The Blinds in the Dining Room

D says to avoid having in your home time-consuming articles to clean, such as elaborate chandeliers and Venetian blinds unless you like them so well you feel the time spent keeping them up is justified.

I didn't have a choice in blinds since these are what came with the house...I could change them out I guess, but that would require shopping and you all know how I feel about shopping.

BEFORE...

I think we can agree that once you've seen one of my blinds, you've seen them all.

I think we're familiar with the tools and procedure by now.

AFTER...



Those little ones below are my favorites...so light weight compared to all the rest and easy to transport to and from the tub.

I have big news!
Tonight I have my first DIRTy Little Secrets speaking engagement!
I'll be teaching a little class on motivation for cleaning and organizing.
Who would have thought, just 4 months ago that I could teach a class like this?
It just goes to show, anything's possible.


I thought it would be a good idea to take these...

...I'll pass them around to give everyone the extra energy they may need to get through it.

The Blinds in the Girls Room

BEFORE...

Lots of little fingerprints wading through the dust.

I still remember the last time I cleaned these blinds...it was the summer of 2008.

I was 7 months pregnant and in the nesting phase (unfortunately it only lasted a couple of days).

I cleaned every slat individually with these...

Went through an entire pack and then some.

It took FOREVER.

Giving them a bath is much faster and easier.

THE TOOLS

And a few more TOOLS
I love candy corns...so happy they make them for Easter :)


THE PROCEDURE
I did one set of blinds at a time.
Gave them a bubble bath and let them soak.
While they were soaking I washed the windows.
Then gave the blinds a quick scrub down.
And finished with a good rinse.


While removing these I saw that one had broken and even though when it was in position you couldn't tell it was broke, I pulled out the glue gun and fixed it right there on the spot (I know, so unlike me).

AFTER...

Not what you were expecting is it!

Don't worry, I am not an almoster!

I was confronted with another unfinished project I had forgot about and I can't put the blinds back up 'til it's done...so tune in tomorrow for that project and the final AFTER!

It's time we discuss FACET #5

MEET THE MINUTE

D says the poet, Robert Frost, was asked, soon after his eightieth birthday, how he managed to crowd so many interesting, important things into an unusually vital lifetime. he said, "Learn how to do the things you HAVE to do more quickly and effortlessly--save minutes--and you will gain an extra hour or more every day to do the things you really WANT to do--to see friends, listen to music, or look at pictures...help others in your community, civic, church, and religious activity...make the projects for which you're always saving plans...read, or perhaps even write a little poetry."

It had never crossed my mind that I could save minutes for writing poetry.

Maybe I'll write the husband a poem since he wrote me a Rap song when we were in High School. It went something like this...

My name is Kevin and I'm here to say

I love this girl in a major way

Her name is Becky she is so fine

I've known that now for quite some time

Bone-che-bone-bone-bone-che

I can't remember the rest...but you get the idea.

You didn't know the husband was so multi-faceted did you.

He's amazing, he really does deserve a poem from the wife, it's the least I could do.

The Top Half of the Laundry Room

(Minus the Shelves in the laundry room, they look sa nice!)

I hope everyone had a great weekend and holiday! As much as we like to play, it is good for our family to get back on a schedule! I won the BMEA (Best Mom Ever Award) twice on Saturday...once for ordering 19 Junie B Jones books on Ebay for my 8 year old (A bargain at only $1.37 a piece and that was with shipping!--I haven't had the heart to tell her she's going to have to earn every one by practicing her violin without complaining) and again for letting the 8 and 5 year old girls make Zeke's very own famous Chocolate Chip Cookies!! (You know, Zeke from High School Musical). They were actually pretty good and my girls were so proud! Here's the recipe for you mom's with HSM fans--so you can get the BMEA too!

Now, on to todays project!

BEFORE...

No, I was not up at 4:40am, apparently the clock needed new batteries...oh the dust, it's disgusting isn't it.





Little tip...if you always close your blinds the same direction the dust and dirt will stay on the outside and you won't have to see it...again, I'm forced to break one of my own housekeeping rules--out of sight out of mind!





Wouldn't Nellie be disappointed if she could see these blinds now?




THE TOOLS


See that little black wand tool for my vacuum? I found that while I was cleaning out the laundry room shelves...I'd been looking for that for a while.



THE PROCEDURE


I started by giving the blinds a bath...and then a shower...thanks Mom for this tip. I used to clean the blinds one slat at a time, it took forever which is why I rarely cleaned them.



Drying the blinds...once they dripped dry I put them over a vent to finish the job. Then I washed the window, wiped down all the walls in the room, cleaned the clock, replaced the battery, and finally cleaned the horrid fish bowl light fixture that I'm pretty sure hasn't been cleaned since we put in the twirly bulb 4 years ago.


AFTER...




Ahhh...a clean clock with the right time!






I have to say, I got a little carried away and cleaned the other 2 fish bowl lights in the hallway (these are on the list to be replaced with updated can lights, I'll get to it, eventually). I've been putting off cleaning these lights for years and surprisingly they only took me 2 minutes per light. Oh my, I see 3 other projects in this picture I need to get to.

Check out those clean and shiny blinds below!

D says about FACET #1 that Rhea Gardner (I don't know who she is but she seems to know what she's talking about) lists 3 typical ATTITUDES toward housework and asks us all to identify ourselves with one of them...

1. "Work is a duty so important that its accomplishment must be given priority over whatever else needs attention"

2. "Work is a necessary evil so I'll get it over as quickly as possible."

3. "Work is a creative experience. Not every job is equally creative, but most are stimulating and rewarding. I will do my best to make every piece of work I do a challenge and a pleasant experience by thinking of the results rather than the process."

I'm pretty sure I fall into the #2 category so today I'm going to work on my ATTITUDE and repeat over and over in my head "work is a creative experience...work is a creative experience...work is a creative experience..."

I may have been misleading when I called this a "Laundry Room" it's actually more of a very small "Laundry Space"...I was a little disappointed with my final "after" picture because it's hard to tell how clean it is so you'll just have to take my word for it! And yes, that is my head in the picture...it was the best one I took and didn't want to take the time to crop it out.

Until tomorrow my friends..."Work is a creative experience...work is a creative experience...work is a creative experience!"