Organized Home: Week 3

Week1 and Week 2 down...only two more to go!  This week's list of assignments from MoneySavingMom.com proved a bit easier because I was home all week.

Day 1:

• Make a list of 5-10 weekly goals - I had 8 and crossed off two that day!
• Pick up all the major living spaces in the house with 15 minutes on the clock
• Clean out your silverware drawer - yeah...this really needed to be done

Before...lots of baby silverware on the side that we don't even use anymore!

I couldn't believe how gross this had gotten! I soaked it in the sink and scrubbed it free of all of that gunk!

And viola!

I bagged these up for storage with bottles and old sippy cups.

Day 2:

• Refer to weekly goals and make about 5 specific ones for today
• Vacuum the main living areas of your home with 15 minutes on the clock - I vacuumed our new rug for the first time!  In case you missed the picture from last week, here it is again!

• Clean your microwave, stove top, and/or oven - at first glance, I interpreted this to mean I could choose which I wanted to clean, and I definitely wasn't choosing the oven.  But upon further reflection, I thought the "or" might be for those without one of those things.  So I gritted my teeth and did all of them.
• Stove Top: the stove top was a piece of cake because I clean it daily - no problems there.
• Microwave: my microwave was grosser, and I am embarrassed to say I don't remember when I cleaned it last!

You can't see it from this angle, but the top was DISGUSTING

Inside of the door, also disgusting

I started by heating a glass of water in the microwave, just like my momma taught me.  This helps loosen any stuck-on foods.  I then used my scrubber sponge and got it cleaned up in no time!

Voila - a clean microwave!

• Oven: Yuck. I seriously hate this chore.  I hate it so much, in fact, that as we were driving to Kansas City to have dinner for our anniversary, we realized we hadn't deep cleaned our oven since we've lived in this house - almost two years! Yikes!  Fortunately, we have a self-cleaning oven!

The clean cycle was three and a half hours and made the house smell like burnt stuff!

While the oven was cleaning itself, I scrubbed the racks.

Once the cleaning cycle was over, all I had to do was vacuum out the bottom and wipe out with a mixture of baking soda and water.

And a stove you could eat off of.  (Or, "A stove off which you could eat" for my grammar police friends.)

Day 3:

• Refer to weekly goals and make about 5 specific ones for today
• Clean your bathroom with 15 minutes on the clock
• Clean the top of your kitchen cupboards and the top of your refrigerator - Our cabinets go straight to the ceiling  and our refrigerator is built in, so no cleaning there!  I did, however, clean open tops of the cabinets:

This is what they looked like once I took all the pretties off.  (You can't see it, but there is a very noticeable layer of dust.)

Cabinet #1 after cleaning

And Cabinet #2!

 I also wiped down the front of the cabinets.  The instructions said to do this as well.

Yuck!

Day 4:

• Refer to weekly goals and make about 5 specific ones for today
• Clean all the mirrors and glass doors in your home with 15 minutes on the clock - Okay, I forgot about this one until right now, when I'm writing the post.  I will do this! 
• Clean out your utensil drawer in the kitchen. Get rid of any items you don't need, wipe out the drawer, and reorganize - This was a great assignment.  I am often unable to get the drawer shut because it's so packed with stuff!

This is the drawer before.  You can see why it was sometimes hard to get shut!

This was the drawer emptied...eww.  The spot was a hunk of cinnamon, I think, that must have accidentally tumbled into the drawer and gotten spread around!

This is everything that belongs in the drawer.

This is stuff that was in the drawer but belongs elsewhere.

And these are things I don't need and will be getting rid of!

Interesting side note: I found six - yes, SIX peelers.  I don't even use peelers very much! Why in the world would I need six?

And this is the finished product - an organized drawer that fits neatly into the drawer slot!

As I said, this was a great assignment.  I even discovered I had a pastry cutter! I was particularly excited to find this after reading this post from Everyday Home Cook.  I have been asking for a post on must-have kitchen gadgets and I got it this week!  Looks like the only one I don't have is a silicone mat!

 Day 5:

• Refer to weekly goals and make about 5 specific ones for today - hmm...I didn't do very well with this this week.  I did make a cleaning list, though, and I got it all done!
• Set your timer for 15 minutes and do something you really enjoy - I chose to go garage saling! More on this later...
• Clean, declutter, and/or reorganize the files on your computer. - I did this earlier this week without knowing it was an assignment.  Instead, I tackled Charlie's chair:

This is where he sits at the table.  You can't see it, but the arms and sides were gross.  And can you see all the crumbs on the seat?

There - that's better.  And when I removed the cover, it was even grosser.

I ended up using the vacuum attachment to clean up the crumbs.  Then I vacuumed around the seat and used spray to wipe it down.  I tossed the cover in the wash to be sure it was thoroughly cleaned.

I also tackled my pantry and the counter beneath it this week.  I didn't take any pictures, but my husband was very impressed when he saw it!