Simplifying

Well this month I will be trying trying to simplify my house which for me is a BIG step, you see I am the biggest clutter bug you will ever meet and I have absolutely NO organizational skills. Although it may look like a crazy mess to some people I usually know where everything is...but I usually go through a sort of spring cleaning before Birthdays, and after Christmas. This is where I fill bags and bags of old toys and things around the house that simply just clutter our lives. It's the greatest feeling to get rid of clutter and junk that we're just drowning in, plus we live in a humble little home..and when I say humble I mean you blink your eyes and the house tour is over..lol So it's just not plausible to have clutter especially with three little ones and another on the way. This is my goal for 2012...to simplify my house...I want to Soulemama my house!! I was thinking of doing one room a week and seeing where that takes me...
this week I'm working on the heart of the home..my kitchen this is where we gather together, we cook together, we greet daddy from a long day of work, so what better room to start with then this one!!

So I started with on top of the fridge and that was an easy fix since it was all junk up there and just needed to be thrown away. It's a bad habit of ours to get the mail or whatever and before dinner we put it above the fridge and since we are both short people we don't notice the junk pile above the fridge.

Next I did under the sink with was a mess as you can see...
(yes I know..."How did we live like that?")

I've also decided to trade in all those bought cleaners for some natural homemade ones. I've been wanting to make the switch for quit some time and just haven't gotten around to it...
These are some of the recipes we will be using now..
All purpose cleaner
1/2 C vinegar
1/4 C Baking soda
mix into 1/2 Gallon water

Floor cleaner
1/4 C vinegar in a bucket of water add 10 drops of essential oil

Dishwasher soap
1 C Borax
1 C washing soda
1/2 C citric acid (this was tricky for me to find but I found in in a natural heath food store)
1/2 C Kosher salt

mix all together and store in an air tight container...I was just going to use one of our old Charlie's soap laundry detergent container
If you need an extra rinse agent you can add a little vinegar to the wash as well.

For a light shower cleaner
1 part hydrogen peroxide
2 part water

for more scrubbing power in the shower
use baking soda
and for tough tub floors wipe with vinegar first then scrub with baking soda.

Toilet cleaner
1/4 C baking soda
1 C vinegar
Let it sit in the toilet for 15 min and then scrub

Drain Cleaner
pour 1/2 C baking soda down the drain
then pour down 1/2 C vinegar
Let sit for 30min then rinse with hot water
this mixture has a chemical reaction and should break down the clog in the drain.

Window cleaner
2 tsp vinegar
1 liter water

And for cleaning water spots on wood floors you would scrub with mayonnaise then buff out....I was shocked about this one but WOW it really worked on most of our water stains. Some of the stains right outside our bathroom are very deep and just need to be sanded but it did lighten those water stains quit a bit...I was impressed.


Next I worked on our baking cabinet...it's a wonder I do all the baking I do with a cabinet like this one.. There was flour everywhere when I cleaned it out...I do believe this is my favorite change. As you also see Jameson and Ricky felt the need to "help" with the flour...and when I say they helped what they really did was make flour angels.

Before pic...


After pic...


My flour child




More posts to follow...I'm just waiting for my husbands handiwork to build me a spice rack...I can't wait for this next project either!!!

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