Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Keeping it Clean

My neighbor lady down the street came to our house once and exclaimed, "How do you keep your house so clean??"
Well honestly I don't keep it that clean. I mean I do have one boy and 4 dogs that pretty much Live indoors so keeping it really clean isn't a top priority on my list.

However, here is One little secret I'll let you in on....
Our house looks so clean because....we don't have a ton of stuff.
Done.
Simple and easy huh?

Personally, I would like to eliminate more stuff in our home and I started doing that last weekend. Starting with my closet. It has always had this cluttered sort of look I'm not particularly proud of. I'll admit to holding onto clothes for WAY too long. Sure they might fit, but I hadn't worn some of them in years. Why I was holding onto them I don't know...possible clothing shortage? Doubtful. So I went thru my clothes and anything I hadn't worn in a year it's off to my friend's clothing bank. She in turn will give it to needy families or possibly the homeless. Now my closet looks a little barren, but its very clean and even my husband noticed it had been cleaned out! Now when I go in there I almost feel a sense of relief really. It just feels nice to have little clutter.

I've also started cleaning out my cupboards in the kitchen and really determining if I need ALL those gadgets or kitchen things. Some of them are clearly things i use, but honestly how many little pots & pans do I need or can I even use!? Getting that new pot set for Christmas helped me see I can let go of some of my pans and move on. My mom also got me a cast iron pot and pan that is SUPER nice and Fancy. As you know Cast Iron is worth what you pay for it, but I'm such a tightwad I can't picture buying it myself. I used it the other night and it cooked so different then what I'm used to! It was nice.

I know a lot of people clean in the spring with the whole "spring cleaning" theme but I decided since most people equate the new year with starting over, I too would "start over" but by paring down to only what I truly need. I still have plenty of wants, but that's another post!

Thinking of starting up a challenge next month for myself, but can't decide if I can truly do it yet! :)
BTW, that picture is really neat. To see it larger just click on the picture itself.

1 comment:

Brianna said...

I follow the clothes rule too. Haven't worn it in a year, it's out. I try to clean out my closet a few times a year. Helps me to know what I need and what I don't. I need to do some cleaning of junk around here too!