Creating a Cleaner, Calmer Home
As the weather gets warmer and warmer and the end of school draws nearer and nearer, my kids’ backpacks start getting heavier and heavier. All the shiny school supplies that went in that first week with hope and good intentions, come back used and abused along with countless papers, art projects, and classroom decorations. By …
People love to tell me housekeeping horror stories since they usually both disgust and delight me. The worst of what I’ve heard all center on the bathroom. Some highlights: A shower shared by several college-age athletes that was so completely clogged the only water that drained out of it had to go through the overflow drain at …
Online calendars are lifesavers—we all moved over to them for good reason. My husband and I can both see the family calendar on our computers and phones. I can automatically add the next appointment while I’m at the orthodontist with my son. Pings from my work calendar keep me from getting immersed in something and …
Foaming hand soaps are great. They conserve soap and makes less soapy, soupy mess in the bathroom. Foaming hand soaps are also a really silly thing to buy because they are roughly 99% water. You only ever need to buy one foaming soap dispenser for each bathroom. Don’t go out a buy a special container, just purchase …
Our weekend was busier than normal. A rare (for us) burst of social commitments combined with the normal chaos of kid sports and activities and errands had us pitstopping at the house just long enough to dump gear, change clothes, eat, and sleep. Oh, and the kids had some window long enough to dump out …
I don’t know you. I haven’t been to your house. But you have too much stuff. Clearing out the clutter in your home is the most fundamental part to achieving and maintaining a clean home and creating the kind of space you want to be in. You know when see furniture ads or catalogues and …
Most of the time, the focus here will be on buying less and clearing out more, but there are a handful of things that I have found make life in my home easier, cleaner, and calmer. Turkish Towels: These thin little wonders have lightened my laundry load considerably and save space in linen closets and beach …
Get rid of coffee and tea stains, grease, stuck on food, and the germy film that collects in your kitchen sink with a 60-second scrub down. You should do this once or twice a week depending on how much use your sink gets. It’s also a great final use for your worn out dishwashing or counter sponges. …
I have spent a great deal of time thinking about how to be effective and efficient in keeping a calm, clean, and clutter-free home. The goal of this site is to share the best of what I know. Even the most helpful tips and tricks, however, won’t change the fact that it’s work. And not …
For several years, I ran what was essentially a huge yard sale as a fundraiser for my children’s preschool. We sold clothes, toys, books, furniture, and equipment donated by the eighty or so families who attended the small school. Each year, parents would come by with two and three carloads of stuff from their homes, and …