Office Nook

One of my projects for this summer was to get our office nook under control. This is important, because our nook is right off of our kitchen's eating area. And with our open floor plan, it's visible from anywhere in the main part of the house.

Toy Overload

Somehow today turned into, "Let's clean the playroom from top to bottom" day. It all started when we returned from swimming lessons, and Brady decided to sit in one of his little recliners soaking wet. If that wasn't bad enough, I went to clean it up and detected the scent of pee. His little swimmer decided it was too full of water.

I decided that if I was going to have to shampoo the chair, then I should shampoo the area rug that I have been meaning to clean since I bought it at a yard sale last summer. Our boys' playroom looked like a tornado had passed through, so in order to accomplish this, I had a lot of toys to pick up.

Laundry Room Decor

I loathe laundry.  That's putting it mildly!  One time a friend asked what the worst part of laundry was, and I literally listed every step... sorting, washing, drying, folding, ironing, putting away.  I'm cringing just writing this.

I can't say I have come to like laundry, but I have at least come to terms with having to do it. 

The first thing that helped was finding the {Flylady}.  She has a saying that goes something like, "A load a day keeps Mt. Washmore away."  I found that was my biggest problem.  I would leave it all for the weekend and then be completely overwhelmed.  Who knows how it will be once I go back to work, but for now I am (somewhat) happy doing one load a day.  At least I can be done with it and move on.

The next thing that really helps is having a nice room in which to do the laundry.  Our house has a ginormous laundry room!  I told Ryan if we get desperate, we can turn it into his man cave, it's that big!

before

There's no excuse not to have a nice space to do laundry when you have a laundry room that looks like this.  But even if you don't, you still deserve a nice, comfortable place to go!

I always seem to start with what I have.  In my old house, I created hanging pegs from iron stands and old door pulls.

You just screw the pull into a hole in the stand and hang on the wall.  I found those items at an antique store.

Then I go to my family members to see what I can snag for free!  My mom and grandma had washboards, so I hung those on one of the walls.

My grandma also had rug beaters.  We have a little hallway that leads into the main part of the room, and these worked perfectly.

Above the cabinets, I have started a collection of old irons.  I will add to it as I find more.  I might also find some other laundry related items that will look cute up there.  You never know!

So far, I have spent nothing on decorating, because I used things I already had and asked around for things that others no longer wanted.

Then came the organization.  We had a big shelf that was previously in our garage that fit perfectly along the empty wall in the room.  I also had some baskets that fit, so I use those to hold donations and items in need of mending.  I also keep our overflow of paper goods on the shelf and in the cabinets.  The overflow comes from {couponing} and stocking up.

One big challenge was all of the hangers.  I originally hung them off of the shelf, but then it became a fight to get what was behind them.  Since I now put all of the laundry away after I fold and hang it, it's not necessary for me to have enough room for that, so I added a bar under the cabinets and above the washer and dryer.  This will also hopefully keep me from reverting to my old ways of hanging all of the clothing that needs to be ironed to get to later.  It cost me under $10 to do this.

I also found a laundry sorter at a {yard sale}.

Now I'm trying to convince Ryan that a little flat screen tv will be perfect in here!

Getting Rid of Kids' Clothes

We have a ton of clothes that are now too small for our boys.  We ended up hanging on to them and my maternity clothes to make sure we were finished having children.  (I loved my maternity wardrobe!)  Now that we've made that decision, the clothes are taking up way too much space.  They were in the garage, but one of our main goals when moving into this house was to be able to fit the cars in there.  Now they have moved to the {front guest bedroom} along with some other things we need to get rid of.  Not a fun site!

We have {Kids Market} here in Huntsville, so to make some extra money, I take my clothes and toys there.  My mom and I are going to have a marathon pricing session on Friday.  We have to have everything ready to take it by Sunday.  Talk about waiting until the last minute!  The original plan was to hang and price things a little bit at a time, but sometimes those plans go out the window. 

If you have something similar in your area, it's a great way to make some extra money.  One idea I've heard is to hang and price each item as your child grows out of it.  Once my mom and I make it through this huge pile, I will try to impliment that.

My husband and I also have a rule with things like this or yard sales: nothing comes back in the house.  We take it to donate immediately.  This really helps cut down on the clutter!  There's no point in bringing things back into the house that you no longer want.  Plus, someone else will get to use it that needs it.
What ideas do you have for getting rid of kids clothes?

Shower Cleaner

Good thing my husband's out with the guys tonight, because I just fell in love!  It all started with pinterest...

There was a post for a cleaner using vinegar and Dawn dish soap.  I'm all about the vinegar, if you remember from my previous post, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  It called for equal parts of warm vinegar and blue Dawn dish soap.  Because of couponing, I've learned you can't be brand specific, and I had pink Dawn on hand. 

Family Binder: To Do Lists

This section has probably been the best part of the Family Binder for me.

Because I use the plastic covers to put my lists in, I can use a dry erase marker to check off the tasks on my To Do lists as I complete them.  For me, there's just something very gratifying about that!

Easy & Cheap Cleaner

One of the best discoveries I have made is using vinegar to clean.  I had heard for a while that you could do it, but it took me awhile to try it.  I mix 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water.  When I first started it, I just waited until I finished a spray that I had bought from a store, rinsed out that bottle, and filled it with my new solution.  Half a cup of vinegar with 2 cups water fits perfectly into most normal sized spray bottles.  I now use it to clean my windows, mirrors, counters, sinks, sink fixtures, and toilets (just the tops; I still use bleach for the bowl).  My father even asked one day how I get my fixtures so shiny!