Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
~Les Brown
In 2011, my one big goal/resolution/fond desire is to gain more control in my house. (cue scary music)
My house is more or less clean. It gets dusted and vacuumed regularly. Legos and socks and books get picked up at frequent intervals. The dishes get done. And the laundry.
But there are pockets. Unnerving pockets. Places where chaos reigns and frustration has a heyday.
I decided to tackle one room every month. I also decided to document it here to make me accountable. Every year I more or less do this same thing but I usually run out of steam/attention span/time and end up cleaning what is really really bothering me and leaving the rest to only slightly bother me.
I started with my absolutely easiest room for January: the laundry room. It's easy because it's small and because I'm mostly the only one who uses it. Mark goes in every morning to sort the laundry he's transported from the bedrooms, everyone goes in occasionally if they're in search of stray socks and it's where the cleaning supplies are kept.
Here's the before picture. There's the stray sock basket and there are the cleaning supplies complete with open cupboard doors (where the cleaning supplies belong). My children are physically incapable of closing things/putting them back.
Here's the after picture. It's not much different (why I picked this room first). I wiped everything off and moved everything to clean the floor, put everything away (for now, until children descend) and organized inside the cupboards a bit.
Let me just savor my success a little. One of these months, the room will be the kitchen and it will be a much harder fought battle.
Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.
~John Dewey
2 comments:
I covet your laundry room or any laundry room that doesn't triple as a back entry way/coat room for the family.
Good job! It looks so nice! Funny, I've been to your house how many times? and have never seen your laundry room. :)
I've been wanting to tackle my laundry room too . . . all the ironing that I have had hanging since BRITTA was born (no joke!Eric says I should just 'throw away' those clothes because we obviously don't need them. Of course, I'm too stubborn for that.) Oh, and the piles and piles of mending (most of which the kids have likely outgrown by now), those are the things that are holding me back. You've just inspired me though, I will have MY laundry room tackled by 2012. Under-commit, over-deliver, that's the idea. :)Sorry to ramble. :)
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