your “office” or store out of the sights of your guests, remove all shoes to a coat closet near by, de-clutter anything else.

Kitchen- Put dirty dishes in the dish washer, de-clutter counters, wipe counters with a wet cloth or sanitizing wipe, put excess pots and pans in the oven or compartment below, pull out fresh towels, take glass cleaner to the front of your microwave, oven, stove top, and fridge if necessary, wipe down sink and faucet with a damp cloth, light a candle on the stove top.

Living Room- De-clutter coffee and end tables, wipe tables with a damp cloth. fluff and arrange sofa and chair pillows, fold any blankets that are out and put them in your linen closet, quick-dust your entertainment area including book shelves, etc. , run the vacuum over carpet or rugs to get the “vacuum lines”, arrange curtains and drapes to appropriate time of day as you see fit (closed for evening or open for day time), If you have a ceiling fan, turn it on to circulate air, spray air re-fresher in all four corners of the room.

Bathroom- Spray toilet with toilet bowl cleaner, de-clutter counter and wipe down with damp cloth or sanitizing wipe, close the shower curtain or take window cleaner to clear glass doors, make sure there is enough toilet paper on the current roll (if not, put that one on the cabinet and put out a new one), wipe down mirror and faucets with glass cleaner, swish toilet brush around in bowl to clean, wipe off hand soap dispenser, pull out and display a fresh hand towel for guests to use, light a candle for a fresh scent.

Guest Bathroom- wipe down counter, faucet and mirror, spray and brush toilet bowl, replace trash bag with an empty and fresh one if necessary, put out a fresh hand towel for guests to use.

Bedroom- Make the bed with the fancy pillows, open or close drapes to your liking, de-clutter dresser(s) and nightstands, de-clutter floors by putting shoes away, close the closet door, spray your favorite linen spray over the bed.

Office/Den- Just try to keep the door closed. There is nothing like having to de-clutter and accidentally losing important mail or documents.

Keep and eye on those candles! You shouldn’t burn a candle unattended.

And when the door bell rings, take a deep breath and welcome your friends into your beautiful home!

Vinegar’s Universal Uses

Vinegar… it isn’t just for cooking any more!

Just another one of the make your “life seem effortless” tips brought to you by The Learning Wife!

I have already been using a 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar as my glass cleaner for 3+ years now!

I happened upon an article while checking my email one day about some of the household uses of vinegar. Some I was aware of, and some were new ideas. I decided to try a few. And they worked!  So, a couple weeks ago, while trying to find similar articles, I found a website called 1001 Uses For Vinegar from VinegarTips.com. I was impressed with the number alone!

Then, I was in my local Target, the cleaning supplies aisle talking about dish washer rinse agents. I’ve been getting an increasing number of water spots lately on glass and plastic alike. In the aisle, a woman suggested to me to try to clean my dishwasher out with vinegar to “start over” with a clean dishwasher. So I took it to the next level and put a small amount of vinegar in the spout where the rinse agent goes. I know that vinegar has cleaning/sanitizing properties,  it is great for glass, and it would make sense that it would clean my dishwasher. So why not do both at once? Rather than dumping a cup of vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher, I decided pouring it into a place where it would release into the cycle would make more sense. Again, Success!!!!

So, again, sharing with you something that I found. Some of the best uses I have found for vinegar are below, but you can find so much more with the link above!

• Removes odors from towels in laundry
• sanitizes undies in laundry
• Clean Dishwasher
• coffee maker (50/50 with water)
• windows (50/50 with water)
• all-purpose cleaner (again diluted)
• Non-chemical cleaning agent

Of course, there are over 1001 uses, these are just a few I use weekly or daily!