Journey To Me

Cleaning Old Mini Blinds

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to clean old mini blinds? 

Should I take them down?  Just dust while they are hanging there?

They are fairly yellowed and the strings are somewhat stained (I have no idea how they got stained).  I thought maybe submerging them in a large bathtub filled with soapy water and bleach would help.  My fear is that the bleach will start to deteriorate the strings like it deteriorates clothing. 

I have not cleaned them since I moved into my house (I had a professional clean the entire house BEFORE I moved in, so they have been cleaned before) and it has been three years now.  The dirt and stains are really starting to bother me!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Basement Organization Project

I have had a whole wall of shelves installed in my basement for storage purposes.  We do not have any closets in our old farmhouse, so storage has always been an issue for us.

I have had the shelves up for over two months now.  There are items on the shelves.  The problem is that the items are not organized in a way that makes it easy for me to find items. 

Does anyone have any suggestions or examples of a project like this that they have done?

Housework

Every keeper at home (and working woman) knows that staying on top of the housework and other duties at home is one of the best ways you can be able to ENJOY your home.  I love coming home to a relatively clean house and knowing I am not going to have to spend hours upon hours doing laundry and cleaning the house.  So here are a few tips I have put into practice to help me stay on top of things (while still being away from home for almost 12 hours a day while working at my job).

Have a Plan.  Know what absolutely needs to be done everyday and just do it.  The house doesn't have to be spotless, but in my house, the dishes need to be done, the countertops need to be clean and the bed needs to be made.  These are my basic everyday chores I have deemed a necessity.  If I have time to do other things, GREAT!  If I do not, my world will not implode! 

Keep things simple.  I keep a Home Management folder and use it daily!  It has lists of things that need to be done weekly, monthly, semi-annually and annually.  When I get a task done, I cross it off.  This way I will not spend time doing things twice when I only need to do them once.  I am also working on getting my Husband to use this.  Should he decide to clean the bathroom, he can cross it off and I will know that I do not need to do this later in the week!

Laundry.  The neverending battle.  I only have my Husband and myself to worry about at this season in my life and still have a hard time finding the time to get all the laundry done.  My Husband is GREAT about helping out in this area, but all too often we forget a load in the washing machiene for too long and they need to be washed again to get rid of the mildew smell...  So my new way to help combat this is that I change over a load every morning before going to work.  I have made it part of my morning schedule that while I am in the basement feeding the cat, I check to see if there is a load of laundry that needs to be folded, put away, or put into the dryer.  The five minutes it takes me to change the load always makes me feel like I am getting a jump start on the days activities! 

I am sure that many women have their housekeeping routine down to a science, but I am excited to start finding ways to help make my life easier, so that I can enjoy life with my family instead of constantly trying to clean... :-)