Homemaking Challenge- Day 1

(Originally posted December 8, 2007)

Is it just me, or does it seem that housekeeping seems to suffer during the holidays?? After battling sickness in our family for nearly a month, then having company this week, my house has been in pitiful shape! The laundry is piled up, the furniture has a nice little film of dust, and my mom and I discovered an interesting assortment of "stuff" beneath the living room couch cushions this week! Oh dear.

This morning I caught up on Crystal's "Making Your Home a Haven" challenge from the past week, then went over and read Anna's blog on using time efficiently. Needless to say, I was very challanged and inspired! I decided to not only clean up my house but to tackle some of the household projects I've been meaning to get to but just haven't done yet, as well!

For Day 1 of my Homemaking Challenge I tackled the kitchen- admittedly, my least favorited room to clean but one I insist on keeping tidy (most of the time)!

Here is what my kitchen looked like this morning... not a very pretty sight, especially since you can see into this room as soon as you walk in the front door!!

My messy bar... I'd been meaning to clip the dried flowers off these arrangements for over a month!!

A much improved kitchen...

The counter is looking better after a little organization...

(The flowers made a lovely potpourri displayed in a pretty bowl my grandma gave me.)

It's amazing what a few minutes of organizing can do to improve the looks of things!

My clean-up job in the kitchen took me about 1 1/2 hours all together, but of course I got interrupted several times so I didn't work straight through. Here's what I got done:

*Cleaned and wiped the counter/bar and put away everything that was out of place.
*Wiped down the trash can, baker's rack, and knocked some cobwebs out of the corners.
*Washed the lace table clothe and wiped and put away the place mats. In their place, I draped the table in my white Christmas clothe and red table runner. I still need to cover both with our clear plastic cover to keep spills from Amy & Emily from staining them.
*Put away the clean dishes from the drainer and dishwasher.
*Loaded dirty dishes in the dishwasher and washed the rest.
*Wiped all the appliances (including stove, fridge and dishwasher), cabinets and counter tops.
*Wiped all the chairs and cleaned Emily's booster seat.
*Organized the mail holder and "junk drawer".
*Swept the floor.

I still need to:

*Clean the ceiling fan.
*Mop the floor.

Starting Monday, I'm going to tackle my next project: the living room!