Survey Says...

So I've been reading Martha, and wandering around the house trying to decide where to start.
I noticed we have piles of laundry in various states every where. At the foot of my bed, in the sorting bins. A pile of my uniform coats and blacks on the guest bed waiting to be hung in that closet. Clean towels on the table in the hallway waiting to go in the disorganized linen closet. Coats and sweaters draped over the back of the chair by the door. And worst of all the two stacks of laundry basket and empty diaper boxes full of clean laundry that has not been folded or put away. Hubby refers to this hot mess as Mount Clothesmore. It usually builds up untill I can't find an item and have a hissy fit, then we spend a perfectly good Sunday afternoon sorting folding hanging and putting away, after we are done we look at one another and vow to not let it happen again.
Next to the bathroom (which needs a contractor, not just habit changing and elbow grease) the laundry room and doing laundry is the most irksome part of my home keeping existence, possibly even the root of the problem, so with the laundry I begin.
The laundry room is not fully a laundry room, its also part storage space, this area hides a lot of our pack rat tendencies.
Some how I have to separate the two areas, and getting access to the door and stairs that lead out the back yard would be awesome to make use of the clothesline that is now just wrapped around the tree.
The sorting bins I bought are great in theory, each section has room for one load of wash, run the load and put it away when it is full... we never seem to get to the put away part. There is no room to hang the things that need to be hung up out of the dryer, or for the drying rack for drip dry items.
This weekend I tackle the beast, laundry put away, clean out the junk, make use able space for tasks, and passable space to the 1/2 bath and back door.
Then begin to force myself and hubby to complete a load of wash from washing to putting away.

I used to agree with Phyllis Diller "Housekeeping can't kill you, but why take a chance?" It consisted of enough to maintain livable-ness. Cluttered and dusty, yes. Filthy and infested, no. I stayed in the maintain mode until I was hosting a shindig of some sort then I'd scrub away cussing like a pirate the whole time.
Now I have a not only a husband but a child, they have to share this space with me. I want the best for our family and my sanity. I think I need to learn to be a better homemaker.
It's daunting. Our home has been a rabble of stuff in odd places since Hubby and I moved in. We've collected more stuff over the years. When we moved in I noticed that the previous owners must have taken style and do it yourself tips from Trading Spaces. 3/4 inch thick oak hardwood floors had been painted and distressed, the narrow 1950's closet doorways had been cut out and semi refinished to allow better access, and the piece de resistance, a wooden window frame in the shower. We started out fast and hard to make key rooms live able in the few short weeks before our lease ran out. The living room and guest bedroom became storage. We lived in transit and remodel mode for a while. Is it done, no. Live able, yes. Oh and PS after we moved in I realized there was only one drawer in my kitchen.
I work full time. I feel guilt over anything that takes away from the little time I can focus solely on my sweet, willful babyhead. But I'm also in my thirties and feeling like I've fallen off "the path" somewhere along the line. Hopefully this project will bring my a little closer to the idea of wife and momma I have in my head.
So I've been brooding about this for a while, I already own a book with like 500 and some odd tips for speeding up your house keeping for moms, its OK. But I felt (like I always do) that I need an instruction manual. I'm like a type B that wants to be a type A. I spent the better part of an hour in Barnes & Noble's Home Reference section, I kept coming back to one "bible", Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home.
I've always had a love hate thing for Martha. Something about her irks the heck out of me, but yet every time I've given over to the "Martha-side" what ever the project it turns out beautifully.
Alas we are polar opposites. Can Martha and I meet in the middle? We'll see.
My only issue is where to start...