Decluttering the Kitchen

The room next on my list was the kitchen. It was not functional, and I found myself being frustrated as I moved piles to try to cook. Here is the embarrassing before picture:



And here are the after pictures (much better!):





I had hoped to work on our bedroom next, but yesterday at the doctor, my blood pressure reached a level that concerned my Ob/Gyn, so she put me on bed rest. I am glad I was able to finish what I could before the appointment.

Now I will just keep my fingers crossed that my blood pressure stays in check before this baby is born. (Only 12 more days to go!)

Goals for the Weeks Before Baby #3 is Born

I am now officially on maternity leave, and just 34 short days from now, our third child will be born. (The only good thing about a mandatory c-section is that at least I can make firm plans and know exactly when the baby will arrive, unless, of course, she decides to come early.)

Now that I am through working, I can focus on our house, which is in sore need of attention. Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I love lists, so here is my list of things to accomplish in the next 5 weeks:

Clean our bedroom and rearrange the furniture so there is room for the baby.

Clean out our small dresser to make room for the baby’s clothes.

Clean our living room book case. The bottom two shelves where my 16 month old daughter can reach are very neat and full of her books. The upper three shelves are a cluttered mess, and now that she is growing taller, she is starting to reach up there. I can just see everything falling on her head.

Clean our entry way.

Write several freelance articles.

Make at least 15 freezer meals for after the baby comes, which should get our freezer meal total up to 20 to 25 meals.

Declutter the house. I am going to set the goal of getting rid of 200 items in the next 5 weeks.

List all of my son’s outgrown summer clothes on eBay and sell them all.

Most importantly, decide on a name for the baby!!!!

Spring Cleaning Update--The Dining Room/Living Room

Another spring cleaning update (even though it is now the end of summer!)

We have a large living room, but it is used as a study where I and my husband work. It is also filled with endless storage tubs for my e-Bay clothes.

Our dining room does triple duty as dining room/living room/play room, so it was nice to finally get it clean. In addition to putting everything away and decluttering, I cleaned the baseboards and washed the walls, windows and blinds. Here are the before and after pictures:

For literally a few years, every time my mom comes to visit, she suggests we tackle the book case. I knew it was a huge mess, but it was too big of a project. This last time she came to visit, I finished spring cleaning the livingroom/dining room right before she came.

The only room that we have yet to conquer is our bedroom.

So, did my mom notice the livingroom/diningroom and all its improvements? Believe it or not, she did NOT! I couldn't believe it. But what was most amusing is that she said, "Why don't you dust that beautiful picture of Ireland?" Which is in my bedroom, which we haven't deep cleaned yet. Yes, she can always find something to clean!

Spring Cleaning Update--The Bedroom Closet

One of my goals to complete before I go back to work in a few weeks is to have the house decluttered. So far I have cleaned the kid's room (that needs a revisit now), the kitchen, and the bathroom.


BEFORE AFTER

Our bedroom is still messy, but we did clean the closet. I did a serious purge and removed clothes that I have been saving for the time I can fit in them again.

As we would like to expand our family in the very near future, I have resigned myself to the fact that I will not likely fit in these clothes again any time soon. Another fact to face is that many of the clothes are over 10 years old. By the time I get pregnant again and lose the baby weight plus the additional, well, the clothes will be really old. So, off to Goodwill they went. Two trash bags full!

The other bags below are miscellaneous clothes still in good condition and not out of style and craft goods and fabrics to put in our garage sale pile. It is amazing we got all this extra stuff out!

Spring Cleaning Update--The Kids' Room

We had actually done a deep cleaning on this room about 3 months ago when we put up the crib. So, I just had to do a quick wipe down of the chair rail, baseboards and door frames along with sweeping and regular dusting.

The big job was clearing out the clutter and putting stuff away. (Not something we are very good at, but we are definitely working on it now that the kitchen and bathroom are also clean and decluttered.) Here are the before and after pictures side by side:

And the inside of their wardrobe before and after:

The house is about halfway down now, and it is starting to feel much better. Thanks to simplemom.net for having this spring cleaning party!

Spring Cleaning Update--Bathroom

Well, the bathroom was not as dramatic as the kitchen (see my post here for that one), but it is nice to have it done. The only thing I couldn't get totally clean was our old-style heater. All the nooks and crannies are filled with dust, but I can't get a rag in every section to clean it. Any suggestions?

Here is the medicine cabinet BEFORE:

and AFTER:

(Ah, the joys of renting. Don't you love the groovy wallpaper?)

And the rest of the bathroom BEFORE:

And AFTER:

I cleaned everything and did a thorough deep clean. The biggest improvement was taking all of our kids' tub toys and putting them in a basket under the sink. That cleared quite a bit of shower clutter.

Spring Cleaning Update--Kitchen

Well, it took me about 4 days with most of my work time concentrated over the weekend, but the kitchen is finally clean. I am enjoying the clutter-free look! I can honestly say it has never been this clean. Our big challenge now is to keep it looking like this as it is not our natural inclination. :)

Here are the before and after pictures:

Next up is the livingroom, but that will have to wait until next week because we are going out of town for Mother's Day this weekend.