A Clean House - With the Whole Family

I have to share with you what IS working for our family and it may work for yours too! 

House Cleaning! House cleaning?!  We have tried many (and I mean too many to remember) ways to get (and keep) our home clean. 

We've tried separating out the chores per day of the week, we had hired housekeepers not once but twice, we tried challenges and contests, we even pretended that Adele was coming over and we wanted to impress her and would run around like crazy people to get things picked up. But.... None of them worked long term. 

A few weeks ago, I was picking up some girls to bring to the next mom to take into town for volleyball (yes that sounds confusing but it takes a village to get all these athletes where they need to go, when they need to go!) I asked one of Arly's friends if she got to do anything fun with her extra hour that afternoon since it was Thursday and they get out of school an hour earlier than usual. She told me that on Thursdays, her sister and her clean the house and instead of an allowance or commission, the work they do is rewarded by how they spend their weekend. If they do a good job, they will get to go to the movies, spend time with friends, etc. 

Great idea!!!!!

I needed to figure out a way this concept would work for our family. That weekend I thought of many scenarios and finally landed on this one. We tried it, and now we are 2 weeks in and it's working splendidly! 

We have one night during the week that is currently not filled with another obligation. We use that night to get all of our house cleaning done. 

First I grabbed a chalkboard and wrote down 12 chores that needed done that week. The four oldest Sprys would each have 3 chores to do. 

Then I grabbed a bowl and cut up paper and put each of our names on just ONE. I have the chores broken into categories from hardest/takes the most time to easier/less time to complete the chore. This way, one person couldn't end up with the 3 hardest chores. For example; the kitchen and the 3 bathrooms were one category... 4 hard chores. The vacuuming, wood floors, dust upstairs, dust downstairs were the next category and so on. 

Then we simply drew names out of the bowl. Each would grab one name and we'd work down the list, putting a name next to who was in charge of the chore. Then dos the next category of chores, all 4 names went back into the bowl for the next drawing, and so on. 

This put a absolute end to the 'that's not fair!' and the 'I always have to do that!' and 'ew! Anyone want to trade?!' It's just the luck of the draw and so far, ZERO COMPLAINTS! Win!!!

Then we crank the music (not too loud for the littles' ears) and get after it. It takes about 2-2 1/2 hours to get our whole house cleaned but it relieves us of a weeks worth of stressing out about a dirty bathroom, bedroom, appliances, or whatever we see. 

For a mama that is home all day, this has brought much peace and order to our home. When there is a mess, my brain is a mess. When I feel overwhelmed, intend to shut down. This system is the perfect fix to help me be productive in my every day and let's be honest, keeps me a little calmer and my sanity in check! 

Oh and want to know what else is keeping me sane and is actually quite fun doing? Tidying our home! We're trying a new tidy method that has worked wonders for friends that are currently working through it or have finished. We are seeing success and sin through this method but I'll share more of that here oh so soon. 

Do you have a cleaning system that works for you? Have you struggled like us? I want to know! 

Laundry Room Makeover (1:12)

Last night a wrote a big ole long post about the laundry room makeover that somehow mysteriously disappeared. Okay actually, I was trying to use both my computer and phone to finish the last photo, and with one click of the button on my phone, the whole post vanished. So here I go again.... (using computer only!)

We have lived in our home a little over 3 years now and when we moved in I had this grand plan of completing each room right away. I really struggled with wanting each corner of the house to be perfect. To be beautiful. To look like each room was put together for a photo shoot for Better Homes & Gardens. And I wanted it NOW. 

I never really felt like our house was homey enough to have people over. I told friends over and over that I was ready to makeover a room and needed their help but I never did it. To be honest, I didn't know where to start. 

I had this conversation with my friend in June and she went to her office and grabbed this book off the shelf and gave it to me. This book changed how I thought of our home. Do you see that? Home. I finally thought of our house as a HOME and not a naked house that needed to be decorated.

Another book I had preordered in April was finally released in August. It was A Happy Handmade Home by Elsie and Emma of A Beautiful Mess. Since looking through this book, I was inspired to really challenge myself on turning our home into a happy handmade home. There are only a couple rooms that reflect our personality; our style. I made it a goal to challenge myself to makeover a room in our home each month for the next year. Twelve rooms in twelve months. That's doable. I couldn't wait for the time I could get started. 

Joel was out of town this past week and I knew this was my chance to start. But where? It was only obvious that it should be a place that we use every single day. That narrows it down to about 8 rooms. But which one? I just happened to be doing laundry the day I had this big plan that it was time to start this challenge, and the thought came into my head while I was in that room... probably complaining about how unorganized, messy and cluttered it was. So DING DING... this is the room that will get the Spry Casa first makeover! Bonus: it's the first room we see when we walk through our door. We come in through the garage so it's our 'Welcome Home' room. 

 I like to get projects done late at night when Joel is gone since I can't sleep very well. Last time he was away for a few days, Alyn and I gave her and Avin's room a face lift. 

So for two days, in my spare time.... (which really is like 10pm - 2am) I worked on freshening up our laundry room.

Before: I took this photo last August the week of the fire. I totally spaced snapping a before shot the other night so this is it. 

After:
I needed a place that was well organized, functional but easily accessible and clean. I kept getting drawn to the cube shelf units. I searched online and in stores for the perfect ones. I found these 6 cube shelves at Shopko and stacked 2 of them on top of each other. The fabric bins are also from Shopko. They are 13"x13"x13" cubes. Nice and big! They were on a screamin' sale this week.... sale ends Saturday.

         

Next we painted the door! I have been seeing half painted doors for a while now on Pinterest, but when Elsie showed her new office door, I melted. I knew I had to try it and what better room to be brave in than the laundry room. We're the only ones that would see it. But after completing it and falling in love with the look and pop of color, I kind of want to paint a few more doors in the house. It's a nice surprise don't you think?

The gray we chose for the wall had me a little nervous when I first started painting. It looked lavender..... but after I took the chance and brushed two coats on, I was pleasantly surprised the next morning. It was the exact gray I was hoping to see. 

Since most of the room is gray and neutral, our little laundry soap display really adds a fun pop to the look. I love having a laundry bar (Layers by Scentsy) to choose different scents for each load of laundry. It's kind of like a sno-cone stand.... pick your color, pick your flavor. LOVE IT!

I knew the light colored wall (an antique linen to be exact) needed a little something. From the above office makeover link, I thought I would try my hand at painting confetti. My strokes are a little large but I think having it fade out toward the bottom turned out super cute.

Rather than having a little plug in warmer on a big wall with the opportunity to be knocked over at any moment (and it did a few times too many!), I pulled out my new favorite warmer, Moroccan Stencil. I love the mustard color with the gray. Psst... don't those two little girls look familiar? Yes, those are the big girls when they were itty bitty. Avin looks identical to her sisters, only she is a little lighter version.

Speaking of Avin, she was running around the house the morning the room was finished, grabbing the hands of anyone in sight. She would drag us to the laundry room and point at everything new saying 'TUTE!'.... Yes baby, cute. She was so excited.

One of my favorite new additions to this room is this wooden sign I picked up. 

It's a friendly reminder that when I get stuck in the rut of thinking that laundry... folding, matching many socks and scrubbing stains during the chaos of my day... really sucks. But when I really stop and think about it, I should enjoy it. It reminds me to be grateful for these dirty clothes because they represent the little people (and big) with whom I share this home. I'm thankful for the endless piles... because that means we stay busy trying new adventures (hiking, horseback and volleyball as of late.) It reminds me that we are living life. Building relationships. Being adventurous.

So that's it.... Room 1 of 12. Now to start dreaming and planning the next little makeover for November.

Basement

Um... Yeah. There are no words. 

Happy Labor Day weekend! 

Clutter & Wasted Time

Our Garage (before)

Y'all... It's a MESS! 

We have been so busy the past 4 months that we have dumped, shuffled, grabbed, and dumped again in our garage. 

Honestly, it kind of shows a reflection of what our life is like. Chaotic, messy, out of sorts, overwhelming, and on and on. 

Joel and I are wanting to make big changes in our lives. We have and will continue to pray for what The Lord wants and needs us to do. 

While we wait, we are going to be living differently around here. No more excuses. If we want change, we have to be willing to change. 

First job is underway for our 'Happy Handmade Home' adventure.... Overflowing garage is now about 80% organized. We still have a shelf full of tools and painting supplies that need another night of intentional focus and then we'll go to the drawing board on how exactly this space will serve us best. 

Intentional focus; what a wild idea! It took less than 2 hours to tackle this job which consumed our brains for months because we were constantly dreading going out there and doing something about it. 

Two hours to make this area feel better. Look better. 

This got me thinking. How much time do we waste every single day? If you had to guess what would you say? My guess is probably 4-5 hours out of my day gets wasted. And that's being fairly conservative. Now if I multiply that by seven.... That's over 30 hours wasted each week! That's almost a full time job! 

Year? Whoa!!! 1,560 hours each year! That's disgusting. Eww. 

Try to figure yours out. How much time during the year do you waste?

Television watching?

Social media catch up?

Snoopbooking?

Oversleeping?

Video games or candy crush?

Staring off in la la land?

It's time to be more intentional with our precious time so that we can clear out the clutter and live with an uncluttered mind, heart & home. 

Here's to a Labor Day weekend of decluttering! 

Psst... I'm too embarrassed to show you the garbage pile! Sorry Allied Waste... Please come back next week! There will be more.