FLY LADY - Master Bed & Bath

I smile every time I read this header. Yes, I love naps. Though now days it's more about either putting my feet up for awhile between the cool sheets so they'll stop aching or snuggling with the two cats that are pretty much banished to the bedroom during the day because they and Tabby can't get along.. and I can't sleep with them at night. Goddess, my nursemaid of a cat, has to sleep right up on m y shoulder. Breathing her dander all night about kills me - but we do okay for an hour or two during the day.

Oh, right, back to cleaning.
The bedroom has become more manageable since Bob built the laundry sorter tower in one corner. He hates when I find ideas on Pinterest but is more agreeable when he sees it is something that is really useful - not just a 'want'.

Okay.. so projects this week are:

BEDROOM
sort through the basket of pet sheets and eliminate that basket from under my nightstand
Clean my shoe shelves. They seem to become a catch - all :: sigh ::

BATHROOM
Under the sink orgnaized similar to the kitchen

Regarding the under the sink organization in both the Kitchen and the Master Bath - I have the drawer units I need to put in both of these places. Just a matter of making myself get down on the floor to do this particular task. Getting down is one thing, getting back up has become a bit tougher these days.

What's your Zone for this week? Is there a challenge spot you've been avoiding? Tell us what it is. Maybe we can help!

Enjoy the Journey!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - FlyLady

While this week is supposed to be all about the Living Room - Zone 3, I am backtracking to show you what I did in the Master Bedroom last week.

I will get the zones on track the way they should be... just going to take some time. Baby Steps

I told you last week I was going to tackle the closet before Bob left back out. I knew I needed a second shelf towards the back of the top shelf and while I had everything out of the way for Bob to install that, I wanted to go through everything.  Here's the photo gallery with captions:

Top Shelf - West end

Top Shelf - East end

Full clothing rod

Drawers

When we first moved in, we had 2 sets of waterbed storage bases from our old waterbed. The bedroom is too small for dressers - though we have book cases. Go figure LOL The drawer bases fit perfectly the width of the closet. Bob has the same configuration on his side. 

First, I took everything out of the closet except the drawers/ contents. I'd gone through those in the spring so didn't need to go back through them.

Loose items from shelf on bed for sorting/ trying on.

Bob's empty shoe rack with storage boxes from the shelf as well as some loose items.

Incidentally, we had taken his shoe rack apart and moved it out of the closet when the girls came. Adrian's mattress was in the open closet space. 

Abby's roll a way sat where the shoe rack is in the picture.

We put the rack back together in preparation for putting back in the closet but utilized it for this.

Then the sorting began. I tried on everything on the shelf. If it didn't fit or wasn't going to fit in the next #5 loss, then it went in the thrift store bag. I got rid of a lot of things I haven't worn in years and knew I never would. Some of the items dated back to my days as an Undercover Wear agent. I loved the pieces but they just didn't belong in my closet any longer.

This was the end result...

Look at all those EMPTY hangers!

Thrift Store

When I dropped them off, the gal asked if I'd had a garage sale!

A much more organized space! There are things to the back of the shelf yet, but those are 'keeper' things like funeral books and keepsakes.

Top shelf neat and tidy. Bulky things I wear every day easily accessed.

Jeans and the soon to be worn sweaters

A lot less crowded clothing bar. 

Next week I'll show you how I've decluttered the Week 3 Zone - the Living Room.

Are you decluttering? Should you be? Think how much easier you'll breathe!

Enjoy the Journey!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - House Cleaning

I know when we think Recipe our mind automatically goes to food. Well, there are recipes for everything - including Housekeeping. So here's my recipe for today. 

CHAOS - Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome?

FLYLADY is the answer!

Yep, that would be our house about now.  Between everything not being in place the way they should have been before the girls arrived, add in the chaos of a 5 & 9 year old with toys, constant activity and trips the house is a disaster. And shall I remind you, I've never completely put the office together the way I envision it. Angels are not singing when I open the door. Rather, they are hiding in tiny corners for fear any noise might send something toppling onto their angelic heads.

I was a Flybaby several years ago. Marla Ciley's formula was the only thing that kept our home in some semblance of order between a 7-kid daycare and six Girl Scout troops - two of which required me driving out of town an hour each way one night a week.

I came across a post on YouTube the other day that reminded me of the program and I knew that's what I needed right now. I needed to become a flybaby again.

I've spent the past week in bits and pieces putting my Flylady notebook together. Let's do a quick walk-through.

I began with a six-ring planner I found at a thrift store for $2. Just hanging out in the cabinet waiting for a use.

The front pattern is covered with a clear plastic so I slit that at the top so that I could personalize the planner a bit, using papers and embellishments from Simple Stories - Domestic Bliss line:

I used one of their embellishment packs throughout the planner, including the cover... The card actually says "Bless This Mess". Since I'm all about getting rid of the 'mess', I covered the last word up with one of the ephemera pieces:

Come on, you knew there had to be paper crafting involved! 😀

The Flylady system breaks your house down into Zone's - one zone per week. I bought a package of tab dividers. I had to trim them to fit and punch the holes.

What the Flylady system is all about!

There are specific tasks to do each week. 

Once we're past the Decluttering Process no task should take more than 15 minutes.

I've laminated all of the cards I'll be showing you. 

This made the TO DO page a great write on/ wipe off surface. I've slit the holes on both of these cards so I can move them freely through the planner without having to open the rings every time.

I printed the calendar made for a Traveler's Notebook from Scattered Squirrel. The Weekly Planner pages were inside the planner when I bought it. I'll use the weekly pages to make notes of what is on the Zone plan for that week - day by day bites.

Aside from the weekly pages that were in the planner, there was also a two-sided sheet listing each day of the month. I put one behind each monthly tab and will move this from month-to month as I meal plan each week.

ZONE 1 - Kitchen/ Laundry

ZONE 2 - Office

ZONE 3 - Living Room/ Dining Room

ZONE 4 - Master Bedroom/ Bathroom

ZONE 5 - Basement/ Pantry

I'll be using these images as post headers from here on out.

The Keys to flylady are:

1 - Declutter 

     Working within the Zone for that week, spend 15 min. each day decluttering the room

2- 15 Minutes

     Everyone has 15 minutes and by doing things in small bites, you do not get overwhelmed

3 - Routine

      There is a Morning Routine, Afternoon Routine, Bedtime Routine

If you're in a state of CHAOS - I encourage you to check out Flylady and join us! After all, isn't a clean house part of our Journey to Living Healthy?

I'll be back Friday to let you know how the week went. Until then...

Enjoy the Journey!

Kelly