Desk Nook Phase 1

***So it turns out I accidentally shared phase 2 of our desk nook before I shared Phase 1.  Well, here's the first part...of which you probably already caught glimpses if you read last week's phase 2 post.  Oh well!***

A few weeks back while attempting to tame the chaos that had become our playroom, we decided to move our desk into the closet, thus freeing up precious real estate in the actual room.  Although it was kind of a last-minute decision, it's actually really working for us. So now that we know the desk is there to stay, we have some major work to do to make our nook look a little less blah and chaotic:

The first step I took was to go ahead and paint the inside of the closet the same gray as the rest of the room.  Luckily, I had some leftover from when I had painted a few years back, so it was pretty straightforward.

Once that was done, I got to work dealing with the space above the shelf.  In looking at images of desk closets (there's tons on Pinterest if you're interested), I found that I was drawn to those that had a fun pattern on the back wall.  I considered painting stripes...or chevron...or some other pattern, but honestly, I've been there, done that and wanted something different here.  My next thought was to maybe do some wallpaper or something back there, but from what I could tell, cool wallpaper is pretty darn expensive.  And so I started looking at the potential of using fabric...and that's when it dawned on me!  

Instead of just hanging up a big ole piece of fabric, I should cover some cork with the fabric and achieve two goals: fun pattern on back wall AND a place to tack up inspiration, announcements, reminders, etc.

So that's exactly what I did.  I picked up a roll of cork at AC Moore which happened to be just about the exact measurements I needed for our wall (minus a couple inches on the side, but oh well) and a yard of fabric.  I hot glued the fabric to the back of the cork, folding the corners like a present and when I was done I had a fabric-wrapped piece of cork...that I promptly nailed to the wall.

You may have noticed that with the fabric in place, the shelf and other clutter were too much, so I also did some paring down in there.  But looking at that mess, I obviously had some more work to do.  Have no fear, I quickly took action to tackle Phase 2.  I'll be back soon with those details...

Desk Nook Phase 2

I'm in the process of attempting to convert a very cluttered closet into a comfortable, functional, stylish desk nook.  And when we last left it, I had made a bit of progress in that I had decluttered slightly, painting the inside of the closet to match the rest of the room, and installing a quick and easy fabric cork board to have a pretty place to store all kinds of notes, reminders, etc.

So the next step was coming up with something for below the shelf that would both look pretty and clear up some space from the desk and shelf.  The winner?  Pegboard!  At just about $7 for a 24x48 piece (which covered my space perfectly), it was a totally affordable and easy solution.  I did pick up a couple pieces of 1x2x8 (cut to size...two pieces at 24 inches and 2 at 48) because one of the workers at Home Depot told me that the pegboard couldn't lie flat against the wall or no baskets would be able to hang.  Makes sense, right, but honestly, I hadn't thought of it!  He also told me I should drill everything in...the 1x2 pieces and then the pegboard into the 1x2's.  So I did....or more accurately, I drilled the 1x2's in, and Josh drilled the pegboard in (I tried but couldn't quite hold it and drill and all).  Oh, and before I put the pegboard in, I painted it (of course!) with some blue I had leftover from our front door makeover.

As you may be able to tell, I headed back to Home Depot to pick up some hooks and baskets (by the way, I think you can probably get prettier options at fun places like Ikea and Container Store...neither of which we have here in VB), and I immediately had so much storage...like enough to get rid of all my clutter.

I did use one of the hooks to hold up a pen holder I already had on hand and another to hold up a basket that I already had (which is now storing bills that need to be paid).

And with that pretty simple project, I can confidently say that our desk nook is well on its way to being legit!

  I'm not quite done yet, though.  We most definitely need a new desk chair there...something smaller, less chunky, and prettier.  And I would love to swap out the old desk for a simple filing cabinet/slab of wood (painted of course) piece, but that may be harder to sell Josh on. 

So, Phase 2 may be complete, but we are not quite done yet.  Now off to the thrift stores to try to track down a chair worthy of a makeover...

At Your Service

Considering "spring cleaning" is a popular term, I'm assuming I'm not the only one who uses this time of year to clean up, refresh, and renew.  Ever since coming up with my cleaning schedule, I've actually done a much better job of staying on top of things, which means I actually won't be spending this April deep-cleaning the abode (yahoo!).  This also means, though, that over the year, I've come across a few easy, time-saving cleaning/organizing tips, and I figured with it being April and all, now was  good time to share them with you!

1.  Last year, I shared with you how I discovered the wonder that is using dryer sheets on your baseboards.  Well, guess what?!?  Turns out those babies are awesome for keeping dust off anything, so I now use them on the blinds, fans, and anywhere else that tends to trap dust!

2.  Speaking of the fans, I used to despise cleaning those freaking blades because it felt like all the dust would just rain down on me...GROSS!  But then I discovered the genius idea of using a pillow case to clean each blade.  Just wrap it around the blade and give it a good wipe down...all the nasty stuff will end up in the pillow case and you can just throw it out when you're done!  Bonus points if you want to put a dryer sheet in there!

3.  In the interest of saving you a bit of time, I wanted to pass along this little tidbit I heard on the "Today" show a few weeks back.  Turns out you should not rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher...seriously, you're not being lazy.  Turns out your dishwasher is designed to strip off that residue, so if you've scrubbed your dishes clean, the dishwasher is going to strip off your dishes instead!  I have been washing mine clean for years, so this little tip feels like I have a whole lot more time on my hands all of a sudden!

4. This week I've been busy switching out and cleaning out our closets.  I was telling my sister the system I used, assuming it was a pretty obvious one, and she seemed impressed, so I figured I'd pass it along to you all too!  Basically, I put all of my clothes in the closet like regular.  But as I wear things, I put them back at the front of the line, instead of just putting it somewhere random.  Not only does this system help me to remember what I've worn recently, so as not to repeat too frequently, but it also helps me figure out what needs to go.  At the end of the season, then, the stuff that is still at the back of the line is the stuff I haven't worn all year!  And then I figure if I haven't worn it all year, it means it's time to get rid of it!  PS: I use the same system for the boys, but more for the sake of mixing up their outfits since they pretty much outgrow stuff anyway and I don't have to make decisions about what to keep!

So there you have it.  I've said it before and I'll say it again...cleaning is definitely my major housewife weakness, but these little tips sure have helped me out!  Hopefully, you'll find something to help you out too!

Stumped

Temperatures are starting to warm up around here (FINALLY!) which means the boys and I are spending more and more time outside.  Seriously, just writing that makes me want to do a happy dance!  Not only do I love being outside, but the boys seem to play so much better out there...and are in a much better mood the rest of the day because of it...so it's a win-win (-win if we're keeping track).
The only drawback to our outside time, though, is that I spend more and more time looking at the plastic junkyard our yard has become.

The funny thing is when I first started writing this post I was going to ask you all for suggestions of a better way to store all this stuff!  But as I was writing it, I realized the answer was so freaking obvious it was almost embarrassing I hadn't thought of it in the three years we've been here!
You see, we have three sheds out back (yes, three!).  While putting the stuff in there isn't exactly the most convenient place for the driveway, it seems to make more sense than buying yet another shed or trying to rig up some other solution.
So I took some time to brave the shed and clean out all the junk that had compiled in there. A lot of it headed into the trash pile (minus the cozy coupe and bike...that's just there because I hadn't moved it yet!)

And I gave away all of my old teaching stuff to a girl doing her student teaching at my old school which felt really good!

And once it was all nice and empty, I put all the kids stuff in.

Seeing that I needed a way to corral some smaller things like bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and some other things, so I wen to Target atnd picked up a shelving unit and some buckets.  I don't really know what else we're going to store on there, but I'm sure I will fill them up eventually!  We also kept the bigger buckets handy for balls/sporting equipment (which we seem to have a ton of!) and sand toys.

So there we have it.  It may not be the perfect solution, but it seems to be working pretty well so far. Plus, it turns out the boys enjoy taking the stuff in and out which has given us a whole new game out there!

Cork Board Jewelry Display

 Yesterday, I shared with you my efforts to zest up my appearance, chiefly by working in accessories to my outfit choices.  When I first started, I found that I had some pieces that I could easily work into multiple outfits, but I would often forget I even owned them because they were buried at the bottom of a basket.  Especially after I received my Stella and Dot purchases, I knew I needed to come up with a way to display my growing jewelry collection.  Here's what I came up with:

A simple cork display made from a frame I had on hand from a baby shower of yore.  I took the glass out of the frame and glued some cork (cut to size from a roll I bought at the craft store) to the backing.  I had some left over fabric from my bench project, so I wrapped the cork in it, gluing it to the back after folding in the corners like a present.  I picked up some cute thumbtacks at Office Max and hung up my jewels.
And now each time I open my closet, there's a bit of bling to greet me...which makes me happy!  Plus, it really has helped me accessorize.  When thinking of an outfit, I just have to look up there to see what will work...and if nothing does, I'm on a mission to find a piece that will!  I figure that's a good way to build a jewelry collection, right?!?

Because I Can

This month's cleaning project/organization take-on was our closets.  As lame as it sounds, I actually look forward to switching out my closets each season.  Not only do I discover clothes that I had forgotten about since they had been packed up for 6 months or so, but it also gives me a chance to declutter and reconsider.
In accomplishing my mission this time around, it became obvious that I needed a new solution for my collection of bags.  Now, I'm not one of those girls who has a bag for every occasion.  In fact, I have a pretty measly collection: my gym bag, an evening clutch, and then a spring and fall purse.  My in-season purse and diaper bag already reside out in our entryway, so really I just needed a place for the three others not in use.  I used to put them in a basket at the back of my closet, but it was always a chore to get to it.  And while I don't use 2/3 of the bags but so often, I do actually use the gym bag almost daily, so I needed a place where it was easier access...I needed a purse rack.
I searched for one to buy, but when I couldn't find anything that I liked I decided to take the same action that I did in Colton's room.  I bought a basic $8 rack at AC Moore.

I had already removed the hooks in case you're wondering

Because I didn't want to just duplicate the same thing I had done with Colton's (where I painted it), I decided to mod podge some scrapbook paper on this time.  Living with three boys (4 if you count Chipper), there aren't many places in this house where I can get away with using pink to decorate.  My closet may just about be the only one!  So I did...I used a pink chevron pattern paper.
And since the hooks were already off and because I had some gold spray paint left over from my fall decorating, I decided to spray paint the hooks as well.

And when everything was all good and dry, I put it back together.

Unfortunately, that's about as far as we've gotten though.  Josh got pretty sick (virus kind of thing) Saturday afternoon-now (super!), and seeing as our resident hanger has been out of commission, my little purse rack is still waiting patiently to be hung in the closet.
But logically...now that I have this lovely purse solution, I do think it is time to invest in a few more bags for it, mainly a new clutch.  That makes sense, right?!?

Conquering the Clutter

A few months back I created a cleaning  schedule for myself.  No one is more shocked than I am to report that I have actually stuck to it pretty religiously!  Aside from the daily tasks included in the schedule, I also created some monthly deep-cleaning tasks.  In doing so, each month I have taken on a different room/area of our house to scrub, organize, purge, donate, etc.
This month's task was our office, laundry room, playroom, and craft closet (which may seem like an odd combination, but they're all essentially one big room in what is a converted garage).  And after all the dust had settled from my cleaning and all the extra goods had been taken to Goodwill, it was clear that we had some problem areas that needed to be addressed.
None of my solutions were particularly novel, but they are what worked for me, so I figured I should share them in case you're facing a similar dilemma.
1.  Gift wrap...used to be thrown on to the floor of the craft closet, but now they're stored nicely in a clothes hamper.

2.  Desk clutter...our desk was so bogged down in papers, project in progress, and other junk that there was no actual space to work.  Adding a simple shelf seems to have erased that problem.

3.  Speaking of projects in progress, I am almost always working on something...for the house or for a party or something.  A lot of times the projects take me multiple days to complete and it doesn't make much sense to store the stuff away officially when I'm just going to need it again so quickly.  I'm now using a simple crate to store my in-project necessities (ribbon, glue gun, etc) and a wall letter tray for the larger items (scrapbook paper, fabric, etc).
4.  Colton's artwork.  The boy brings home quite a lot of stuff from his preschool!  I  honestly can't even keep up with it, but, at the same time, I don't want to throw it out.  So, I got a binder and some page protectors and I'm now storing all his masterpieces there...hopefully, one day he'll enjoy looking through them (especially considering I plan to continue this throughout his school years!).
5.  Paper, paper, and more paper...holy crap, we have a lot of paper!!!  Most of it was mail...both past and present.  So now we have a new system to control the amount of mail that we actually keep.  There are two baskets at the front  to door...one for incoming stuff (ie: stuff Josh should look at each day) and the other is for outgoing (stuff to mail, take to school, etc)

Each day I have requested that Josh review the stuff in the incoming box, trash what he no longer needs (although I take the liberty of pre-screening most of our mail and trashing what appears to be junk without even putting it in the incoming), and then take the bills that need to be paid down to its holder in the office.  There is also one for coupons down there.

And finally any invitations, announcements, etc. get put on our handy, cute bulletin board.

So, there we go..clutter conquered (at least for now!)

There Has to Be a Better Way

Last week, my mom had Colton over for a special Nene-Colton day, which left me and Levi to have specially mommy-Levi day.  I learned a lot in that day:
*there's only but so much you can do with a six-month old...after making funny faces for about 15 minutes or so, I was antsy to move on to something else...so I would do something for a bit...and then come back to the funny faces (or other appropriate activity!)
*having one child is amazingly easy!  How did I not realize this when I only had one?!?
*saving all the house upkeep tasks for one day make for a pretty crappy day
While I really can't do much about the first two, I did realize that I could do something about the third.  I guess I should give you a bit of background first.
When I became a stay-at-home mom, I took over the cleaning duties from our very nice cleaning lady, Rowena, in an effort to save a bit of money.  But considering I absolutely hate cleaning, I would put it off and put it off until the dust/gunk was so noticeable that it HAD to be dealt with.  This would usually result in a once-every-three-weeks-or-so cleaning spree... while Colton was at school, since it was pretty hard to accomplish with him in the house...that took me a few hours.  Well, since Colton hadn't been in school for awhile, I knew that the day he was going to be at Nene's was the opportunity for me to get the cleaning done again, but it totally sucked!  Instead of getting to enjoy a rare day with just Levi, I was busy slaving away at these awful tasks.  And that's when it hit me...maybe it would make sense to spread these tasks out instead of tackling them all at once.  I realized each individual chore was only about a 10-20 minute task in itself (sometimes even less), so if I committed about 30 minutes (and hopefully even less a day) to cleaning than not only would I not have to ever have a dreadful cleaning day again, BUT the house would also hopefully not get so out-of-hand in the first place.  Duh, huh?
I looked on Pinterest at a lot of different cleaning schedules, but none of them really seemed to work for me, so I made my own.

In case, you're looking to utilize this too, I feel like I should clarify a few things.
*I included anything and everything that needs to be maintained...our house, the outside, the car.
*I didn't bother to include things on the schedule that I already do on a daily basis (make the bed, cleaning dishes, etc) or things that would really need to remain random (weeds, running the dishwasher).
*I aimed for NO MORE than 30 minutes of work daily (and hopefully less each day).  I hope to get this stuff done first thing in the morning before we even leave the house (I already do our daily stuff then anyway, so we'll see).
*I didn't include weekends cause who wants to clean on the weekend?  I figured they could always serve as make-up days if necessary!
*I didn't feel the need to define the tasks too much, instead figuring that I would do as much as necessary each week, so for example, if the bathrooms need sinks, toilets, tubs, etc scrubbed one week, but really only the sinks the next, then so be it!
*For the things that have two listed on one line (sheets/car and high chair/patio), I plan to rotate which of those I do each week...in my mind, they were things that only needed to be done every other week instead of weekly...we'll see!
*And finally, I figured while I was at this new spread out cleaning mentality, it also made sense to take away the deep cleaning from one month (I usually save it for April) and spread it out throughout the year as well.  So, I also created a monthly schedule for that.  For some things, deep cleaning will be more of decluttering (like the closets) and in others be actual cleaning (baseboards, blinds, etc).  I strategically placed the closet cleaning twice a year during the months in which I typically switch over the clothes for the new season.  I also did the kitchen twice a year because our pantry, freezer, and refrigerator seem to need organizing more frequently.

So, there it is!  Because I'm a big dork, I'm actually kind of excited to initiate my new schedule this week and see how it goes.

Command Center

Yesterday I shared with you my new summer bucket list.  What I didn't mention was that the magnetic board that is housing the bucket list is actually part of a bigger overhaul in our kitchen.  In place of what used to be some cork boards, there is now this:

Those magnetic boards are actually cookie sheets that I spray painted to match our decor.  used one for the summer bucket list magnets and the other for a little note pad, calendar, and whatever else we may need to post in the kitchen.  I also moved my dry-erase to-do list over into that corner as well.  I'm liking the cleaned up look...our cork boards had become pretty cluttered with baby announcements and random papers, so I'm hoping this new system stays a bit cleaner (although I do feel bad not displaying the baby announcements any more...what do you all do with those?  Is it rude not to put them out somewhere?)

I've also been busy making a couple other small changes in our kitchen.  I added this little print that I made in Photoshop:

And this happy plant...it came in a regular pot, but I wanted it to be a bit prettier so I mod podged on some fabric over the pot.

yeah, that is a baby gate in front of our sink...
that's to keep Chipper from walking on our kitchen counters

These minor updates are certainly helping our kitchen feel a bit better, but it still has a ways to go.  See, I loved our kitchen when we first moved in...and still do love the major parts of it, but there are a couple problem areas that I just can't seem to conquer.  Like this awkward spot in between 2 sets of cabinets:

I'm thinking open shelving, but I need Josh to get on board for that to happen

And this pretty big blank space in between the kitchen and dining room.  Obviously, the current art is not quite the proper scale, so we need something larger.  Any ideas?

And the kitchen still needs an island/rug in the middle...and probably some new counter tops as well, but I'm pretty sure those larger projects will have to be put on hold for quite a bit.  So, basically, my small updates will have to suffice!

So Maybe I Am the Next Martha

Stewart that is.  I know, I know...it's a pretty big claim, so let me explain for a second.  As you may have gathered from reading this little ole blog, I pretty much love all things domestic.  Really, I do.  To me cooking, decorating, mothering, etc. are really not chores...I genuinely enjoy doing them.
There has always been one domestic activity, though, that I have loathed, one small obstacle in my way to becoming the next Martha Stewart.  CLEANING!!! I find it to be tedious and quite frankly a waste of time.  I mean, as soon as you're done dusting or what have you, there's dust already accumulating again.  So, my approach to cleaning has been to either a. hire a cleaning lady or b. just wait until the dust or whatever is too noticeable and actually has to be dealt with.
Well, when I stopped working, one compromise we made was to ditch the cleaning lady (booooo), and for the most part, I have been pretty much keeping up with the cleaning...begrudgingly, but keeping up with it.  But the baseboards were another story.  I didn't even really realize you were supposed to clean those actually until I saw the crazy, massive amount of dust and junk clouding up my white baseboards and I figured there had to be some way to deal with it.
After putting it off and putting it off, I finally tackled the baseboards.  And guess what?!?  It actually wasn't that bad.  I may have even slightly enjoyed it.  I mean, not enjoyed it like I enjoy a date night with Josh or anything, but enjoy as in "man, I feel accomplished and not totally irate."  Part of my enjoyment was probably the incredible success of the chore.  You probably wouldn't be able to tell in pictures (so I didn't take any), but even Josh could tell when he got home from work (and it took him over a week to notice that I had switched out some of the art work in our living room!).  Plus the whole house only took me a couple of hours (spread out over 2 nap times) which was way less than I had budgeted, so success again!
You wanna tackle your baseboards after reading this, don't you?  Well, here's how I did it.  First, I made my own simple cleaning solution by mixing 1/2 cup vinegar with 2 1/2 cups of warm water.  This ratio doesn't make a relatively small amount, but mine got so dirty so quick I figured it was better to go small and keep making it then make a whole lot.  With my bucket of cleaner ready, I just used a sponge to wipe down the baseboards.  Be sure to wring the sponge out first so you don't get too much drippage.
                                      
After allowing the baseboards to dry out a bit, I then went back over them with some dryer sheets.  I had read online several times that the sticky stuff in the dryer sheets coats the surface to prevent dust from reforming there.  I can't promise that it really works cause it's only been a few days, but so far, so good.
And that was it!!!  How easy does that sound?  I'm telling you...try it, you may be surprised how it's kind of not so bad!

Purged

Last week, I spent most of my free time here:

And here:

And even here:

Yep, it was spring cleaning time in our abode...or maybe a more appropriate term would be spring straightening and organizing...and I had many areas on my list of places to be hit up: our living room closet, the laundry room, the playroom, the kitchen, my closet.  Sadly, most of those places were on my list last April when I did the same thing, but oh well, I guess you can accumulate a lot of junk in a year!

I've developed a pretty good approach to this task, so luckily the whole process really didn't take as long as I had thought.  Basically, when going through the contents of any given closet, I have four categories: stuff to stay where it is, stuff to trash, and stuff to take to Goodwill, and stuff that needs to move somewhere else in our house.  It always amazes me how throwing out or donating just a few items really does clear up soooo much more space, and thus leaves us with a much more organized space.

I am also a big fan of baskets and labels for keeping things organized in the future.  I have found that just having the baskets is nice, but inevitably things get tossed all over the place over time.  However, if  I take the time to put a label on the basket to detail its contents, I am much more likely to take the extra few seconds when putting an item away to put it where it actually should go.  Like in my craft closet:

Our playroom was probably the most in need of some reorganization/straightening.  I mean, I expect the room to get a little messy from time to time, but these boys have a ridiculous amount of toys and the room quickly becomes a disaster.  I bought some smaller boxes to hold smaller toys like blocks, magnetic letters, and cars.  I also went ahead and donated my book collection (I'm a read it once and be done kind of girl, so I don't know why I've been holding on to most of these for the last 10ish years), and used the new-found shelf space to hold some of the bigger toys that Colton plays with frequently.  Finally, I stored some stuffed animals and other toys in our playroom ottomans.  Between all that, the toy box is now functional once again, instead of being ridiculously overflowing.

With my two-year-old's short attention span, I'm sure the room will get messy again pretty quickly, but I'm hoping that we will at least know where to put the stuff when it is time to clean it up, thus keeping it from reaching the ridiculous level!

Anybody else been doing some spring straightening?  Do you have a system you use too?  Do share...

Pimp My Ride

I confessed recently that my car is embarrassingly enough a mom car these days...it is decked out in Cheerios, apple cores, milk stains, and other evidence that a newborn, toddler, and busy mom are toted around in it daily. Well, let me correct myself...my car was a mom car...
Last weekend, I got myself a new car (OK technically Josh and I got ourselves a 15,000 mile used car, but it's new to me!).  Obviously this is exciting, but especially when you consider we are going from this ***brace yourself***):

lovely milk stains, huh?  trust me...
there was a ton of other stuff too but at least I cleaned it some before snapping this shot

Now our used/new car is sparkly and clean, and while it will inevitably take some type of beating, I am determined to keep it in better shape than I did my lovely old Highlander.  In fact, Josh has actually threatened that he will take over driving my new car if I trash it, so it's pretty good motivation to up my game.

Part of doing this was doing something I swore I would never, ever do:

Yup, I put a towel down on the back seat.  My mom always had towels down on our seats growing up and I thought it was ridiculous...I mean sure your seats are all nice when you go to get rid of the car, but you didn't get to enjoy them while you had it, right?  Well, Josh and I checked out some of those handy under the car seat mat things and quite frankly, they didn't seem to cover enough space for our messy children, so the towel seemed to be the best option.

The real key to my "keep the car clean" plan, though, is this handy guy:

I originally saw the idea on Pinterest (where else?).  It's a simple plastic cereal holder with a grocery bag inside it...the perfect car trash can!  Goldfish, apple cores, gum wrappers, etc....now they have met their match...or at least that is the plan.

So, we'll see how long this lasts, but for now, I must admit, it's really nice to get in a car that doesn't feel like a glorified trash can!  Anybody else have any tips for keeping the car clean?  

My 5 Minutes to Sanity

When I was a first grade teacher, I had the firm belief that some of the best lessons were the also the messiest and loudest.  Children learn best when they are given the opportunity to explore...and with exploration comes mess (usually, at least!).  Now that I am home with my toddler, I still wholeheartedly believe this.  Of course while still setting some boundaries, I want Colton to be able to explore his environment and make a mess, explore, play, and have fun.
The problem, then, comes with my compulsive objection to clutter.  I HATE it!  And since the day I found out I was pregnant with Colton, I have insisted that our house not become a kid house...you know the ones...they are so filled with the kid's toys and other essential items that when you step into the living room, you feel like you're stepping into a daycare center or something.
Obviously, these two worlds would collide, and they do daily, but I have found a pretty reasonable compromise.  This isn't exactly rocket science, but it has helped me immensely so I figured I would pass it along to you too, especially at this time of year when I figured some of you may be making resolutions and things.
Anytime we are home, Colton is free to play with and take out anything he pleases (well, his toys and things...not, like, knives and cleaning supplies).  It's not as bad as it sounds...usually a few books, some cars, and maybe a football or other random toy.  He plays, and I play with him, not wasting any time or energy dealing with the mess that is piling up.  But when play time is over...when we are about to leave the house or Colton is going down for his nap...I insist that we take time to clean up.  Sometimes, I have Colton help (one of the first words he learned to understand was "clean up!") and sometimes I just do it myself if we're in a hurry.  But either way, the whole process usually takes no more than 5 minutes.  Who doesn't have 5 minutes to spare?  And the beauty of it, then, is when we get home or when it is my time to relax, I actually can because the house isn't a horrible disaster.
Now before you go completely patting me on the back, I have to confess that there is a second key component of this plan.  I have always been a big "out of sight, out of mind" kind of girl.  In our house's case, the front entrance, dining room, kitchen, and living room are immediately visible to me (and any guests that would happen to stop by).  Therefore, these are the rooms that get our 5 minute clean-up treatment.  Other rooms, namely Colton's playroom, are allowed to stay messy.  See?

We do eventually clean up this horror as well, but with much less regularity...like every few days or so.  Those shots were actually captured about 2 seconds before a major clean-up, as they showcase the playroom at its absolute WORST!
Now that Levi has joined this crazy household, our amount of "stuff" has once again increased.  But, my commitment to my five-minute cleanups has really helped save our house and keep it looking presentable (of course, there are some key baby products like the bouncy seat that are more regular fixtures in the living room, but we, and any visitors, will just have to deal.)
So, there you have it...my tip to compromising between keeping myself sane and my toddler entertained/stimulated.  Anybody else out there have some tricks of the trade to share?

Miracle Cleaning Solution

I don't usually share cleaning tips on this little blog, and there's a pretty good reason for that...of all things domestic, I most definitely SUCK at cleaning.  I hate it, usually don't bother with it (until there is so much dust piling up that even I can't stand it), and have no interest in bettering myself at it.  But this little tip was just too good not to share, so here we go.
Last year, we replaced our old brownish carpet with a much lighter, brighter white version.  I love the new color, but can admit that with a toddler, dog, and new baby on the way it was certainly a risky choice.  And it was certainly MY choice (Josh wanted to stick with something much darker), so I feel a bit of pressure to keep it sparkly clean...which it surprisingly has!
For the most part anyways.  Over the past few months, we have started to notice these ugly black spots appearing on the carpet, mainly right in the entrance to the living room from the kitchen.  Honestly, I couldn't even figure out what they were for awhile, but after a Google search, I realized they must be spots dripping from Colton's sippy cup that then attract dirt, etc.

So with that knowledge,  I tried several different carpet cleaners but nothing was really helping to get rid of these nasties.
Enter the grace of Pinterest again!  One of my friends on there pinned a picture of a carpet that looked remarkably similar to our own black-spotted floor (turns out that one had some sort of oil-based spill on it).  After reading the details on the DIY cleaning solution, I decided there was no risk in giving it a whirl (especially considering I had all the ingredients on hand).  So, I did and guess what?!?  Well, based on the title of this here post and the fact that I bothered to write about it, I'm sure you have rightly assumed it actually worked!!!

YAY!!! The only issue now will not be somehow attempting to keep the carpet looking like that...while we generally restrict Colton's food to the table,  we are a little more open with his sippy cup, as in it goes anywhere and everywhere!  I'm thinking the more likely result will be that I need to whip up my handmade cleaner whenever the spots become too much to bear!

In case you're in the same boat, here's the super simple solution and directions for you too:
1.  Remove any excess liquid from spill
2.  Sprinkle baking soda over spots and allow to sit for about 10 minutes.  Vacuum up extra baking soda.
3.  Meanwhile, combine 1 cup warm water, 1 tbsp. liquid dish soap, and 1 tbsp. white vinegar.  Using a microfiber towel, blot mixture into stains.  Dry spots off!

Random Wednesday Musings

I have been busy over here in Virginia Beach.  Unfortunately, none of it is necessarily earth-shattering.  In an effort to avoid a series of totally boring posts, I am hoping to knock it out in one (hopefully just semi-boring!) little roundup.  So here we go.
First, a picture of the view from our driveway:

So what you say?  Well, as of today, almost a full four weeks after Irene brushed our area with a little bit of rain and wind, the city of Virginia Beach FINALLY managed to pick up the storm debris.  I am usually a big fan of Va. Beach, but 4 weeks...seriously?!?  Especially because some of our neighbors took the storm cleanup as an opportunity for some regular pruning/clean up as well (rightfully so), we have been dodging tree limbs and bags of leaves on the streets for a long time now.  Thank goodness that's gone.

Second, I got around to sorting through Colton's newborn and 3 month clothes today.  I was anxious to see what we were working with.  The good news?  We certainly have plenty of pajamas for this new baby.  And hopefully, it will be warm enough when this child turns 3 monthsish (which will probably be around March/April, so fingers crossed) because Colton certainly had a ton of adorable summer clothes (I actually got a little misty eyed looking at them again).  The bad news (which is actually kind of good for me because I love to shop!)?  We need some major long-sleeve newborn stuff.  

Third, while looking for a lighter the other day (we desperately needed to light a candle after the smell of the  fajitas I had made the night before was still lingering!), I stumbled across a bag of decorative coffee beans I bought a couple years ago.  I decided to fill my CB2 tea light holders with them to add a little bit of excitement to the dining room.  I'm liking the result

they look better up close...promise!

And finally, I must apologize for the craptastic photos today and for the next few weeks.  Sadly, my beloved Sony hybrid camera's USB port is loose.  I had been managing by taking the photo card out each night, inserting it in my old Cannon, and uploading pictures via it.  But the camera is still under warranty, and it seems pretty dumb to let it go without getting fixed.  Alas, it has been shipped off to somewhere in New York for service, so hopefully it will be back and better than new before we know it.  Until then, bear with me!

Well, see, that wasn't that painful was it?!?  I know, not the most exciting post ever, but at least now you  know, I haven't just been sitting on my arse all week, right?

From Trash to...

Operation Get Ready for Baby is in full effect in our house...well, full effect may be a bit strong, but we have started.  Step 1 was to get some spaces cleared out.  So, I have spent Colton's last couple of school mornings purging, organizing, and restructuring the closets in his room, his future room, the playroom, and the laundry room.  Sadly, what has become abundantly obvious is that we are quickly running out of space in this humble abode (seriously?!? how did that already happen) and therefore we must maximize every single inch of storage space we do have.
In that vein, one area that needed my attention was our playroom closet.  Over the year and half that we have lived here, It has become a dumping ground of sorts for my craft supplies.  Sure, I had some big bins I stored stuff in, but they often overflowed or made it impossible to find that random bottle of paint, spool of ribbon, or whatever other supply I needed.  For a few months, I have been keeping Colton's finished diaper boxes with the idea that I could use them somewhere.  My craft supplies became the obvious match, so I divided everything out into 4 rough categories/boxes (that's how many boxes I currently have) and sorted the stuff away.

Organized, yes, but still completely ugly.  Honestly, simply cutting off the top pieces really cleaned up the boxes.

But they still totally lacked that pizzazz.  So I whipped out some mod podge, a paintbrush, and some 12x12 scrapbook pages.  I applied a thin layer of mod podge to a piece of paper and then attached it to one of the short ends.  After pressing it in, I cut out each corner and the handle so that I could wrap the paper snugly on the box.

Once it was wrapped, I put another thin layer of mod podge on top and let them dry.  Now, look at these beauties in my closet.

Considering we rack up our fair share of diaper boxes, my eventual goal is to get Josh to add another shelf above that one and adding another set of boxes.  I mean, after all, they are completely free!