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...