Taking back the house

Well I'm going to start by taking back my house.  It's so CLUTTERED!  Every night I go home and there's just stuff everywhere: toys across the floor, clothes on the couch, and dishes pilled up in the sink.  It's not a complete disaster, I don't need an intervention from Clean House, but it's enough that I constantly feel stressed out.  So this weekend I got motivated.  I don't know how or why it happened, but I just decided.  Time to take back the house!

Please spay and neuter your clutter.

The downstairs had been cleaned Wednesday since we had had company over that evening.  It wasn't too hard to jam any clutter back in to its appropriate box, basket or drawer.  Not a permanent solution, but it looks much nicer.  Picking up all the toys to vacuum turns into quite a battle with a 9 month old going around behind you and throwing them back out.  So, what the heck, I pushed the toys out of the way as needed while vacuuming.  Little one thought that was funny.  Then I swept while little one and the dog tried to eat the dust bunnies I had collected.  I decided to skip the kitchen for now.  We cook a lot, so I'd be motivated to clean there later.  Next we went upstairs.  I went into my closet and started purging things I've been sick of looking at: linens we no longer need, clothes my husband never wears.  I bagged it all up.  My husband now has one month to go though the bag and remove 'cherished' items.  Little one had a great time taking clean laundry out of the basket and throwing it on the floor.  At least she was having a good time.  In little one's room, we moved out the changing table.  Little one helped me push it into the hall.  She's such a big girl now.  I replaced it with a short dresser.  This way little one can't keeping throwing her clean cloth diapers and blankets on the floor, but we can still use it for diaper changes.  By this time I was getting tired.  We went back down stairs and I finished up by cleaning the kitchen.

While my house still isn't completely where I want it, at least I've made a step in the right direction.  Now the tricky part is keeping it clean all week.  If I can quickly clean the downstairs this weekend, then I can tackle my upstairs hallway.  Then I can take the bags (three so far) of purged items and donate them.  Wish me luck! I'll post picture and give you and update soon (I hope).