Laundry Room

Before:

As you can see I had a lot of work to do! What we did was take everything out, including the dressers. We have our laundry room double as our clothes room. Even though we have a bigger house now compared to what we use to, we don't have as much storage in this house. It is kinda nice to have the kid's clothes in the laundry room. There are a lot less clothes dirtying their rooms. :)

I decided the kids needed taller and more narrow dressers. So, I wanted to save money. My oldest boy and I went to a garage sale and got 2 dressers. We washed them, fixed any loose screws, and I painted the white one (Which was super heavy! We had to have our neighbor come over and help my husband move this into the house). 

I bought some cubbies for my daughter to have even more organization in her closet/dresser.

She was super excited! She will actually be able to get into her dresser better.  Yippee! 

After: 

 I went through everything, including clothes and got rid of a lot. Which felt so nice! There was a lot in our laundry room that didn't need to be there! We cleaned the floor and wiped everything down.

I bought some plastic baskets to organize my laundry supplies. I made sure to have the things I use the most down and accessible and the things that I don't use as much...up higher. 

Boys Dresser:

Can I just say that I love my new laundry room! We redid it for just over $100 (dressers included). This room is so much more functional and has so much more space. As I am getting rid of more and more stuff that isn't or never will be used, I feel so empowered!

Signing off.....

Becky

Cleaning the Upstairs Couches

Before:

Little Helpers

After:

My microfiber couches get filthy! Our little ones are at the level of the cushions so there is a lot of filthiness that gets on them. And even though we say, "only eat in the kitchen", who are we kidding here? 

How I cleaned my couches to the max:

* pulled them out, got everything underneath and behind them

*Swept and mopped behind and under 

*Vacuumed out the couches

*Sprayed the couches with my Special Magic Cleaner (Blue Dawn, Vinegar, and Essential oils)

*Washed the couches with a wet microfiber cloth, let the cushions dry

*Put the cushions, couches, and pillows back

Awww! They look and feel so much better!

Signing off.....

Becky

The Fridge

Before:

After:

2nd After:

Oh my heck I love my fridge again. The thing I have discovered about deep cleaning is, You don't know how dirty it actually got, until it's clean again. Since I have started really cleaning and organizing my stress level is gone concerning that area and it is nice to just have to do a little maintenance to keep it as tidy as new again. :) Yay! My plan is working!!

The biggest tip I would give you is: Wait until right before you go grocery shopping again to clean out your fridge.  Then you have less you have to move out in order to start cleaning.

So, what I did is I moved everything out on the counter, sprayed everything down with my Blue Magic cleaning spray (Blue Dawn Dish Soap, Vinegar, and lemon essential oils), let it sit for a few minutes and then wiped everything down with a wet microfiber cloth. And "no" I didn't take all the drawers out and scrub them in the sink. (Who has time for that with 5 rugrats running around). The faster the better.

I like to have each section in my fridge designated for each item. I didn't realize how many sticks of butter had been sectioned off and put into little baggies, until I found them up in the door.  I combined them all in a baggy, and we are good to go. :) 

It's also nice to get rid of moldy stragglers in the back of the fridge. Now that my fridge is clean we waste less because things are organized and we can see all the food we have as an option to eat. 

Happy Cleaning!

Signing off....

Becky

Snack Cupboard

Before:

After:

This Lazy Susan Snack cupboard was ready for a clean'n! It had honey caked on it, crumbs everywhere, and a bunch of little bags of random cereals. 

I took everything out, threw things away, combined similar snacks, vacuumed, sprayed the Lazy Susan's down, scrubbed them with my favorite microfiber rags, and wiped everything down. Then I put all the snacks back and organized them according to their item (cereals, chips, crackers, etc.). 

Now lets see how long this stays clean. Ha ha.

Hope this inspires some of you who may be struggling with a messy snack cupboard.

Signing off....

Becky

The Upstairs Book Case

Before:

After:

Cleaning/Organization process: I began by taking everything out of each shelf to either donate, throw away, or keep. Then I cleaned and wiped down everything with my magic formula (blue dawn dish soap, vinegar, and lemon essential oils) and my favorite microfiber rags. I finished by organizing what was left to keep.

As I begin this deep cleaning process I love when I walk around my house and see these areas I have cleaned well. It's like a little piece of heaven that we just have to maintain now and the hard part has been done....for a while. :)

Until next time.....

Signing out,

Becky 

TAKING MY HOUSE BACK

(This picture was taken over a year ago, aren't my kids adorable? I am so blessed!)

I am doing this blog to help others (who may also be in my predicament) and myself get motivated. My house used to be really clean when I was first married, after my 1st child, after my 2nd child,...kinda after my 3rd child, then after our 4th child our house was getting messier, now that we have 5 kids...HELP ME! 

We have 3 biological kids and 2 adopted. Our last 2 are 18 months apart and it has been really difficult keeping up with things (to say the least). I am still in the stage where my babies come behind me and try to be "good helpers" by undoing the work that I have already done like dishes, laundry, etc. Now that our baby is getting older (she is almost 16 months now). I feel like I am waking up and seeing messes that I didn't realize were even there. Ha ha. 

So, come along with me as I take my house back. I am going to be tidying up and organizing each area of my house. I am doing research on new tips and ideas to cut down on the time it takes to clean and organize. I want to get to the point where I just have to maintain, instead of cleaning take over my life. 

Hopefully through a lot of prayer and good nights sleep I can be energetic enough to do this (along with the help of my kids and husband). I can make this weak area of my life become strong!

Signing off...

Becky

P.S. I am a Stout Mormon girl and have a strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In the Book of Mormon (Another testament of Jesus Christ, along with the bible) it says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Ether 12:27