Our grocery budget isn't the only thing being reorganized right now.
For me, there is something about autumn, more than spring, that pulls me toward cleaning, purging, and refreshing our spaces. (Here is last autumn.) Our family loves home. It is our little space to express ourselves, relax, and be together. But it isn't fancy and it isn't huge, so we are constantly working to improve our spaces to be better organized and more attractive, as well as useful to where we are right now.
I wanted to share what we have been doing at home right now.
We just keep adding to the current nature table . For awhile, it was a blend of summer shells and sea glass and autumn acorns and leaves. So very appropriate for this time of year where we live. I admit, though, when the quantity began to consume more than half the side bar, I removed the summery treasures. The photo above has since gained some leaves Finnian and I collected. The flowers were brought to me by my dad and I am not sure where the little glow in the dark spider came from, who it belongs to, or how it ended up there!
A new cover for my beloved rocking chair. There is also a new sofa. In nearly 10 years of marriage and 15 years together, this is only our second major new piece of furniture. (The first is that rocking chair, bought for me when Finnian was born. I had been coveting it for years.) We had been looking for a replacement couch for a long time. The one we had had come to us used and was very worn and went on to a continued life at Lala's school. We looked for used couches for some time, before settling on a new loveseat.
New photos on the wall above the fireplace.
I made new covers for the couch throw pillows.
I used to have a child's rocking chair in this corner. I have known for a long time no one but me ever sat in it (to look at cookbooks I pull off those shelves, of course), but it belonged to my great Aunt and I love it, so I never wanted to remove it. Well, it occurred to me it was blocking the kids' books, so I moved it, laid a sheepskin down and created a book nook. They LOVE it!
The living room. Still to change...new window coverings, bye bye television, and wood floor. And I would say the fireplace mantel needs repainting or washing or something, wouldn't you? It isn't supposed to match the couch!
We have a 'no shoes inside' policy. Previously, we had a basket for shoes by the front door. You can see it, still, behind the front closet door. I got tired of shoes (and therefore dirt and sand) being dumped every time the kids went looking for specific shoes. So I got this handy over-the-door hanging shoe pocket...thing. (What do you call this?) You can't see it when the closet door is closed. It was a genius move, if I do say so myself.
Our bath toy organization was limited. Using my friend Liz's laundry hamper idea, I picked this mesh one up at IKEA.
We installed an accordian hook set (made when I was a child, by my grandpa) in the kids' room, and hung a set of pockets from a IKEA. Now it holds slippers in the pockets and robes.
A warning, below. The most major purge I have done so far was in a place most people never see...the kids' closet. Their closet is big and awkward, so we use it for storage. Below, you will see before and after shots, including the pile purged for donation (which I added to after taking the photo). I got rid of a lot. Not everything, but a huge chunk.
Before
After
Before
I wanted to share what we have been doing at home right now.
We just keep adding to the current nature table . For awhile, it was a blend of summer shells and sea glass and autumn acorns and leaves. So very appropriate for this time of year where we live. I admit, though, when the quantity began to consume more than half the side bar, I removed the summery treasures. The photo above has since gained some leaves Finnian and I collected. The flowers were brought to me by my dad and I am not sure where the little glow in the dark spider came from, who it belongs to, or how it ended up there!
A new cover for my beloved rocking chair. There is also a new sofa. In nearly 10 years of marriage and 15 years together, this is only our second major new piece of furniture. (The first is that rocking chair, bought for me when Finnian was born. I had been coveting it for years.) We had been looking for a replacement couch for a long time. The one we had had come to us used and was very worn and went on to a continued life at Lala's school. We looked for used couches for some time, before settling on a new loveseat.
New photos on the wall above the fireplace.
I made new covers for the couch throw pillows.
I used to have a child's rocking chair in this corner. I have known for a long time no one but me ever sat in it (to look at cookbooks I pull off those shelves, of course), but it belonged to my great Aunt and I love it, so I never wanted to remove it. Well, it occurred to me it was blocking the kids' books, so I moved it, laid a sheepskin down and created a book nook. They LOVE it!
The living room. Still to change...new window coverings, bye bye television, and wood floor. And I would say the fireplace mantel needs repainting or washing or something, wouldn't you? It isn't supposed to match the couch!
We have a 'no shoes inside' policy. Previously, we had a basket for shoes by the front door. You can see it, still, behind the front closet door. I got tired of shoes (and therefore dirt and sand) being dumped every time the kids went looking for specific shoes. So I got this handy over-the-door hanging shoe pocket...thing. (What do you call this?) You can't see it when the closet door is closed. It was a genius move, if I do say so myself.
Our bath toy organization was limited. Using my friend Liz's laundry hamper idea, I picked this mesh one up at IKEA.
We installed an accordian hook set (made when I was a child, by my grandpa) in the kids' room, and hung a set of pockets from a IKEA. Now it holds slippers in the pockets and robes.A warning, below. The most major purge I have done so far was in a place most people never see...the kids' closet. Their closet is big and awkward, so we use it for storage. Below, you will see before and after shots, including the pile purged for donation (which I added to after taking the photo). I got rid of a lot. Not everything, but a huge chunk.
Before
After
Before
After. I still see more that needs to go!
There is nothing like a good purge to blatantly show me we have too much stuff! This is just some of the good stuff. There was also the pile hauled by the city bulky pick-up! Lala, who has trouble letting go of things, even things she has long outgrown, said "mamma, I think we should give it to homeless kids."With all the purging, it seemed like a good time to reorganize ourselves for dealing with the mess before it has a chance to take hold.
I keep our weekly menu on the fridge, along with the kids' chore chart. Their chore list looks really long, but I just sat down with the kids recently and we talked briefly about my needing their assistance, what good helpers they are, and what they would like to do to contribute to keeping our home nice. This is what we came up with. They already alternate days emptying the dishwasher or setting the table (and sitting on my lap for stories, which my just-turned-7 still likes to do, too), but we just added the others and these new additions are "extras," they can do to earn a little something. Who doesn't love a little fun with the feather duster? And washing? I figure that could mean just about anything and when water and soap are involved, there are always smiles. Truthfully, my little guy loves to help and my girl is a bit more resistant, so since it is she I really want to encourage to take on more responsibility, this was the list and method we came up with that she was jazzed about. We are only a few days in, but so far, so good.
On this day, it was her washing day, but he wanted to join in the fun, so I laid mats down for them, gave them dish buckets, and they both washed placemats. She washed the bowls and pots that don't go in the dishwasher, as well. And then...they asked for clean water and hand washed doll clothes, which they hung on their clothesline outside. It made me smile!
And a little something new (the wall print, by Nikki McClure) for our bedroom. I bought it a little while back and finally framed it.What personal cleaning and organizing projects have you had underway?
