4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

Spring is here and with that comes fresh resolve to get my home and life in better order. I’ve set aside the month of April to really focus on organization in my home and life. And I’d love for you to join me!

So in April, every weekday morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’ll be posting the day’s assignment and then every evening at 9 p.m. EST, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too.

Day 1 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and make a list of 5-10 goals for this week.

::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}

::Set the timer for 15 minutes and quickly pick up the main living areas of your home.

::Clean out your purse and/or diaper bag.

::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.

photo credit

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

If you missed Assignment #1 for the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home Challenge, be sure to read the details here.

So, how’d your day go? Here’s a recap of some of what I got accomplished:

I got up early, read my Bible, ran two miles, followed my morning routine, and got dressed — including makeup, hair, earrings, and even some perfume (which is something I rarely ever wear.).

No, my outfit was nothing to be too excited about, but then, I’m a pretty simple gal when it comes to clothes. In fact, what you see here is my basic standard “uniform” that I wear every day.

After our morning & afternoon homeschooling was finished and the chores were done, Silas went down for his afternoon nap, the girls went outside in the backyard to play, and I sat down to make my list of goals for the week.

{Roxaboxen was one of our read-alouds today for school. Guess what the children did during their afternoon play time? Yep, they spent it trying to build houses for themselves in the backyard!}

And then it was time to tackle my purse. Some of you may have expected that minimalist me would have a teeny-tiny purse.

Well, I actually have a clunker purse. It doubles as a tote bag and sometimes holds diapers, extra kid clothes, books, knitting stuff–or even my laptop. It just seems more practical to stick with a big bag right now since it can multi-task when needed.

But the problem with a big bag is that it can also hold more junk and unnecessary stuff. Gulp.

I pared all the stuff that was currently in there down to this and threw the rest of the stuff out or returned it to its proper place.

Much better!

And finally, I came up with seven items around our home to get rid of: three vases, some smell reducer thing that I have no idea where it even came from, two shirts that are worn out, and two books. All of the items are going into the garage sale pile except the Unshaken book which I’m passing along to reader, Cassi!

How you do on Assignment #1? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

If you missed Assignment #1 of the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home Challenge, be sure to read the details here.

Are you ready for another productive day? I know I am! Here’s Assignment #2:

Day 2 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.

::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}

::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your kitchen: wash the dishes/load the dishwasher, clear off the countertops, and, if you have time, wipe down the countertops and the outside of the cupboards with wet rag or cleaning cloth.

::Clean out your refrigerator. There’s a step-by-step guide for cleaning out your refrigerator here.

::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.

At 9 p.m. EST tonight, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too. Here’s to our productivity today!

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

If you missed Assignment #2, you can find it here.

Today was a good day — even if I didn’t end up getting everything done that I’d hoped. Oh well, that’s what tomorrow is for!

My day started early in the morning with my Bible reading and coffee, just like almost every single day does. I love the quiet morning time to sip my coffee, soak up encouragement from God’s Word, and prepare myself for the events of the day.

And then I made out my to do list for the day and got my morning blogging done before heading downstairs to sneak in a 2.5 mile run before the children got up.

Tuesdays are the day when my mother’s helper comes — one of my very favorite days of the week. She gave the children baths and started the girls on some of their homeschool math worksheets and Explode the Code books while I took a shower, ran downstairs to do a radio interview (with sopping wet hair and no contacts in — not a good idea since I couldn’t see to read my notes for the interview!), and then came back upstairs and started our homeschooling for the day.

After we finished all the homeschooling for the day, we ate a very late lunch (at 2 p.m.!), the children played in the backyard while I fixed my hair, put on my makeup, and did a little blogging. Then we all headed out to Target for a quick shopping trip.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur and I didn’t get to the kitchen and refrigerator until 7 p.m. tonight. Better late than never!

Truth be told, I think some of it was because I was somewhat dreading this project. There are some house cleaning things I enjoy doing. The refrigerator is not on that list.

But it must be done, so I tackled it with gusto. {Kaitlynn and I were being silly and posing with crazy faces while cleaning out the fridge together!}

I didn’t find any “science experiments” growing things in the back, but I did find a clothespin, a number of items I didn’t remember we had, and four opened bottles of salsa. Yes, I really should tackle this more often than once every other month or so!

Once everything was out, I wiped down the shelves with soapy water, threw out the expired items, and re-organized the rest of the stuff. You can’t tell a huge difference, but it’s nice to know it’s clean–and nothing’s hiding back at the back anymore!

{In case you wondered what Silas was doing while I was cleaning out the fridge, he sat on the floor and made chocolate milk, er, a mess! }

And here are the 7 items I put in the garage sale pile today. All odds and ends from the kitchen that we no longer need or use.

How you do on Assignment #2? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

Thanks so much for joining me in this four week challenge. We’re only three days in and I’ve already seen some great results!

Here’s Assignment #3:

Day 3 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.

::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}

::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bedroom: throw out any trash, put away items that are out of place, get rid of clutter, tidy up, vacuum, and make your bed.

::Clean out your freezer(s). If you need step-by-step help, read this guide on How to Clean Out Your Freezer.

::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.

At 9 p.m. EST tonight, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too. Here’s to our productivity today!

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

If you missed assignment #3, be sure to check it out here.

So, today didn’t get off to that great of a start. Jesse and I stayed up late last night and then were up with a coughing child quite a bit in the night. Then, the smoke alarm started beeping and would not stop–even when we pulled it out from the ceiling. And there was no battery in it, so we couldn’t take that out. Jesse finally had to get up early and go out and buy a battery to get the thing to turn off!

I pulled myself out of bed early this morning (even though I really wanted to stay snug and warm under the covers!) and read my Bible, drank my coffee, ran 2.6 miles, and wrote a to-do list for the day.

I did get a shower in, got my hair washed and blow dried, and got dressed in a decent outfit, but I never got any makeup or earrings on. But hey, at least I didn’t stay in my PJs all day. Gotta try and look at the positive side, you know?!

We managed to have a good school day and I also accomplished a few business projects that had been hanging over my head in little chunks throughout the day, too. This afternoon, I had an hour phone call with a friend and then my mom and brother came over for awhile.

I finally had a chance to tackle the freezers tonight. And I was so glad I did. They weren’t too messy as it’s not been that long since they’ve been cleaned, but I discovered something I’d been looking for for at least three weeks.

Yes, see that there in the bottom shelf? My camera lens cover was buried at the bottom of a bunch of frozen vegetables! I’ve been looking everywhere for it, but I never thought to look for it in the freezer!!

I also discovered one lone truffle that really needed to be eaten. Oh yes it did.

The end result. Not a huge difference, but it’s clean and more organized now!

And then I moved to the garage freezer and tackled it…

Before

After

The 7 things I got rid of today — a stack of books from the children’s bookshelf.

I didn’t get to my bedroom today, so I’m moving that to tomorrow.

How you do on Assignment #3? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

Missed the first few days’ assignments? You can see all the posts in the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home series here.

After a sort of “off” day yesterday, I’m hoping to have a more productive day today — and hopefully get everything on this list done, plus my bedroom cleaned since I slacked on that yesterday. I’ll be posting my re-cap at 7:30 p.m. EST tonight since the live webcast is at 8 p.m. EST.

Day 4 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.

::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}

::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bathroom. Need specific directions? Read this article on How to Clean Your Bathroom in 15 Minutes.

::Clean out underneath your beds and furniture. Remove clutter and trash and put it away or throw it away. Move the furniture (if possible) and vacuum underneath.

::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.

At 7:30 p.m. EST tonight, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too. Here’s to our productivity today!

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

If you missed Assignment #4, you can read it here.

So, um, I had all these grand ambitions that I was going to get this post up before 7:30 p.m. EST tonight… and instead, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get the last minute technical stuff taken care of for the webcast.

But, it all got done in time, the webcast went well (despite some technical issues — thanks for your patience and for all of you who took time out of your busy evening to show up!) and I’m finally able to post my update on my home organization today.

My day started out like usual with my early morning coffee, Bible reading, and to-do list writing.

After that, it was blogging, running, homeschooling, and a radio interview (I’ve been doing a lot of interviews recently and this is how my office looks when I do one — I spread out all my notes and sit in the middle of them and use them for reference depending upon which questions are asked!)

Then it was more homeschooling and just keeping up with everything and everyone here. I finally got to jump in the shower mid-afternoon. And then I tackled the home organization projects.

My bedroom was first on the list. It wasn’t too bad and was quickly whipped into shape. {I didn’t get an after photo, but it looked like this.}

Next up, I tackled the bathroom — which was still a mess because I’d just finished my shower and getting ready for the day {nevermind the fact that I got “ready for the day” at 3:00 p.m. Hey, better late than never!}

Ah, so much better!

And then I braved cleaning out underneath the couches.

Truthfully, I was horrified at what I found underneath our basement couches. {Can you tell this is the couch we sit on when we have snacks and watch movies? Maybe we need to stop that ritual!}

Yes, this entire handful of miscellaneous food items was stashed underneath one couch. {I can’t believe I’m posting these photos. But maybe they’ll make you feel better about how clean your couches are!}

Here’s the final stash of stuff collected from underneath all the furniture. {Why yes, that’s a shriveled up carrot. You mean you don’t store carrots underneath your couches?! Yikes!}

And here are the 7 items I came up with to get rid of today — including two earrings without matches. Don’t ask me why I’ve hung onto them. I guess I figured that maybe the matches would turn up or something? After six months, I say it’s high time I let ‘em go.

How did you do on Assignment #4? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

If you missed some of the first posts in this series, you can read through the entire 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home series here.

It’s Friday! We’ve worked hard this week and I’m going to go easy on you today. In fact, you even get a fun assignment.

Day 5 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.

::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}

::Remove your couch cushions and clean out any crumbs, toys, or other miscellaneous items you find. Use an attachment on your vacuum to vacuum the cushions, underneath the cushions, and all crevices of your furniture. Spot clean the fabric, if needed.

::Set the timer for at least 15 minutes and do something you really enjoy and that relaxes and rejuvenates you. If you need ideas, here are a few: read, write, call a friend, pray, exercise, bake, play with your children, laugh with your husband, stop by the bookstore and browse the book selection, work in the garden, or take a nap! Take some time to just stop and enjoy life today!

Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.

At 9 p.m. EST tonight, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too. Here’s to our productivity today!

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

If you missed this morning’s assignment, you can find it here.

Today was such a good day. I slept in and woke up feeling quite out of it. It has been a full week and Jesse and I missed quite a bit of sleep due to a child that was up a lot at night coughing.

I was so thankful that I’d intentionally set aside today on my calendar as a laid back day. I’ve found that I need days like this every once in awhile, otherwise, I start feeling burned out.

So, knowing that it was going to be a laid back day, I just took my time getting around, sipping my coffee, reading my Bible, and writing a short to-do list.

I took the day off from running and took a leisurely warm bath instead (which sort of counted for my 15-minute rejuvenating activity!) and we had a lighter homeschooling day, too.

This afternoon, I left the children with a sitter for a few hours and went to Panera to work on outlining my workshops for the Cincinnati Homeschool Conference. Since I was in no rush, once again, I just took my time to think and write, all the while listening to music I love in my headphones.

It was so relaxing — and I got a lot of writing and processing done, too, in a short amount of time. Often, I think that being more relaxed lends itself to being more productive. Don’t ask me why, but it just seems like that’s the way it is for me.

I came home to find these beautiful flowers from Jesse waiting for me, along with a really sweet love note. It was so random and meaningful to me. {Jesse isn’t big on celebrating “Hallmark holidays”, as he calls them, but instead loves to surprise me with flowers when I’d least expect them!}

This evening, our family went out to the new Chick-fil-A that just opened in town. We’re so thrilled that we finally have a Chick-fil-A here!

When we came home, I tackled the cushions. Honestly, I was a bit scared as to what I might find lurking underneath them — especially after yesterday’s pretty horrific results.

It was surprisingly clean! In fact, the only thing I discovered was a lone bobby pin! So it took me all of about five minutes from start to finish.

Thanks so much for joining me in this challenge this week. It was a great week and my house and life feels much more clean and organized going into the weekend. Have a wonderful weekend off — and we’ll resume our daily challenges on Monday!

How did you do on Assignment #5? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home