My Addiction to HGTV

There aren't many hobbies that I haven't tried.  I have done everything from dancing to snowboarding to trying to learn how to sew, to baking.  I've done it all.  My most recent obsession, which has actually been going on for a while now is my addiction to HGTV, more importantly, to interior design.  I don't know what it is but there is just something about having all of these designing ideas in my head that just gives me a high.  One of my biggest guilty pleasures lately is praying that my two sons are still napping at 3 o clock so that I can catch even a few minutes of Nate Berkus.  I remember right before my second son was born in November Berkus was doing suprise makeovers to some lucky Connecticut families homes.  I secretly believed that my wonderful husband had submitted my story to Nate and I would therefore wake up one morning, walk downstairs (9 months pregnant and all), and find a completely renovated living room.  Well, I waited....but it never happened.  Funny thing is though that a mere hours before I had my little boy, sure enough, Nate Berkus was on in the delivery room.  One of our final name choices was Nathaniel.  I honestly believe that my husband was just so disgusted with my obsession that he vetoed the name and chose Luke as the winner.

As part of my addiction I spent many hours scouring around for design ideas.  I have gathered some pictures of some of my favorite finds.  Being it a weekend and all I thought we could take some time from talking about our children and indulge in our own passions, or...just mine. Our living room is a mixture of beiges and blues.  I am trying to make it very natural yet contemporary at the same time.  I like using colors that are found in nature.  Some of the rooms I chose have this general theme.  I also have a slight obsession with baskets.  I think they are a great tool for storing toys, books, blankets, mittens, gloves, you name it.  We have quite a few in our living room.  I love the dark wicker colored ones.  Anyway, I hope I can inspire your creative side a little.  Enjoy!

 

Maybe, if I'm brave enough, I will invite you into my home (through pictures of course) to help me solve my design dilemma.

The Lies of Motherhood

My husband will tell you that he thinks all mothers are crazy.  Yes, when he says this it does hit a nerve, but look closer at what he is really saying and you might tend to believe him.

 

I was reading a story on BBC News today that made me think of this quote of my husbands.  It was about how mothers admit to parenting lies.  You know, the one where you child sleeps through the night at 2 weeks, or the one where you only allow your child 10 minutes of tv a day.  We all do it in one way or another, but why?  

The point behind the article is that we should all take a different approach to these parenting lies.  The reason behind the lies is the feeling of inadequacy that we all suffer from.  Being a parent is tough enough without the feeling that you aren't living up to the standards of other mothers around you.  You don't want to be the one on the playground with the kid who had a cookie on the way over, when all the other mothers have a reusable bag with organic edamame in it, do you?

In a way it is like high school all over again.  Who has the best bags, the best clothes...the best strollers, the most organic household.  Don't get me wrong, there is definitely an upside to having these standards.  There is nothing wrong with striving to be the best parent that you can be, but there is a price to pay when we set these standards to high for ourselves.  

I have to admit, my standards have gone down a little since having my second son.  I honestly just don't have the time or brain capacity of making sure that every meal I serve is organic, or that my first little one reads x number of books per day.  Sure, I still try my best, but there is only so much mommy to go around.  I just wish all mothers would take a step back and support each other more instead of making it into a competition of who raises their child best.  The most important thing you can do for your family is be "the glass half full."  Support from other mothers, friends, and family is one of the biggest steps.  In order to get there...we need to be more honest with each other. 

The link to the news article is: Mothering Lies

Spring Cleaning: Part IV...The Dreaded Bathrooms

So this is it, the last room.  After this you can feel reassured that you have hit the darkest and dirtiest corners of your home.

1. Start with the cabinets and drawers.  Clean them out.  You wouldn't believe how much junk builds up in these things over the months.  Throw out the garbage and organize the drawers.  I can't even tell you how many empty medicine containers I found...seriously!?  Yea it was probably all me.
2.Remove everything that you don't need on the counters.  Even the toothpaste, you can find a place for this.  Scrub down the counters and only keep your soap dispenser and anything that makes the bathroom look more attractive.
3. Clean the shower.  This includes washing your shower curtain, or if you want even replacing the liner, you can get really cheap ones at Ikea for about 3 bucks.  Scrub the walls, fixtures, the floor.  Throw out any old loofah's.  These things are bacteria magnets!
4.  Toilet time.  I hate this part, but do it up.  Don't forget to wear your gloves.  After you are done with the swiffer, either stick it in some antibacterial wash or toss it and buy a new one.  This thing is just so gross.
5. Vacuum and mop the floor.  When you are done with this, grab the magic eraser and go around the molding.  This really will brighten up the room when you are done.
6. Wash any carpets or towels in the room that are used for display.

Voila...you have a clean house.  Or in the least, a more organized one.  The other possibility is that your other rooms have already started gathering dust and you'll have to start all over again!  Well, at least the knitty gritty is done!

Spring Cleaning: Part III The Bedroom(s)

Ah, the bedroom, the beloved sanctuary of your home.  It definitely is my sanctuary it is where my husband and I throw all of our junk when we get company or we just can't stand the sight of dirty clothes.  Well, since the morning sickness kicked in our bedroom looks like it was hit by a hurricane.  Too bad I am so backed up on the rest of my spring cleaning that it might take another week before I can get to this room.  For you lovely ladies who are hopelessly devoted homemakers and are following along let's move on to the bedroom.

1.  Look around at all the dressers and get anything off of them that doesn't scream romance or relaxation.  A book you are reading can stay, perfume, jewelry, pictures of your husband and you, but get rid of the junk. You might also want to get rid of the pictures of your college friends.  I am guilty of this, but it is just so unromantic!
2. Get rid of the clutter, the paper and put everything in it's correct room.
3. Tackle one dresser at a time, dust everything.
4. Organize your drawers, get rid of anything (give to good will or consignment) anything that you haven't worn in over 6 months and don't plan on it.  This includes in your closet.
5. Pick up the things that don't belong on your closet floor and organize your clothes.
6. Sheets off the bed, wash, and don't forget even the comforter needs to be done once in a while!  Dry clean if necessary.
7. Wipe down the blinds and if you can remove the curtains give those a wash too.
8.  Dust lamps, antibacterial doors, windex windows and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum!

If you have more than one room follow the same step with all of these.

Next week we tackle the last room...the dirty bathroom!

Spring Cleaning: Part II: Dining and Living Rooms

I hope that many of you were able to conquer your kitchens last week.  I have made some good progress, but am still working on that toaster oven!  I just haven't been able to bring myself to it.  I will probably have to finish that today before moving on.

This week we are going to work on the dining and living rooms.  The dining room, so sacred and rarely used should not be so hard (unless you are like us) we have a dining table when you first walk in...so you got it, everythig piles up on that table.  The living room is another matter.  This is the place where family gathers, children play.  Let's get to work.

Living Room
-First off, get a box, or a bag and gather everything that doesn't belong in this room and get it out!  Don't start anything else until this stuff is out and in the appropriate rooms.
-Once you've got that taken care of slowly move around the room working on the tables, any tv stands and remove everything.  Start dusting!  Isn't it fun?!  Once you've dusted a tabletop or a shelf put it back together in an organized fashion.  Once you've moved all around the room you should have a very pretty and less chaotic space.
-Move those couches and vacuum.  You are also going to want to move the cushions if they are removable.  Vacuum under the couches, under the cushions and throw those cushions in the wash.  If you have kids you know the spots that can build up over the course of a year.. When vacuuming be sure to get the corners of the room too.
-Dust the ceilings, especially in the corners
-Magic Erase the spots on the walls if you have white walls!  It really does wonders.
-Wash those windows, indoors and out.  If you have blinds, dust over those as well!
-Why not add a touch of spring to the room, bring in a bright colored accent...it will really brighten up the room.
Enjoy!

Dining Room
-If you are like us you have a beautiful hutch that you probably only get around to dutsing after you have a dinner party and remove all the wonderful plates.  Well, get to it.  Remove all the glasses and plates, give them a brief dusting and then wipe down the shelves and windex the windows.  White vinegar will also do the trick and give that smell of clean.  Dust the top, the inside shelves and then move on.
-Remove anything that is sitting on that table (more for me than anyone else).  Change the table linen or give the table a nice dusting.  Vacuum the cushions on the chairs or wipe those down as well.
-If you have drawers that are loaded with stuff, sort through and see what you can do without.
-dust those lights.
-Vacuum and get to the floors.

Once I finish the kitchen, and these three rooms I will be super psyched because these are the first three rooms you see when entering my home.  It will be a relief. Dreaming of it is only half the battle =(

Good Luck Everyone!!

Spring Cleaning: Room One- the center of the family

You know, every other year I have LOVED spring cleaning.  But I honestly have to say, I feel like I just don't have the energy.  I am sure a lot of you are with me.  Either way, I really do feel that it's something that has to be done.  Because no matter how much we stay up on our housework (or not) there will still always be things that we neglect doing.

I am hoping that I can provide a plan that you guys can follow at your own pace.  I'd like to, for the next few weeks, post one room a week.  You can either take care of that room in one day, or like I will, focus on that room for the whole week...doing it little by little.    I know that sometimes I am in the mood to just keep going, and others I want nothing to do with a broom!
So, stay tuned every Monday for a new room, but for today...

Let's start with the kitchen:

organize cabinets

:make sure to throw out any old food that you haven't use in about 6 months, and that you honestly have no intention of using any time soon. Donate it! There are plenty of people who would appreciate this tremendously.

-be sure to put whatever you use most towards the front of the cabinet, and everything that you do not use too much towards the back.

- put like things together, it will make it look better and also help with organization.

-don't forget,before putting everything back in the cabinets you are going to want to wipe down the cabinets.

-Refrigerator

-This was my least favorite. It's likely that you have at some point in the past year had some old food sitting around...therefore you will be left with a smelly gross refrigerator. Now is a good time to empty the whole thing, scrub down the shelving and the drawers and only put in the fresh food. Also, put a box of baking soda in there if you don't already. For this I used baking soda and White vinegar, your food is going to be in this place so you don't want to use anything too harsh

-Go in the freezer and take out anything that you don't think you will defrost.

Toaster Oven and appliances

-This is one of the hardest things to clean! But once it's finished put some aluminum foil under the rack to catch any future crumbs.

-wipe down the microwave

-Use a mixture of white vinegar and water to clean the coffee pot, run a cycle with this and then do about 2-3 follow up cycles with just plain water.

Floor/Bases

-I LOVE Mr. Clean white sponges, I used them to go around the base of the kitchen )if you have white base boards) and cleaned up. They are sparkling! We usually forget this spot in the kitchen, but it definitely makes the floor and walls look better. If you have white walls, touching up with this is great.

-Next, really scrub the floor, use cleaning supplies if you usually only use water.

Windows

-Wipe these down, both inside and out.


Why not sanitize that gross garbage can, ugh, yeah who wants to do that? But you'll thank yourself later, we don't realize how smelly this can actually get.


finally, clean the sink and counters...baking soda and white vinegar will do the job.



Next, we'll focus on the living areas and dining room.