Summer Cleaning Day 10

Today's Summer Cleaning project was to clean out and organize all the kitchen drawers. My kitchen here is small, BUT it has more-than-sufficient cupboard and drawer space, so this was quite the task!

First, I emptied out the silverware holder and washed that.

Confession: When we moved last summer (locally), I honestly didn't even empty out this little organizer. I put the whole thing (filled with the silverware) into a box, packed some newspaper in with it and sealed the box. When we found it at the new house, I just stuck it in the drawer and moved on!

Then I moved onto a random drawer and my spice drawer. I cleaned some items out of the random drawer, so it isn't quite so random anymore!

And I'm sure it's clear that I purchase most (all?) of my spices at Aldi, right?

These two drawers were probably the worst offenders in my kitchen! I removed everything, washed the containers and then reorganized everything - much more neatly this time.

There! It looks much better now. I think it will be easier to find kitchen utensils, too, now!

The final section of drawers that I tackled was my "skinny" drawers, where I keep my plastic baggies, foil, plastic wrap, and dishclothes and towels.

We get Monday and Tuesday of next week off from cleaning, as I will be out of town.

We'll pick up on Wednesday with this:

Clean your oven, stove top and microwave. Scrub down all three appliances, inside and out. If you choose, you can run the self-cleaning cycle on your oven (whether or not I will do this depends on the weather).

If you need to catch up:

• Days 1 & 2 - clean out your purse, wash throw blankets and clean the refrigerator.
• Day 3 - clean the freezer.
• Day 4 - vacuum underneath beds.
• Day 5 - vacuum underneath couches and chairs.
• Day 6 - clean the washer & dryer and clean out the car.
• Day 7 - clean the baseboards (and door frames).
• Day 8 - clean the switchplates and door handles.
• Day 9 - clean your light fixtures.

Summer Cleaning Day 9

Yes, I took this picture at an angle!

Well, today's Summer Cleaning project resulted in me located a lot of dust! Today's assignment was to clean all of your light fixtures.

The first place I found dust was on our dining room chandelier. This actually housed the least amount of dust today! In order to remove the "shades," I also had to remove the lightbulbs. I then washed the shades in soapy water and scrubbed the chandelier well.

After that, I moved onto to each of our bathroom light fixtures. Here, I found dust - and LOTS of it! The lightbulbs were caked in dust and the fixtures themselves were quite gross, too.

Boy, was it nice to get these fixtures scrubbed down thoroughly! I have a feeling that our bathrooms will be brighter now... :)

Tomorrow, here's your task:

Clean out and organize the drawers in your kitchen. Remove everything, wipe down the inside of the drawers, and reorganize the contents. Throw away or donate any items that you no longer use.

If you need to catch up:

• Days 1 & 2 - clean out your purse, wash throw blankets and clean the refrigerator.
• Day 3 - clean the freezer.
• Day 4 - vacuum underneath beds.
• Day 5 - vacuum underneath couches and chairs.
• Day 6 - clean the washer & dryer and clean out the car.
• Day 7 - clean the baseboards (and door frames).
• Day 8 - clean the switchplates and door handles.

Summer Cleaning Day 8

Thankfully, today's Summer Cleaning project was much easier than yesterday's project. This morning, I set out to clean the switchplates and door handles in our home.

This is one of those days when it's nice to have a small home because I didn't have very many switchplates and door handles!

Summer Cleaning continues tomorrow with this task:

Clean your light fixtures. Remove the shades and bulbs. Clean everything well and put the fixtures back together.

If you need to catch up:

• Days 1 & 2 - clean out your purse, wash throw blankets and clean the refrigerator.
• Day 3 - clean the freezer.
• Day 4 - vacuum underneath beds.
• Day 5 - vacuum underneath couches and chairs.
• Day 6 - clean the washer & dryer and clean out the car.
• Day 7 - clean the baseboards (and door frames).

Summer Cleaning Day 7

Whew! I am exhausted today. My Summer Cleaning project was a doozy today! Today's project was to wipe down the baseboards in your home. I also cleaned all of our door frames while I was at it - those were dirty!

Today's project was not necessarily difficult, but it took me a long time! When I was finally done, though, I was thankful to have it done since some parts of our condo were rather dirty and dusty!

Since I was on a roll with the cleaning, I decided to tackle the sweeping and and vacuuming of all our ceramic floors (entryway, kitchen, and both bathrooms). This desperately needed to be done, so I'm glad I pushed through and did it!

Summer Cleaning continues tomorrow with this task:

Wipe down the door handles and switchplates in your home. I recommend using a solution of water & disinfectant and a rag (or you can use a disinfectant wipe).

If you need to catch up:

• Days 1 & 2 - clean out your purse, wash throw blankets and clean the refrigerator.
• Day 3 - clean the freezer.
• Day 4 - vacuum underneath beds.
• Day 5 - vacuum underneath couches and chairs.
• Day 6 - clean the washer & dryer and clean out the car.

Summer Cleaning Day 6

Today's Summer Cleaning projects were to clean the washing machine and dryer, plus clean out the car.

Our washing machine (note: all of the appliances belong with the rental) has always been disgusting (in my opinion)! It's dusty and dirty and just plain grosses me out. So I made up a bucket of water with disinfectant and went to work on the washing machine and the dryer.

The entire project took me about 10 minutes and both machines are so much cleaner!

After that, I headed outside to clean out my car. About two months ago, we cleaned out our cars, vacuumed them thoroughly, wiped down the interiors and then washed the exteriors. Because we did that, my car did not need much work today.

I did pull a few pieces of trash out, though, after our trip earlier this week. I love having a clean car, so I'm glad that I was "forced" to look it over and clean it out again.

Summer Cleaning continues on Monday next week with:

Wipe down all the baseboards in your home. I recommend using a solution of water & disinfectant and a rag.

If you need to catch up:

• Days 1 & 2 - clean out your purse, wash throw blankets and clean the refrigerator.
• Day 3 - clean the freezer.
• Day 4 - vacuum underneath beds.
• Day 5 - vacuum underneath couches and chairs.

Summer Cleaning Day 5

Today's Summer Cleaning project was to clean the couches and chair cushions, as well as vacuum underneath the couches and chair.

This wasn't too difficult for me, but it did take me awhile, especially moving the furniture!

First, I focused on the living room couch, which also has a pull-out sofa. The couch itself wasn't too dirty, but man, were there a lot of cobwebs behind the couch! I wiped down the baseboards, too, which I had the furniture pulled out.

Next, I pulled out the easy chair and the table and clean behind those. Our Shop Vac makes this Summer Cleaning stuff so much easier!

There! Everything is put back together, exactly where it belongs.

After that, I moved on to our sunroom. Our treadmill is in this room, so it's quite full. We don't actually use this couch, but this is where our dog, Simon, likes to sit because he can look out the window.

So I pulled out the end table, then the couch, and then the tables & chairs at the end (that's the only place we have to store these items!). This room wasn't overly dirty - but our big problem in the sunroom is ladybugs. I can't even tell you how many dead ladybugs I vacuumed up out there!

It was nice to have it all cleaned up and straightened up! I also wiped down the baseboards in the sunroom.

Summer Cleaning continues tomorrow with two new tasks:

Clean out and vacuum your car. Throw away trash, vacuum and clean the windows.

Clean your washing machine and dryer. Scrub it down, clean out the dryer lint.

If you need to catch up:

• Days 1 & 2 - cleaning out your purse, washing throw blankets and cleaning the refrigerator.
• Day 3 - clean the freezer.
• Day 4 - vacuum underneath beds.

Reminder: Summer Cleaning resumes tomorrow!

Just a quick reminder:

Summer Cleaning resumes tomorrow with a new task:

Move couches and easy chairs; vacuum underneath them. Vacuum beneath the cushions, too. Be sure to throw away any garbage or dust bunnies you find.

If you need to catch up:

• Days 1 & 2 - cleaning out your purse, washing throw blankets and cleaning the refrigerator.
• Day 3 - clean the freezer.
• Day 4 - vacuum underneath beds.

Summer Cleaning Days 1 & 2

Today, I started my "Summer Cleaning...the easy way!" project for June and July. My first task was to wash all of our throw blankets. We have quite a few blankets because 1) We receive them as gifts and 2) We keep our house colder in the winter in an effort to save money, so we use blankets frequently. I piled all of them in the middle of the living room floor and then Simon guarded them for me. {Really, he just loves to lay on any blanket he can find!}

By the end of the day, all of the blankets were washed and hung up to dry.

The contents of our refrigerator

The next task was to empty out, disinfect and reorganize the refrigerator. Thankfully, I chose the perfect time (unintentionally, of course!) to do this because our refrigerator is rather bare. Truthfully, our fridge isn't usually much more full than this.

Clean and organized!

I am embarassed to admit that this refrigerator was more dirty than I anticipated! We moved in here last July and apparently the previous tenants hadn't cleaned it as well as I thought. It's nice to have it clean and organized now!

Here's what my purse contained...

My third task for today was to clean out my purse. There weren't too many stowaway items in my purse - just some earrings and a few hair bands. Apparently, my wallet dumped over at some point, too, putting change in the bottom of my purse.

When it was all said and done, my purse was looking quite a bit neater. Now the challenge is keeping it that way!

Here's tomorrow's task:

Clean out your freezer. Remove all the contents. Throw away any food that should be pitched (freezer burned, won't ever use, etc.). Disinfect the inside of the freezer. Reorganize all of the contents.

Check back tomorrow evening for an update on my freezer-cleaning adventure! It's sure to be a fun one...

Summer Cleaning...the easy way! - Introduction

Inspired by Crystal at Money Saving Mom.com, during June and July, I will be "deep cleaning" our home. I've created a "schedule" of sorts for myself so I can accomplish a large variety of tasks that need to be done at my house.

These tasks are not ones that I like. Left to my own devices, I would never do them, to be quite honest! However, I've been inspired to overcome that and get down to business!

Because I loved Crystal's idea of completing just one or two tasks per day, I've based my cleaning plan on that model. Because of our schedule, I have planned one or two tasks each day, Monday through Thursday each week.

My plan is to post an update on my progress each evening. This will be a great way to keep myself accountable! I will also let you know what my task will be for the next day, in case you care to clean with me.

On Tuesday, we'll will start with these projects:

• Clean out your purse. I hope this is an easy one!
• Wash any throw blankets you have.
• Clean out the refrigerator. Throw away expired food (not that you'll have any of that, right?!), disinfect the shelves and drawers, and reorganize the contents of your refrigerator.

Five tips for living in a small space

Much to my surprise this morning, I am featured in a guest post on Money Saving Mom today! I am writing about living in a small space. Here's a snippet of the post:

This summer, we (suddenly) downsized from a four-bedroom, one-bathroom house to a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo. We simplified everything, reexamined what we really need on a regular basis, and reorganized our home to fit us better.

However, living in a small space can be challenging at times. As I am learning to focus more on being intentional in my homemaking endeavors, I have five tips for those of you who live in smaller homes.

Head on over to Money Saving Mom to read the rest of my tips for living in a small space!

Have you “liked” Our Frugal Happy Life on Facebook yet? We have lots of fun over there, too!

Organizing Your Home: the laundry

So far in this series, we've talked about organizing your pantry, refrigerator, freezer, kitchen and bathroom. Like I've said before, keeping your home organized does take time and work - but I believe it's so worth the effort! Your home will be much easier to manage when it's organized.

In this final segment, let's focus on your laundry area. You may be fortunate enough to have an actual laundry "room" - and for that, I am slightly envious! Others of you (myself included) may only have a closet. Our washer and dryer are in a closet off the hallway, just outside both bedrooms. Whatever space you have for laundry - let's talk about a few tips for keeping it organized.

My laundry closet

Utilize the shelving in your laundry area. We have one large built-in shelf above our washer and dryer. I keep a number of items on the shelf (note that not all are laundry-related!):

• Extra detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets, and stain remover.
• Iron...which I {ahem} rarely never use! (OK, well, maybe I've used it about five times in three years...) You can also see that we've stuck the ironing board on the side of the dryer.
• Sewing basket.
• A cooler...it landed there when we moved and that became it's home.

Get creative when it comes to drying clothes! I use our dryer for most items - I don't air dry much. But, there are some items that must be air-dryed, and in our new condo, I've had to get creative since we don't have a patio (plus it's very cold here for about six months of the year!).

I use a wooden drying rack in the second bathroom for most of my air drying. It fits perfectly in the tub! I also hang an extra tension shower rod across the tub and can air dry laundry on that. That works nicely for items that are still dripping wet.

I also recommend storing your laundry baskets in inconspicuous places. I keep one of our laundry baskets in the corner of our room. There's also one on top of the dryer. We have a third laundry basket that we don't use currently and that hides in our walk-in closet.

Organizing Your Home: the bathroom

So far in this series, we've talked about organizing your pantry, refrigerator, freezer and kitchen. Keeping your home organized does take time and work - but I believe it's so worth the effort! Your home will be much easier to manage when it's organized.

Use the space in your closet(s) wisely. We are fortunate to have two full bathrooms in our condo. The guest bathroom does not have a closet or any storage (other than the vanity), but our master bathroom has a large closet, which is pictured above. I keep a lot of items in that closet!

• all linens - sheets, blankets, comforters, pillows, towels, etc.
• my health and beauty stockpile (see a picture of that in this post)

Don't allow your bathroom counter to become cluttered.

I strive to keep our bathroom counter fairly clean! We keep a minimal number of items on the counters on a daily basis. Obviously, the hand soap needs to be on the counter, and our toothbrushes are also there. I have a basket on the counter for my husband's vitamins, and he keeps his shaving stuff out all the time. Other than those items, everything else either stays in the closet or in the vanity.

A big bonus to keeping less items on your counter means that cleaning is much easier. :)

We have no drawers in our bathrooms here, so we've had to improvise. My solution has been baskets and buckets that are in the vanity. We each have one basket that holds the items we need daily. I also have other baskets that hold cleaning supplies, extra health & beauty items, etc.

This actually works really well for us. I have to say that I don't think I miss having drawers!

The bathroom is one of those places that can become easily cluttered because of all the individual bottles of different products. It's important to have a good organization system in place so you don't become overwhelmed.

Spend 15 minutes today evaluating the organization in your bathroom(s). How can you better organize it to work better for you?

Organizing Your Home: the kitchen

During this series, we have talked about organizing your pantry, your refrigerator, and your freezer.

This we'll talk about organizing the kitchen in general. I don't know about your home, but a lot happens in our kitchen! We don't have a large kitchen (by any stretch of that word!), but our kitchen is very functional and works well for us right now.

Here's what I leave out on my counters all the time:

• Stand mixer
• Spice rack
• Knife block
• Cutting boards
• Canisters (I have eight in all.)
• Toaster
• Toaster oven
• Cooking utensils.

Because we live in a small condo, I find it to be much easier to leave these items on my counters. One, I simply don't have the space to store these items anywhere else! And two, because I cook and bake regularly, I prefer to have easier access to these commonly-used items.

However, everyone is different, so just because this works for me doesn't mean it will work for you! If you have the space to store unused items and you prefer having them out of sight, go for it!

This is how I organize my cabinets:

• Cleaning cabinet (under the sink)
• Baking cabinets (pans, Pyrex dishes, mixing bowls, etc.)
• Everyday plates, bowls and glasses
• Serving dishes
• Other appliances: blender, emulsifier, George Foreman grill
• Plastic storage containers
• And of course, one of the cabinets is our pantry.

And here's what's in my drawers (I actually have too much drawer space here!):

• Everday flatware
• Other miscellaneous cooking utensils
• Potholders and trivets
• Plastic wrap, foil, plastic bags, etc.
• Kitchen dishclothes and towels
• Spices
• And...of course we have a "junk drawer" with lots of odds and ends!

None of my cabinets and drawers are overflowing in our current kitchen, which makes me happy! For the first time, I am actually very happy with how our kitchen is organized. When a kitchen is well-organized and works well for you, cooking and baking will be much easier - and more fun!

Take 15 minutes today to organize your kitchen counters, cabinets and drawers. What changes can you make to help your kitchen be more functional?

Organizing Your Home: the freezer

So far in this series, we've looked at how I organize my pantry and my refrigerator. Have you been able to organize your pantry and refrigerator over the past two weeks?

This week, we'll look at how I organize my freezer. Like I mentioned at the end of last week, my freezer is often too full for me to even do any baking! I like to make and freeze a batch of muffins for easy breakfast meals.

My chock-full freezer last week

We rent a condo now, so we have a smaller-than-average refrigerator with a top freezer. We don't have a separate freezer because there simply isn't room here. This has all been a challenge for me, to say the least! I don't do "freezer cooking," per se, but I do utilize my freezer regularly (for example, muffins and other bread items). We also shop less often since we live in a rural area, so I stock up on groceries about two times per month.

However, I will not be defeated by my freezer! Here's a few tips for keeping your freezer organized:

Group like items together. I tend to keep certain food items together: bread, meat, cheese, vegetables, etc. When I'm looking for a particular item, I usually know in what general area to look in the freezer. Commonly heard in our home:

My husband: "Ummm...I know I have bread in here. Any idea where it is?"
Me: "Please stop taking everything out! It should be on the top shelf in the back right corner. I think."

75% of the time, I'm right. The other 25% of the time? You'll find me emptying the contents of our freezer onto the counter as I search frantically for the bread. Yeah, it's fun.

Unfortunately, I just haven't found a way to eliminate this problem in our current freezer. When we moved in, it didn't even have any shelves! That was bad. We put some wire shelves in there, but my best approach is still to group like items together.

My freezer this week...there's a little more space!

Use vacuum sealing to conserve space. As you can see in my pictures, I utilize my Food Saver vacuum sealing machine regularly (mine is very similar to this one). It definitely help conserve space! We received ours as a Christmas gift last year and have definitely seen the value in having it. I portion out our meat after I purchase it and seal it up before freezing it. I also vacuum seal veggies when I do those.

I keep smaller items in the freezer door.

Clean out the freezer regularly. Just like with the refrigerator, it's very important to clean out the freezer regularly. While I don't enjoy digging through my freezer regularly looking for items, it does help me keep it cleaned out!

Our freezer is definitely my nemesis when it comes to home organization - I'll be the first to admit that! However, my resolve to keep it organized has been energized, even when I don't want to do it (which is basically all the time!).

Take 15 minutes today to sort through the contents of your freezer. Should anything be thrown away or used soon? How can you better organize your freezer?