Well it is winter. Still. And here in Pennsylvania it will continue to be for a while, but we are finally at the point where the end of winter is just about in sight- we hope!! However, while I am still trying not to succumb to total spring fever just yet, I am cleansing my home of any remaining winter items, and refreshing my home for spring. I will not be pulling out anything overtly springy yet, but the stage will be set to add touches of spring when the weather breaks and I feel that I can safely do so without fear of the winter weather coming crashing back in and destroying hopes and dreams of winter’s end.
In my post, How to Decorate for Winter, I said that I do not take down all of my wintery things in January- it’s just too depressing! So now is when I do a clean sweep, and when my house will be a little more bare than it has been since fall! I try to look at it through new eyes. Is there a way I keep arranging things that I don’t love but have just gotten used to? Would I like to swap rooms with some of my pictures? Is there something that has seen better days and I finally need to let go of it?
In all honesty, I find this season the most difficult to decorate because while it totally makes sense to take all things seasonal down and give my home a season of rest, I struggle to do this since I feel like it’s already so bare boring everywhere I look. Outside is gray, and while I love the four seasons we experience here in PA, I have to say this is probably my least favorite season- a season of waiting for winter to end and spring to fully begin. In addition since I am not decorating for a season, this is when I rely on the core of my decor more than any other time of year. If you haven’t built a decor capsule yet check out my post here on How to Build Capsule Decor.
Now, when I am doing my spring refresh is when I always find a few “holes” in my decorating. Seasonal items that have filled out a space quite nicely are gone and I am left scraping for something not-to-seasonal to replace what I just took down. But, you know what? It’s ok! It’s ok to look around your house at least once a year (maybe even more!) and assess the bulk of your decor and decide if you are happy with it. Has your style changed slightly? Is there something you’ve been meaning to buy for a while and just haven’t made time to do it? Now is the time! If you are on a tight budget and really don’t have extra money to spend right now don’t let that stop you from playing with your decor! Sometimes we need to buy something, but we can often fill or fix, even for just a little while), a decor glitch with something we already own. Look through your dishes in your cabinet, take a peak in your craft supplies, see what you come up with and if you are still stumped, try googling or looking on Pinterest for creative ways to use the items that you found! Have fun with it, and I know this is annoying advice but try to approach it from a fun creative point of view, rather than one in which you are upset because you can’t buy or find something new at the moment. I have never had a great idea while throwing myself a pity party, but some of my favorite decorating ideas have come when I have challenged myself to use what I have and try to come up with something fabulous just using those items.
Keep Some Cozy
This time of year I really like to focus on candles and blankets to warm up my home and keep it from feeling too sterile! I still love a chunky knit blanket at this time of year, and while it may be about time to pack up the fur pillows and throws, make sure to still leave enough around to snuggle up with on the cold days that are still to come!
Is Your Home Friendly?
Did you switch things up over the holidays and never return? Did you make your home slightly less livable in the name of beauty? It’s ok for your home to look like people live there- at least to some extent! Find a box for your tv remotes to live in on the coffee table, have a mat by the door for shoes, style a few cups near your coffee or tea station for a quicker grab in the morning! Make it easy to live in- it can still be beautiful!
Re Introduce Greenery
Plants are definitely welcome all year but when is more appropriate than in the spring? I know for me I moved a few plants around because of my Christmas decor and now I really like where they are living and I just may need to pick up another new plant or two!
Add Pictures
I have a few pictures in prominent places like my piano and mantle but I looked around and realized that there were startling few personal touches around my house. I have a bunch of pictures- time to pull them out! A picture is a great way to fill out a vignette! See my post on Vignettes: Tell Me A Story, and add a personal touch to your home!
Color Check
No matter what colors you have chosen for your home’s color pallet, see How to Create a Cohesive Color Pallet, there will be a color or 2 that is more suited to spring than the rest. If you are looking at getting a few new throw pillows lean hard into these colors!
Collections
If you are someone who likes to collect and has a collection now is the time to show it off! Generally with a collection you want to rotate through how much of it you show off at a time, (unless you have a huge collection and a great place to show it off where it can really be a wow factor!), however now, when your house is a little more bare is a great time to display more of your collection than you normally would!
Need a little Inspiration?
Ok so you have all your winter decor down but you also have cabin fever and you don’t want it to just be plain?? What else can you do to refresh your home for spring and add some transitional coziness to your space?
Here are a few ideas: Plants Lanterns Candles Deer antlers Flowers- fresh, faux or dried! Handmade pottery Vintage glass bottles Unique or vintage figurines- try crowning a stack of books with these! Geometric spheres Adding a touch of rustic Vintage busts or small animal figurines.
As always happy decorating- enjoy!
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Have you noticed that no matter how big our homes are we tend to accumulate enough things to more than fill our home- or am I the only one that thinks this? It takes conscious effort to keep our homes from getting overrun with stuff, and regular purging is always a good idea. But. What happens if you are purging, and you have already tried to organize your home, (see my post on how to organize your home), and it still seems like you don’t have enough room?? Or you have room but you’re having a hard time making your storage functional and fabulous at the same time? This is when you have to get creative to maximizes your home’s storage- enter hidden home storage.
There are lots of little ways to maximize storage in your home for example:
What’s under your bed?
Under your bed is a great place for extra storage. In our guest room, which also doubles as an office, we have a tub on wheels in which we keep extra printer paper, extra file folders, and the like. In our bedroom we use tubs under the bed to store our shoes. Many bedframes have built in drawers underneath the mattress- brilliant!
The Tv Stand
Tv’s are so hard, who wants to decorate around a big tv that we would rather not when we aren’t watching it? Perhaps though we can use it to our advantage! If it can not be hung on a wall then on a stand it must go! Instead of buying a traditional entertainment stand try repurposing a short dresser- that way you can use the drawers as storage but have none of the clutter visible! An added bonus when using a dresser is that the tv cords can drop behind the dresser and no one has to see the mass of wires hiding back there!
The Ottoman
We opted for an Ottoman in our small living area rather than having a coffee table to save space. The plus is that when we bought an ottoman we made sure to get one that opened to contain extra storage inside! It’s so nice that now when I get settled on the couch and immediately decide that I’m cold, I just have to lift my feet and pull out a blanket!
End tables
End tables are a great opportunity to squeeze out some extra home storage too! Some like the ottoman I just mentioned have a lid that you can lift off to reveal storage, while others, like the ones we have, are open underneath and you can fit a cute bin under the table to hold magazines, books, games or whatever else you’re always wishing you had within arms reach!
Chairs
Whether we just have more stuff than people used to, or whether we are just getting smarter about how to hide the amount of things that we have, companies are getting better about building furniture with hidden spots for storage. Some chairs, or chaise lounges have cushions that lift up for maximum storage, so if you are in the market for an accent piece see if you can find one you like with a little extra storage! If you can’t, remember a slim decorative basket slid under the chair can not only look nice but be functional too- what a good place to hide dog toys!
Closets
There are many ways to squeeze extra storage out of a small closet; you can place a hook over the door of your closet to store bags and items you don’t often use. If you have racks that not only have the bar on which to hang your clothes but also have built in racks above them then you can place bins for added storage. I also have a hanging shoe holder in my closet but instead of storing shoes in it I roll my T-shirts and keep them in it! I really like doing this because in a quick glance I can see all the shirts that I have and then I don’t get stuck wearing the same shirts that are on top in my dresser!
Under Cabinets
A wire rack that unfolds into a shelf is great for under the sink, but don’t forget about the magic a good tension rod can do either! Using a tension rod under a sink from which you can hang cleaning bottles will free up space on the bottom of the shelf for more items that you can’t hang! Or in a tall narrow cabinet, use the tension rods vertically as dividers!
I hope this helped to spark some ideas of how to squeeze more storage out of your home, and to do so more beautifully too! For more ideas on how to make your home functional and fabulous check out the book: Beautifully Organized by Nikki Boyd! Stop by and follow me over on Instagram and I would love to see your innovative organizing ideas- just email me at Essentiallyemmamarie@gmail.com!
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I run a very tight schedule- I’m sure you do too. In this fast paced world it is so very hard to balance what needs doing, what should be done, and what we actually want to do! My schedule during the week leaves me with very little time in the evening,(I typically leave my house at 6 or 6:30 am and don’t get home till 7 or 8pm), and therefore makes thorough planning essential. This is my plan for how I approach meal prep for a week so I can cook basically only once a week.
Now I should mention that in my house at this time it is just my husband and me, and we have an agreement- I cook, he cleans. This means I almost never do dishes- my husband would go so far as to argue that I never do them- he may be right! But one thing I do all the time is the cooking. We don’t go out to eat very often, and because I can be quite frugal in certain areas of my life,(ahem, cheap), I have never used any meal prep services. Instead I do my own meal prepping. I want to spend as little as possible on good food that is reasonably healthy, spend as little time possible preparing it, have it taste great and not get bored. At heart I am a foodie who loves flavorful food, so I’m really not about having a baked to death pot roast every night. Or ever. I hate pot roast. But I digress.
For breakfast I typically have a protein smoothie which takes literally a minute to prepare. My husband does intermittent fasting and skips breakfast. (For more on my proteins smoothies and how I came to eat them everyday check out Kelly Levesque and her two books, Body Love, and Body Love Everyday.) For Lunch I have a salad bowl and dinner is something that I have either prepared in to crockpot or something that takes hardly any time to assemble.
Now because of my frugality I do my meal prepping one of two ways:
I select a base meal, for example: I buy a whole chicken at the store. Cook it in the crockpot on Monday, and serve it with a side. A sample week could look like this:
Monday: Chicken and a Salad.
Tuesday:Chicken Enchiladas
Wednesday: Chicken Alfredo Pasta with Steamed Veggies
Thursday: Leftover Chicken Enchiladas
Friday: Chicken Curry and Rice
Saturday: Chicken Tortilla Pizzas
Sunday:Improvision day!
By the time we get to Sunday we are usually done with our main dish so I make something that I always have on hand that can be easily whipped up, like spaghetti and meatballs.
2) The second way I like to do cost effective meal prep is similar to the first but instead of selecting a base meal, I have base ingredients that I reuse in various ways during the week. For example:
Monday:Vegtable Mexican Soup
Tuesday: Veggie Fish Bake,(lay the fish on a bed of lever over veggies and bake)
Wednesday: Vegtable Soup leftovers
Thursday:Spicy beef and rice
Friday: BBQ Beef Wraps and Salad
Saturday:Beef Stir Fry over Noodles
Sunday: Improvision Day!
For a week like this I would prep the soup ahead of time to be cooked in the crockpot. Then I would prep the beef for the crockpot or cook utilizing another method. Lastly I could chop any veggies ahead of time, leaving only fish, rice and noodles to be cooked during the week.
That is typically how our week goes, I find that for the 2 of us we typically get 2-3 meals out of any large casserole or crockpot meal, that means I only have to prep 2 or 3 large meals, and then have a few extra ingredients on hand for meals that are quick to throw together and we’re set!
Now let me back up to discuss the meal prep itself. The first step is to write out your menu for the week. But listen! It only takes a few minutes, for me it usually takes about 15 minutes. I come up with a “category,” if you will, that I want to eat that week; chicken in the first example, or beef in the second. I look in the fridge to see if I have extra of an ingredient to use up, a bag of spinach, or tomatoes, and take my findings into account and try to find a receipie that will use it up. I then come up with or search for a recipies using may main ingreient,(typically on Pinterest), and then let whatever sounds good guide my choices, (I like to meal plan right before a meal because then I’m hungry and its easy to find recipes that sound good!
I do my grocery shopping and then will spend approximately 1-2 hours prepping at some point that weekend, for me Saturday evenings or Sunday early in the afternoon are usually the best times. I start cooking everything that needs to be cooked ahead of time, while a meat cooks I will start slicing and dicing. Then I assemble ingredients for any casseroles or my crockpot. I also prep my lunch bowls at this time. I would say after doing this prep I usually spend less than an hour during the week cooking.
I hope this helps make your cooking life a little bit simpler! What are your meal prep tips and tricks?
I have mixed feelings about the beginning of the year, part of me is so excited by the prospect of a new year and all the possibilities it holds and the other part is still in mourning because I’m so depressed that the holidays are over! It takes me a while to acknowledge that Christmas is over and I have almost a whole year to go before it comes again. I need a way to cope.
One of the ways in which I cope is by doing a deep purge/organization overhaul of my house, with my husband’s help of course- I am so much fun to live with! Purging your house over the holidays may not be your idea of a good time like it is mine but before you write me off as a crazy try it- you may enjoy it as much as I do!
What an Organized Home Means to Me
First off though I want to say that I am all about functional organization; meaning some of my organization isn’t terribly Pinterest worthy. I don’t buy a container of cereal at the store and then come a home and transfer that into a different container so that when I open my pantry it is a pretty array of white and glass labeled canisters- I am into working smarter, not harder and for me a color coordinated pantry isn’t worth the time it takes at this point in my life. However, having a good organization system that helps me to put groceries away more quickly, find what I’m looking for when I need it, and the ability to tell when I’m out of something, are all things a value so that is where I focus my attention when it comes to organizing.
Our Journey Towards an Organized Home
It all started last year, I had been wanting to do a total overhaul of our basement which had become overrun with boxes, stuff for goodwill, and various items that were “almost” put away, but not quite and were just creating clutter. During the week between Christmas and New Year’s we sorted and pitched, organized and donated- and it felt great! By the end of the week we had transformed a cluttered mess into a nice usable space. My husband, understandably, had been reluctant to spend so much of our time off on this activity but he too agreed that it was time well spent and he was glad we had invested the time into- plus there was now room to set up the ping pong table he had been wanting to play on!
Getting Started
When beginning a purge remember, if you haven’t used it within 6 months to a year it’s probably safe to get rid of it. If you have multiples of something, and can’t remember when you last used one of that particular item, you are safe to get rid of at least one if not all of them. Lastly remember to set up 3 different piles: keep, give away and throw away. It is so much easier to let go of something if you know it is going to someone who needs it more than you do!
This year we weren’t in need of a deep purge in our house as badly as we were in need of a light purge with new organization measures put into place. I had several spots in the house that I had started referring to as “hot spots.” Certain closets like a miscellaneous cabinet in our bathroom, the space under the kitchen sink, and the closet where we keep our games had become totally out of control. In the weeks leading up to Christmas I started keeping a list of little projects that would only take an hour or so but still ended up on my to do list each week, having gotten pushed to the end of the list in favor of something more pressing.
After doing a light purge on these areas, (we did a lot better this past year in not allowing clutter to come into the house so a deep purge was unnecessary), I realized that merely purging would not be enough. I needed storage help! Over the years I have heard a lot of professional organizers say to hold off buying bins and storage containers until after you do a deep purge. I had done this but I had never gotten back around to purchasing storage containers and putting them into use. I finally did, and boy, did it make such a difference! Not only is having nice uniform storage bins more aesthetically appealing, but we were able to squeeze out a lot more usable storage from these areas as well.
You Can Have a Junk Drawer
Another thing: You can have a junk drawer! Having a well organized home means having a home that functions well. This means you may have a junk drawer! Really, it’s ok! You do not want this drawer to contain stuff that should go somewhere else- the random crayon needs thrown out or put away- but you need a place for miscellaneous stuff to live. We should probably call this a miscellaneous drawer rather than a junk drawer come to think of it! Take my kitchen “Miscellaneous Drawer,” for example; I keep birthday candles, packs of gum, the touch up pen for my cabinets, chip clips, pencils and a small notebook in this drawer. I need all of these things in the kitchen, so I keep them there. In my bedroom I have a decorative box where I keep spare buttons, and other such paraphernalia that I want to make sure I have but that is just random. I don’t have a million of these random catch all places but I do have a few, I keep an eye on them so they don’t snowball and it helps to keep all the other clutter under control because this way odd items that I do want to keep have a place to live.
I realize that we are now way past the week in between Christmas and New Years but that doesn’t mean that you can’t start chipping away at areas of your home now! Gretchen Rubin talks in her books of how she implements a power hour every week in which she powers through any unpleasant or annoying task that she had been putting off that week and when the hour is over she stops, check out my post on books to help you build the life you want here). I plan to do this in the form of a “Declutter Hour,” and at the end of every week if there is a spot that has been annoying me to clean it out before it has the chance to become overwhelming. I will rotate through my house to help stay on top of things and tackle and clutter before it gets out of hand.
You can also use this approach to get on top of things. You may not have a week in which you can just purge, but do you have an hour a day or just an hour a week? Make a list of areas that are driving you crazy and start tackling it little by little- you’ll be so glad that you did!
Christmas seems like ages ago, and long gone is the Christmas tree and hustle and bustle of the season. I always feel a bit bereft after taking down the Christmas tree and so many of my Christmas decorations, so I decided a while ago that I wouldn’t take it all down! Here in Pennsylvania it is cold and except for the sporadic snowfall, it is quite bare outside as well. I don’t want the inside of my house to feel bare as well! I want it to feel cozy- extra cozy! I want to decorate for winter, after all winter is a season too!
What should you take down and what should you leave up?
Since I just can’t quite cope with taking away all of my Christmas and winter decor at once I tend to leave up greenery,(I use faux so I have the ability to do this), my little trees that look wintery, and instead only take down the things that are expressly Christmas related. Now there is some discussion over whether to leave up any decor if it is very glittery and my feeling is this- if you like it leave it, and if you’re tired of it take it down! I would say by conservative standards you should take down anything glittery but since I like glitter to brighten up winter’s darkness I leave it.
I don’t typically use any red in my decor throughout the year. I’ll add in a touch or two of red in the Autumn and I use red at Christmas. So I take down most touches of red except if I have berries in with my greenery.
My rule is if it’s true in nature it can be true in my decor!
For this reason I also keep up certain glittery accents as well; trees, frosted every green accent balls, etc.. I love the look of white, glitter dusted branches, I love it outside my house when the branches glisten with snow and frost and I love it inside as well- faux snow and frost that is!
But you don’t want everything to be bare?!
I call this decorating for winter. In our excitement over the holidays we forget that winter too is a season. Maybe you decided to take down the glittery accents and trees but still you want something to make your come special through winter! Think cozy! Throws, pillows, and candles can really warm up and transform a space you want your decor to appeal to all the senses, and in winter I love to appeal to the eyes, and the sense of touch. It has been said that we feel texture with our eyes as well as our hands so bring in lots of different textures! Replace pristine books with worn, warmer looking ones, faux fur pillows too look soft and warm, woven baskets to chase away the sterile feel of a Christmas ridden home.
Here’s a quick list of some of my favorite winter decorating items:
Branches- bare branches in a big vase can be a show stopper! Pinecones Every green and Frosted evergreen branches Candles, candles, and more candles! Faux Fur pillows and throws Deer sheds, (antlers) Twinkle lights Logs in the fireplace- even if it’s not a working fireplace! Faux Sheepskin Throw
Want Other Touches of Winter?
Just because the Nativity Scenes and Santa’s have been put away doesn’t mean that the snowmen have to leave yet- where I live we still have another 2 or 3 months of snowman making weather! In addition you can leave up decorative little trees, silver deer figurines, and wintery accent balls like I did below!
Remember What You Like
I know myself and I want glitter and branches and basically want my home to transform from a Christmas wonderland, to a winter wonderland for the next few months. But what do you like? I think winter is also a great time to add more white to your decor than usual. Also maybe you keep a pretty traditional style home but would like to incorporate more vintage elements into your home then why not try it now?!
Maybe you are tired of some of the colors and decor that you have been using as staples in your home, take this season as a little breather and an excuse to play and have fun with your decor! I think the number one reason we get bored with anything is because we stop having fun with it. So have fun! And check out my post on Creating a Cohesive Color Pallet as a springboard for ideas if you have the urge to switch up some of your decor!
We have reached the holiday season; and with it comes company! With so much to do already before the company comes;(wrapping presents, preparing food, etc.), cleaning can be the thing that throws off your nicely planned schedule. How can you keep from going crazy cleaning before the company comes? How can you keep your house clean for the unexpected guest without quitting your day job or getting rid of the kids??
The answer is routine. I know that’s not an exciting answer, a cleaning routine just sounds like one more thing to implement into your already hectic life but here’s the thing- staying current on your cleaning will save you time from doing a massive but infrequent overhaul. Not to mention it will make you feel better, and breathe easier- literally it turns out because there will be less allergens floating around your house!
Where to Start?
The goal here is to come up with a plan that works for you. If you look up cleaning schedules on Pinterest you will see countless schedules and routines of how often you need to clean certain areas. These schedules are absolutely helpful but don’t feel like a failure if you don’t vacuum your kitchen floor,scrub your sink, and clean your toilets everyday- no one really has time for that!
A lot of people are proponents of cleaning a little everyday. This is good in theory but when studies have been done on this method time management experts have found that it is more efficient to do most things weekly rather than daily; do all your laundry at once rather than a load everyday, do all the vacuuming or dusting in your house at once rather than one room a day. By trying to do a room each day you will lose time pulling out your cleaning supplies and then putting them away each day, rather than just tackling it all at once. However if you thrive on a daily routine, or lack a big chunk of time at any point during the week then it might be worth it for you to do a little everyday and thus conquer the cleaning!
My schedule during the week is crazy. I never plan to do any chores during the week unless I know I have an exceptionally light work week. My rule of thumb for cleaning is the same as for cooking; I try to do one big batch during the weekend and then only very small tasks during the week.
I have found a routine that works well for me and my family at this stage of life. Here’s what it look like:
Friday: I typically work a shorter day than I do Monday- Thursday. After work I swing by the store and pick up groceries and head home. I put the groceries away. I start a load of laundry. I like to then dust, do the bathrooms, vacuum and ideally mop. Now lets be real- very seldom is there time and energy to do all of this Friday evening. In my perfect world yes, but life isn’t perfect so we have to pick and choose.
Cleaning schedules will tell you to clean bathrooms and kitchens once a week, and dust weekly to every other week. This is what I was doing when I realized it didn’t work for me. There is just my husband and myself living in our house right now. We have 2 bathrooms and while we do use our guest bathroom, we use our master bath much more. When it comes to dusting however I am OCD. I CANNOT stand to see dust, hair and crumbs on any surfaces. This bothers me much more than the hair on the back of the toilet. So I went radical- I would do the dusting every week since that’s what bothers me most and I clean the guest bathroom every week if I can, but if not then it goes two weeks.
What areas drive you crazy? For me if my surfaces are dusted and my floor is mopped and vacuumed I feel great- even if my windows and doors have quite a few nose prints from our pets!
Still Struggling?
It is overwhelming- especially if you have a large house to keep clean! Below I have listed some guidelines to follow. Remember though, whatever it is that is the first thing you see when you walk in the door of your home, that is the thing that you need to make time to clean at least weekly, if not more often.
Daily:
Do a quick tidy up before bed. Pitch mail you don’t need, put shoes where they belong and return cords to their homes.
Keep a rag in both the bathroom and kitchen to do a quick wipe after using the surface areas.
Wipe out sink
Squeegee shower doors if you have a glass shower.
Weekly:
Kitchen: quickly wipe off appliances, stove top, microwave, and counters. Scrub sink.
Bathroom: wipe down sink area, scrub toilet bowl, and wipe down outside of toilet.
Clean showers- you can do a quick wipe down while you shower!
Dust all horizontal surfaces.
Vacuum
Mop
Purge fridge as you bring in groceries, and clean any spills.
Sheets
Monthly:
Clean windows
Dust anything hanging on the walls
Wipe down fronts of cabinets- you have cabinets in the bathrooms too!
Lauder floor mats.
Clean the inside of the dishwasher and washing machine.
Baseboards
Vacuum most often used upholstery
Every 3-6 Months
Change air filters
Vacuum all other upholstery
Deep clean baseboards
Spot check walls
Deep clean fridge
Clean oven
Once a year or as needed:
Shampoo carpets and upholstery
Defrost freezers
Clean kitchen drawers and cabinets for crumbs and dust. Clean the cabinet under the sink- you’ll be surprised how dirty it gets!
We are all different, and therefore how, when, and how much we clean will vary. For a more detailed breakdown of cleaning routines, and suggested cleaning rotations for different personalities enter your email in the box at the bottom of the page and I will send you my free in-depth, cleaning schedule with different breakdowns according to your personality!
I hope these guidelines help, again these are just guidelines shared in hopes of making life easier- not to stress you out and make you feel like you aren’t doing enough. Try to carve out 3 hours a week to spend on these chores with an hour or 2 a month to help get through some of the irregular cleaning. If having a clean home is important to you always remember that there are cleaning services and people out there willing to help! It may be worth adjusting your budget to get a little extra help if you are stressing over cleaning that seems like it is never done. Life is about what is important to you- so prioritize accordingly!
