It’s a phenomenon spreading through homes across the world! It starts out with that one pile on the kitchen counter top.  It’s just one pile… it will stop there.  But then company is coming and you quickly move part of the pile to the office and the other part up to your bedroom.  Night falls.  The pile in the office is out of sight out of mind.  The pile on the bed needs to get out of your way so that you can sleep so it moves either to the bench at the foot of your bed or on the bathroom counter.

There’s no ill intent with this pile.  There is a positivity that it will get taken care of any minute now.  But the truth is harsh.  That pile is added to day after day and before you know it, the counters, the benches, the office, the secret two drawers in your kitchen, even the cabinets under your sinks… yeah.  And at some point it’s just easier to ignore, until that one day.  That one day when you realize that you have no idea what is even in the pile and you start looking and the horror and discovery sends you down a rabbit hole.

After I got out of the fetal position, I decided to formulate a realistic plan.  Because let’s face it, this happened because there are 8 million other things going on around me, so it wasn’t going to get better if I spent all day fixing it all because then it would result in chaos in every other part of the house.  Funny how that happens so quickly.  Actually it’s really not funny.

So let’s just start with 5 Degrees of the Clutter.  Last week I picked 5 frightening spots in my home to organize and declutter.  None of which are huge and would only maybe take an hour each to do.

1.  Kitchen counters and junk drawers
2.  Chair in the Master Bedroom
3.  Under the bathroom sinks
4.  The pile of bills in the office
5.  My dresser.  This may not sound like much but as a whole it is a task.

I know you all are just chomping at the bit to see the before pictures.  Wondering if I am the fraud who says my house is a mess but there is one single cup on the counter… no my friends… I am no fraud.  In fact my honesty usually gets me in trouble… just ask my school and the PTA! I show lots of pretty pictures here because let’s face it, that’s really what you want to see the majority of the time, but this is going to give you the satisfaction of some nice before and after shots.

Before:  Kitchen counters and Junk Drawer(s)

Kitchen Make-Over Here

Basic instructions:  Take everything out of them and place on the floor.  Look at it all in disgust.  Throw out all obvious trash.  Throw out everything you didn’t even know was in there anymore, like the 4 cute planners that you never used, the 45 chapsticks you were looking for, the hair clips because you know you have 400 others, and the copies of recipes you saved which you can now google in two seconds.  Now divide and conquer.  What goes where and before you go buy all the cute little organizers that would make this project fun, actually see what you need.  (That was hard for me because I reeaaalllly love buying organizing stuff.)

Ummm… here’s a back scratcher…

And After: (the boys insisted we keep the back scratcher)

That is a glorious cleaned off counter!

Before: Master Bedroom Chair

Let’s all just fess up.  Everyone has that chair or bench in their room that is not used for it’s intended purpose.  It would probably be extremely helpful to just not have it so you wouldn’t put things on them! But they are cute and we have them so let’s just get on with it.  All of my kid’s laundry?  Put away.  All of my husband’s laundry?  Hung up neatly.  My laundry? Dirty and clean ends up here.  Also paperwork that I intend to go through after I hide it (read first paragraph) and other odds and ends that are in my hands and I set down when I get distracted by said kids and husband.  All here.

This is pretty simple, but it actually has to be done.  Put clean clothes away, wash dirty clothes and actually put those away, file or trash paperwork, put toys in appropriate places, and put caution tape across the chair to try and avoid this same scenario the next day.

And After:

Restored! You can find the DIY fabric and painted chair tutorial here.

Before Bathroom Cabinets

I’m not proud of this one.   It’s been awhile for all of them.  Old product, old cleaner, old hair tools (have to keep the crimper though because people need to borrow for 80’s parties all the time).

And because under your bathroom sink is the only place to keep space ice cream…

It’s time to get real.  If you haven’t looked for it in at least a year, it’s out.  Now I can actually see what I have and what I need when it’s running out.  Amazing concept but when you run a household these are the places that come last.

After Cabinets:

Before: Bills in the Office

I hate mail clutter.  Why don’t you just pay them all online and go paperless you ask? Because I tried that and for whatever reason I didn’t see the emails or my brain doesn’t work so then I paid bills late.  You want money from me? I need notice in my hand.  So my plan is usually keep the last 6 months and shred the rest.  Sounds good and attainable but as noted about every other situation in my house, life happens.  This is a dirty job and an annoying one and just has to get done.  Separate by bills and then file or shred.

Side note: The best part about making these little tasks each day is that they kind of naturally lead to a general tidying around the areas.  Did I need to have spray paint in my office… ummm no.

After:  Bills

To see the office make-over head here (yes this 70’s file cabinet is going to get a make-over soon)

Before: My Dresser

Ugh.  A dumping ground.  I appreciate all of you that don’t let these things happen but in my world, it just happens.  The kid’s masterpieces need to be displayed, I leave my jewelry out, 5 legos that I found and could possibly be needed, the bandaids that were brought up in an emergency play room situation, bug bite cream, and the glass of water I meant to drink.   And the cords that still need to be hidden from getting a new TV.

After: Dresser

Master Bedroom Make-Over

It’s not all about picture perfect on my dresser and I like it that way.  I love seeing my pictures and trinkets that may seem like clutter to some, but are actually momentos from very special people in my life that have gone before me.

So 5 days and 5 areas.  Is my house now clean and amazing?  No.  But at least a new beginning in some places.  Kind of how I look at a new year.  Making a huge resolution seems like a big way to disappoint yourself.  Maybe set your bar a little lower and just focus on being better at what you can one day at a time.  Who knows?  Maybe I will not put things on my chair in my bedroom! I mean that is definitely not going to happen, but maybe I will make myself put my laundry away when I make the boy’s do there’s.  Sometimes the little things add up to a bigger thing.

Organization and life don’t actually go hand in hand.  Be easy on yourselves and know that all the pretty pictures in the magazines and the ones you even see here are just that… pretty pictures.

But organizing a post like this did help me motivate.  So maybe shorter lists is the key to greater accomplishments!

Want to see how some of my amazing friends are organizing there way into this new year?! I do! Secretly I also love some messy before and glorious after shots!  Check out these awesome ladies below!

| Domestic Charm | 11 Magnolia Lane | Evolution of Style | Just a Girl and Her Blog |

| Southern State of Mind | Redhead Can Decorate | Chaotically Creative |

| Robb Restyle | Ciburbanity | Windgate Lane | Suburban B’s |

| My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia | This is our Bliss |

xoxo,

B

The post Five Degrees of Clutter appeared first on Windgate Lane.

That does depend on how much you have to clean though- we have tile throughout the whole first floor so it’s a big undertaking.  But no judgement on the current state of the grout.  I saw this method on Pinterest a million years ago and then saw the Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner (affiliate) on sale, 2 for $10, so I decided to give it a shot.

It has the perfect spout to pour into the grout lines and I would stick with the less is more because you will scrub it in soon enough.

Let it sit for about 5 minutes and then take a brush and scrub it in- I didn’t scrub very hard- just did it quickly to make sure it was worked in.

Let that sit for another 5 minutes.  Then find some old rags or towels and start wiping it up!

Tips and Tricks:

1.  Wear old clothing

2.  Wear a face mask so you aren’t breathing in the bleach fumes the whole time

3.  Have the kids out of the house so they don’t have to breath it in either!

4.  Do small sections at a time so that you aren’t hopping from tile to tile:)

Now I am not here to tell you that this is the Green way to clean grout- but after having tried multiple methods- this is the only one that restored it to it’s glory and now I am going to go buy a sealant to hopefully keep it clean for a bit longer!

And now you will see the gratifying AFTER!

I mean… that’s pretty impressive to me!! After I had wiped off all of the bleach and let it be for awhile, I got out my steam mop and put in some of my Young Living Oils Thieves Cleaner into the water and steam cleaned the whole floor.  I wanted to do this so that we weren’t all walking on harsh chemicals, not to mention it got rid of the bleach smell.

Here is a section that had been done next to one that had not… I think you can tell which is which!

And yes, I am a Young Living user and distributor, so if you are interested in the all natural cleaners and products please feel free to ask because while I’m not a salesman at heart, I can’t say enough about these oils and what they have done for our family!

So pin it, share it, shout it to the world! A grout cleaner that seriously works!

I hope y’all are having a wonderful day!

xoxo

B

The post Cleaning Grout Fast! appeared first on Windgate Lane.

When Tide contacted me to participate in a challenge, they didn’t have to ask twice! Tide Oxi is a regular staple in my house… boys… remember?

I already use it regularly for stains and in my laundry.  It is the only thing that has taken out red dirt stains from my son’s white baseball pants.   I simply make a little paste on the spot and let it sit and then throw it in the washer.  And just so you know, his first season of baseball he slid into every single base… just because.

I wanted to put it to the test in a different way though, so I picked some up at Home Depot and decided to take it outside! Our patio umbrella has seen better days.  It was thrown down in a storm last spring and hasn’t really moved off of laying on the patio since then, which equals dirt, mold, and exposure to all the elements.  It’s hard to see- but it was covered with a nice layer of crud.

I didn’t want to buy a new one, so I decided to see what I could do to freshen up the old one.

First I brought it out to the middle of the yard and carefully opened it.

And by carefully, I mean, I opened it and then ran screaming as bugs crawled out of it!

After I confirmed that I was not actually attacked by bugs, I proceeded to sprinkle Tide Oxi all over it.  I then took the hose and started spraying it down so that the Tide Oxi foamed up and then I just let it sit for awhile.

(Some of you smarties will notice that I made an erroneous mistake and put the product I chose not to use in the original post- after trying several things- Tide Oxi was the winner of the Cleaning Challenge!)

I came back out about 20 minutes later and was pleasantly surprised! It was already looking so much cleaner! So I finished spraying it off completely and then let it dry… which took about 5 minutes since it was 100 degrees.

Now that the umbrella was all shiny and clean, it inspired me to spruce it up even more! You see, in TX, we don’t spend much time outback in the summer, it’s just too hot, but fall is when we can sit out and enjoy the weather while the boys play.  So I wanted it to be a nice place for us to sit, eat dinner and relax.

So with a clean pallet- I was able to spray paint it! and trust me, if it wasn’t clean, the paint wouldn’t have adhered.   I knew that spray painting on fabric was not going to ever look perfect- so I went for an abstract, aztec design that I kind of just went off the cuff with.  I already had blues (big surprise) and blacks on my deck so I just grabbed some spray paint and went to town!

Now I get it- some of you are gonna say- ummm… why?  Well, because it still works- it’s gonna get faded again- and it looked worse before… So I say… Why not?!  Some blue, black, and white spray paint just gave me a fun new accessory out back:)

I am pretty excited for some cooler weather and some fun backyard dinners and listening to my boys play whatever sport is currently on their minds!

Shoot, I even think it looks pretty down!

Do you use Tide Oxi? Share your favorite use in the comments section- I would love to hear them! and if you want to check out some more great uses, you can check out Jonathan Scott, from HGTV’s Property Brother’s, Ideas Here!

I hope you are all having an amazing week!

xoxo

B

*Windgate Lane was provided with product for this post but all opinions and ideas are my own*

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