"Fresh and Simple" with Lissa

One of my resolutions for the New Year is to get more organized, declutter...stay on top of things a little better.  I have a dream to conquer one room a week.  But I'm thinking that may be too lofty.  Maybe it should be a closet or a drawer etc...  A whole room is sooo overwhelming.  My good friend Lissa is a cleaning and organizing master.  I am in awe of her mad skills, so I thought who better to inspire and motivate than her.  Today she has the floor.  Let's welcome her with open arms:)

  

Hi Everybody! I feel completely blessed today because Becky asked me to share my passion for home keeping and organization with you. Many of you know me through Becky but for those of you that don't I met Becky through blogging and feel so completely blessed to call her one of my BESTEST (as my girl's would say) friends. Her heart runs deeper than the grand canyon (but you already know this if you read her blog).

There is nothing on earth I enjoy more than being a stay at home mom/ wife. I adore blessing my family by preparing healthy meals, keeping a tidy home, and living a simple lifestyle. While I keep my kitchen and living room quite tidy it doesn't mean that I always expect perfection. I know that people other than me live here and that they want to be comfortable too.

Remember how Martha coined the phrase "it's a good thing?" I try to stick with "it's good enough." What's good enough for me may be different than what's good enough for you. We're not aiming for perfection here. We just want to bless our families. I know that it blesses my husband to return home from a stressful day at work to a picked up house and delicious smells coming from the kitchen. Right now we are on board with Becky's clean eating program so usually that means I get the grill started for him and have sweet potatoes or rice cooking.

Every night before we go to bed I have cleaned the kitchen, straightened the living room, and made sure that the clutter around the house has been put away. I have white cabinets throughout the house so I clean spots as I see them with a quick rub down. All year long I keep my eye out for pretty organization items. My favorites are wire baskets and galvanized bins/ toolboxes.


I have to clean with products that smell good. You will not find any pine sol or simple green under my sink. I prefer Meyer's products or ones from William's Sonoma. Part of my enjoyment of cleaning is how good the house smells when I'm done. Lately I'm obsessed with thinking about spring vacation. It makes me want my house to smell like I've just peeled a grapefruit at the beach. I know that Jo Malone started the whole fragrance combining thing but I got to thinking that you could just as easily light a grapefruit candle in the kitchen and a fleur de sel candle from Williams-Sonoma in the living room and combine those fragrances in the same way.

I will finish with my top 5 make it shine tricks.

1. spray some glass cleaner on a rag and shine all of your chrome; faucets, knobs, toaster, etc.

2. then do a quick wipe down of the toilets to make sure they're clean enough for company

3. pick up the clutter once in the morning and once in the evening before it adds up

4. do a load of laundry a day. It takes minutes to fold 1 load but once you've done 5 the pile can feel overwhelming.

5. vacuum the high traffic areas about every other day with a thorough vacuum about once a week.

**okay I have a 6th one

6. keep the clutter at a minimum. Try to buy less and therefore have less to maintain.

Do these 6 things and I think you'll find your tidying less daunting~ especially if you're using a product that smells delicious. Then all you need to do is add some fresh flowers or a bowl of fruit and voila~ "it's good enough!" (doesn't quite have the same feeling as Martha's phrase does it?" ha!

Thanks Lissa...that was awesome.  Go check out her beautiful blog Humble Pie. 

Have a blessed day.