Home Front
What kind of home do you run? Is it just an address, a place to get in out of the rain, where furnishings and clutter (read that 'junk') are jumbled everywhere? Is it a serene cocoon where a harsh word is never uttered and regular gourmet meals arrive on the table, never repeating a recipe twice? Most of us have homes that fall somewhere in the middle: noisy sometimes, messy often, where perhaps your cooking has fallen into a rut. For 23 years I have been a stay at home mother in a family with only one income, and I identify with those problems! We home educated our 4 children, so they were home all the time making messes, wearing out the furniture faster, straining the plumbing, etc. Having such a hectic household, and living on a perpetual budget
meant I had to find ways of being organized or go crazy. Living on one income meant learning how to make things from scratch, DIY repairs, and so on. Organization became supremely important in our active household so that everything could get done smoothly and efficiently. Most of the time we didn't quite make it; I can't remember the last time that every room in the house was clean all on the same day! I wish I had had Internet sources back then that could teach me and encourage me to keep an orderly home the way I do now. I think somewhere inside even the messiest homebody is a lover of order wanting to get her act together. This is what I'm working towards! Now, my kids are all going to college and / or working fulltime. Even though 3 of the 4 still live at home, they're grown up and are away from the house all day. They pretty much pick up after themselves most of the time. This has freed me to do some deeper cleaning than I could years ago when it took all day just to pick up the clutter for the umteenth time and run the vacuum.
My favorite cyber source of help along these lines is FlyLadyMentors located at http://www.egroups.com. FlyLady writes to over 6000 of us Messies everyday, exhorting us and making us just want to get up and declutter! It's amazing: a total stranger has the power to make me get dressed, lace up my shoes and work hard at all sorts of household tasks each day. Doing those tasks is not nearly so painful knowing that 5999 others are doing them, too. Through FlyLady we compare notes and cheer each other on. Best of all, we get the most satisfying feeling of accomplishment when our home looks the way we want it to. We learn that our home is a haven, and a place of comfort and beauty! Another great source is Sidetracked Home Executives. If you're struggling with yourself about not keeping your home as nicely as you and your family deserve, join these groups. They're helping thousands, all for free! They don't just help you combat messiness, they encourage you to improve yourself in every area of life.
Speaking of a better life, below are some links that can help us in our quest to have a neater home, decorate it inexpensively, etc. Be sure to read the essay about emergency cleaning secrets. Feel free to email me with your favorite ideas and tips. I'd like to learn from you, too.
Housenet
HomeZone: Carpet Calculator
Chocolate and Other Fudge Recipes
Tip: If you're cramped for space in the kitchen, see if you can utilize the undercabinet surfaces for attaching coated wire shelves. These can hold items like cookbooks, small appliances, kitchen towels, plastic wrap and aluminium foil, or an assortment of teas, and they're fairly inexpensive.
Hometime
At-Home Dads
Family Wonder
The Plumber.Com
Dollar Stretcher
That Home Site
Potpourri Recipes
One Income Living
Do It Yourself.Com
The Kitchen Project
Frugal Family Network
The New Homemaker
Tip: For a dinner party centerpiece, arrange a collection of similar
objects in the center of the table, such as a dozen candle holders of various heights, or to be really different, a group of framed photos facing outward.
BabyCenter
Organized Home
Decorator Secrets
Christian Family Home
Martha Stewart Living
Country Decorating Projects
Tip: To make a small room or home seem more spacious, put as many items away, out of sight, as possible. Furniture with legs that can be seen under helps a room look larger because more of the floor is visible.
Creative Homemaking Articles
Rubbermaid's World of Solutions
Better Homes and Gardens Online
Country Sampler Decorating Ideas
The Official Mary Englebreit Web Site
Tips and Tools to Get Organized at Home
Home Decorating Index - Sewing Net Links
Health / Beauty Formulas to Make at Home
Furniture Arranger - Your Home - LHJ Online
Tip: There's only one way to have a home that's spacious and clutter-free, and that's to get rid of stuff. You do the math! As long as you have too much junk, you cannot have neatness. The beauty of it is that less stuff makes for a clearer mind, home and life!
by Marti Anderson with a little help from Author Unknown
Someone's coming over in a few minutes, and your house is a mess. What will you do?
Secret 2: Do not store the vacuum cleaner in a closet. Keep it in the living room, plugged in. If anyone drops in, they'll think you've just been cleaning or are about to. After a few weeks, the family will no longer notice that it's there, unless it's blocking the television.
Secret 3: Buy several rolls of duct tape. Better yet, buy stock in the company. Use duct tape to hem those ripped drapes or to repair rips in a vinyl tablecloth. Wrap it onto doorknobs, periodically change the tape. This is to save you the trouble of disinfecting the knob with a cloth and cleaner. You can use it to strap your stereo speakers to the corners of the ceiling for surround sound. Use it to stop runs in gray pantyhose.
This is a little reading nook at
one end of my long kitchen. Naturally, the
yellow cat sleeps and sheds on the black cushion.
Secret 4: If you think ovens are just for baking, think again. Ovens represent at least 9 cubic feet of hidden storage space, which means they're a great place to shove dirty dishes, dirty clothes, or just about anything you want to get out of sight when company's coming. Try to avoid putting pets in there, as their claws can scratch the oven finish.
Secret 5: Use a dishwasher for emergency storage, too. If there are dirty dishes in it, put them in the washing machine, and the dirty clothes into the dryer. This will save you alot of time having to put it all away. In a pinch, waterproof items could even be stored in the (clean) toilet.
Secret 6: Put dust ruffles on everything so that items can be stored behind them. For instance, dust ruffles around your kitchen chair seats allow for canned goods or snow boots to be stored, thus keeping them out of sight. In a pinch, one could duct tape newspapers around the seats, thereby creating a rustic, whimsical look. If you cut scallops along the bottom edge of the newspaper, it'll be noticably more decorative by distracting the eye from the duct tape (unless, of course, your kitchen is gray, then the duct tape will match beautifully).
Secret 7: A well-known decorating strategy is to make good use of whatever you have an abundance of. This applies nicely to household dust. If you've got, flaunt it! Allow it to collect for several weeks, especially in winter. It will give your furniture and knick-knacks the look of a light dusting of snow. In the summer, it can be suggestive of a campground atmosphere. This is a particularly good tip for people on a strict decorating budget.
Secret 8: Lay sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap over clean dishes, thus removing the need to wash them. Duct tape (see above) can be a real help here, especially to hold down the wax paper on a child's plate. You may want to try taping the plastic wrap to the dishes, then gently rinse off food particles so the plastic can be reused.
Secret 9: For a dirty or smudged bathroom mirror, simply create some old-time sayings with your computer printer and tape them on the mirror. Put a small roll of tape and extra sayings into a bathroom drawer to be used when another spatter or smudge shows up. Try to leave a couple inches bare here and there at the height of each family member so as not to have to use a different mirror. To disguise a dirty toilet, crochet a seat cover in bright colors such as neon green and hunter's orange that will distract guest's eyes from looking at the toilet itself.
Secret 10: Bed making can be a very time consuming task in any household. To save yourself time each day, simply construct a wood platform with legs that can stand over the bed, covering it. You can staple some upholstery cloth to it, giving it an upscale look. To use the bed, get a helper and simply lift the cover and prop against the wall.
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This page was last updated January 9th, 2001.