A little dust never hurt anyone. Have you heard someone say that or perhaps you have uttered those same words? The problem with this line of thinking is that we are forgetting something very important. Dust isn’t just an unpleasant part of a home, or a nuisance to take care of. It is a microscopic bug. Doesn’t that just crawl under your skin? Puts things in a new perspective, doesn’t it? Dust mites can be found throughout the home. And not just in the dusty corners of your room, but they can live in your mattress, carpet and furniture. What … Continue reading →

What emotions do you experience when you enter your bedroom? Does it feel like a sanctuary, a place where you can truly unwind after a long and difficult day? Or does it feel more like the rest of your life…cluttered and chaotic? We may not give much thought to the feelings that rooms in our home can stir, but they can make a significant difference. This is true for the start of your day and the end of it. I don’t like waking up to dirty dishes and dust bunnies. I try to manage my home enough that the start … Continue reading →

I don’t like cleaning my stove or refrigerator. But there is another appliance in my home that I dislike cleaning even more…the microwave. I guess that’s because I don’t have to clean the stove or fridge on a regular basis. However, the microwave gets a lot of use out of it so cleaning is much more frequent. What I especially don’t like is the awful smell of popcorn inside (even though I love popcorn). But what’s worse is when my children have warmed up cans of Spaghetti O’s. Not only do I want to gag at the smell but the … Continue reading →

You never realize how much you appreciate an appliance in your home until it breaks down. At the same time, you don’t realize how much you appreciate Mr. Handyman until he figures out how to fix it. A couple of weeks ago, it appeared that my washing machine was done. It was making a loud clunking sound and when it was finished with the final cycle, the clothes were sopping wet. It was bad timing (isn’t it always?) with a trip we have coming up. Buying a new washing machine was not in our budget. Thankfully my husband was able … Continue reading →

Once my children turn 13 years old, they become responsible for their own laundry. I had been a little more generous with my youngest son (you know how that can be…the whole “it’s my baby” thing). But the past couple of weeks, I have finally been strong enough to let him deal with the repercussions of letting dirty clothes pile up on the floor. Not wanting to wear dirty clothes for school today, he threw in a load of wash last night. Thankfully I decided to watch how he was doing it. I had taught him how to use the … Continue reading →

In my quest to simplify most household tasks I’ve gotten the laundry room organized and running smoothly. My last post was about sorting laundry and doing a load every day to cut down on the enormity of the task. Today I have some tips and tricks I’ve collected that help make laundry even easier. *Instead of sorting and mating socks, trying to figure out if those white socks are your husbands or your teenagers, give each person a mess delicates laundry bag. Collect the bags once a week, zip closed, toss in the washer and dryer and then return to … Continue reading →

Some jobs are never ending and laundry is one of those. All we can do is make it as easy as possible so they can be done almost without thinking. I’ve finally gotten my laundry under control and organized to the point where it almost does itself. Not really, but it is faster and easier and seems like less work. I used to do laundry on Saturday, save up all our dirty clothes for a whole week and then waste a beautiful weekend day getting them all clean again. I finally stopped doing that and gained an entire Saturday. The … Continue reading →

It’s that time of the year, my Golden Retriever is shedding. Her great balls of fur look like tumbleweeds and detract from the “clean” look of my home. This is one of those times I am grateful for hardwood floors. I remember the days of carpeting and how difficult it could be to get fur out of the fibers. Needless to say I vacuumed on a daily basis, which is one of the keys to tackling dog hair. Of course, brushing your dog is also important. When I do this on a daily basis, it greatly reduces the amount of … Continue reading →

Although the fall season isn’t quite here, it is definitely on the horizon. Here in my neck of the woods the temps are supposed to start dropping this weekend, a sure sign of what is to come. One of the things I do in the fall is what I call “fall cleaning.” It is similar to “spring cleaning,” but with a little bit of a different emphasis. You see, I’m getting the house ready for the colder months in which the windows will be shut and we will be spending more time indoors. What I do during fall cleaning is … Continue reading →