In my quest to become tidier, I have begun to declutter my house by following the Konmari method. The title of Marie Kondo's book is,
"The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up". I am finding that there is a magical thing happening since I've begun to tidy up my house. I'm beginning to discover new things about my house that I never even knew existed before. It's as if once you start this tidying adventure, things begin to just snowball towards improving in a whole new lifestyle. When I cleaned out my closet, I even discovered that I had some brand new clothes that I had never removed the tags from, which I bought in Japan, over 10 years ago! Now I have all of the clothes I own in either my closet or my drawers and I know exactly what I have and where it's located. If I purchase something new, I remove something old.
I have found that Kondo's decluttering technique is excellent to get this tidying quest rolling. But, now I needed some additional tips on maintenance or daily cleaning techniques to keep the dirt and grime away. So, thanks to the
Our Farmhouse Life blog. Here is the link to the youtube video that I watched which inspired me to add some of the Flylady's cleaning routines to my daily life....
WHICH DECLUTTERING METHOD IS BETTER? | THE FLYLADY VS. KONMARI | MY THOUGHTS
So, I bought the book that she mentioned in the video,
"Sink Reflections" by Marla Cilley (a.k.a. The Fly Lady). I found that some of the Fly Lady's suggestions, I was already doing,
such as weekly meal planning as well as keeping a list of tasks that I want to accomplish in my home for the week.
I also always keep a shopping list which I use when I go to the store. But, I have found that her lists of suggestions on tasks to check off when cleaning certain zones has helped give me some focus on how to do more cleaning in certain areas of the home. She breaks up the home into five zones. Each zone is designated one week of the month to clean up. I printed off her checklists for the different zones from her website, put them in sheet protectors and check them off with a white board marker.
You can also use her flylady app on your phone. However, my phone has been acting up, lately, so I'm using the old-fashioned method for now.
I started in the fourth week of September. So, I started with the fourth zone, which was the bedroom. I must say that I can't remember the last time that I actually cleaned up all of the cobwebs in the corners and our ceiling fan. I also have been faithful in making our bed everyday since starting this new technique.
The Flylady is big on making sure that you have daily routines as well to keep your kitchen clean. She believes that as the kitchen goes, so goes the rest of your home. I have discovered that I am implementing her suggestion to keep your sink shined on a daily basis and it certainly does spark joy for me when I come out every morning to a shiny sink greeting me. I've also been better about clearing the clutter off of the kitchen table every night, especially since I decided to show off the natural wood of our dining room table.
The last time I blogged I told you that I was now keeping my dish pan under the sink with my cleaning supplies in it. An additional change I made this past week was to put my dish drying rack in my coat closet. While that doesn't seem like an ideal location, I honestly can't think of any other place where it would fit. So, it's working for now.
And I'm putting my dish drainer under the sink along with my cutting boards.
My cleaner kitchen has been inspiring me to really spruce things up. I decided to get rid of my old tea kettle which had handles with sticky, flaking plastic gunk on them and replace it with a lovely and colorful tea kettle that sparked joy. I also purchased some new kitchen towels, since I hadn't gotten any new ones since we got married 14 years ago.
Even my husband seems more inspired to clear off his stuff more and he even brought home some beautiful hydrangea flowers to spruce up our dining room. And I bought a fragrant fall candle, which I actually light to make the dining/kitchen area smell wonderful.
I think this tidying magic is spreading and making our home a tidier and more beautiful living space.
I liked the Flylady's idea that "Why shouldn't we treat ourselves as special guests in our own homes?" So, rather than doing marathon cleaning when outside guests come, it's better to learn daily habits to make our home a pleasant place for us to enjoy everyday. And then we won't have so much CHAOS (a.k.a. "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome").
So, since I've started on this Tidying Quest, here are the things that I'm working on: 1.) Decluttering according to the Komari method (I'm presently stuck on the Misc. category), 2.) Daily Morning and Evening Routines, 3.) Weekly Home Blessing Routines of different items to check off on each day of the Week...
and 4.) Zone cleaning that is deeper cleaning that you do in a particular zone for at least 15 minutes per day for one week straight.
I usually can complete my weekly task as well as 15 minutes of zone cleaning in the last half hour each morning before I have to leave for work. I make sure to always get up plenty early (c. 5:50 am to 6:30 am) so that I have time for daily routine first before I do my cleaning tasks. I have to leave by 8:40 am. I always utilize my hour lunch break to sometimes run errands, or come home to do some laundry or throw dinner in the crock pot or else just have some "me" time sometimes in the quiet lounge at our church down the road from my school where I work.
One of the most spectacular discoveries I made in this past week was that while I was thoroughly cleaning off the front of my sink cupboards I had this thought that perhaps there might be something behind what looked like a false drawer just under the sink.
So, I pulled on it and, Low and Behold! Here's what I discovered....
We've been living here for 5 years and I just now finally discovered this hidden compartment complete with sink stoppers and a wrench for the garbage disposal. I always wondered why they hadn't left these things for the sink! Ha!
So, I cleaned it up and found a home for my new dishwashing wand/sponge.
You just never know what magical surprises await you until you begin this magical adventure of tidying up! I think our kitty likes our cleaner home.
