This is what I saw and this is exactly what I suddenly felt like doing.
Still I knew that I had other things that I should be doing. While Sofie has been sick, there has not been much time or energy to pick up around the house.
There in comes the 10 minute challenge. I figured that if I gave myself 10 minutes to do one room or area at the time I might not get it perfect, but it would at least make a difference. I also figured that it would take me about 90 minutes from start to finish if I got to work more or less uninterrupted.
To top it off I would document the whole challenge with before and after pictures.
Behold my living room. Not really that messy, just dusty and with a few things scattered in places where they do not belong.
After wards, nice and tidy. Well except for a couple of laptops laying around.
Not a speckle of dust left. All in 10 minutes.
Please do not look to hard at the baby toys on either side of the entertainment center. Sofie has more or less outgrown them and they will soon be gone.
My cat was still sleeping comfortably and though it looked absolutely tempting, I was now psyched about getting my house picked up before anyone could disturb me.
Next was the staircase. Since this is where we come in the front door it has become a catch all. The baby gate is used as a drying rack now for our rain gear and we are all too lazy to walk upstairs with our things when we are done with them. Got to work on that.
Cleaning up the stairs only took a quick 5 minutes. The other 5 minutes was used to help my neighbor find an extra paint tray as they are getting their nursery ready for their firstborn.
My cat had a least moved a little for the first time in over 20 minutes. Amazing how they can sleep these cats.
Trevor the cat is so lazy that when Sofie cuddles him (read pull him with both hands and shakes him violently) he will just wait till she is done and move two feet away. She follows and cuddles him again, he moves another two feet and on they go.
My kitchen was next in line for cleanup. It really was not so dirty or messy. I just enjoy having nothing on my counters.
Hubby washed the dishes the night before, which usually means that he did not put anything away or wipe off the counters.
There is always so many little things that just get thrown onto the counters and not put away too. Stuff that really does not belong there.
After 10 minutes the counters were clean, but the dishes from breakfast were not done. Still I felt pretty good about the work done in there.
Obviously I will sometime in the close future have to really clean my oven and my microwave, but that will be in the future.
If you notice under the table in the hole where the dishwasher is supposed to be, there still is no real flooring. I have decided that I will just keep it like it is since I will be getting a new dishwasher some time (I'm too lazy to fix it).
We got Trevor from a shelter almost two years ago. He and Isabel bonded right away which is why they would even consider giving him to us. He was considered too young at only 5 months of age for a family with a young child. They were also afraid that he would be lonely here, but him and our dog Laika are best buddies.
So good friends that he refuses to use his own bed, but will instead occupy Laikas bed making her sleep on the floor.
Our dining room is where everything happens. It is where we eat all our meals. It is an office, a craft room, a meeting room for the homeowners association, a playroom and a TV room.
I don't think I forgot to mention anything now.
At this point Sofie had woken up and we had to change a diaper and eat something before we could get started.
Look how nice and summery it became after I was done. Now if we could just keep it like this for more than a few hours...
Note I have been able to keep it up for three days. Hurray.
Trevor still had no plans for the day and were still sleeping, stretching and sleeping some more.
At this point it started to look somewhat tempting to do the same thing, but I kept going.
Sofie tried to help me, but I must say that she does have a long way to go before she will be able to do more than stack pacifiers in a cup.
Still she was being a very good girl, very supportive of my challenge, letting me carry on with my project of the day.
Although she did create some extra work for me by not picking up the toys she was playing with, and by going through two outfits and several bedsheets. I just can't wait till she is done teething.
The bag in front of her is my carry all. Whatever does not belong in a room goes into this bag while I am picking up. So instead of running to the right place with it I save time by putting it in here and just bringing it with me and putting it in the right place when I get to the right room.
My craft area. Do I need to say more.
For some reason (I don't know why) my husband thinks that this is where everything that he is supposed to put away, but doesn't know where goes, belong.
Hence the buildup. No wonder I can never find time to do crafts when I have to spend so much time putting away everything that he puts there.
Now I can get back to business again.
Trevor was finally waking up. Partly due to Sofie cuddling him. Still not moving much, but after a few more cuddles and hearing his dish being filled with food, he did finally leave his soft bed.
After some food and water, he ventured out and didn't come inside for a few hours. I guess he needed a break from the camera.
Finally I had to do the hallway upstairs. Yes you are right. Some of the things you see here was also in a couple of before pictures from downstairs. What can I say, at least it did get upstairs.
And as you know I do like to have my carry all bag and some of the things just didn't fit inside it.
The clothes in the hamper were clean and just needed to be put away.
Most of the stuff in the hallway upstairs were from downstairs and just had to be put away in our two bedrooms. It was an easy 5 minute cleanup.
I must say it felt good when I was done and it really is amazing how little time you actually need to finish a project like this.
It was so nice after wards to sit down with a coffee again and know that my house was all nice and I still had half the day left to do whatever I wanted to do.
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1 comment:
Wonderful! It's encouraging to see what can be accomplished in 10-minute increments! Love that. It seems like that way around here too - certain areas of the house get cluttered and I reach a point where it just has to be done and I do it. It does feel good. Somehow that cup of coffee afterward tastes even better, doesn't it? Love the look of your blog Marianne. :)
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