Team Simplify
Boot Camp Week #2
Room By Room - Day By Day
Sunday-
Bathrooms!
Cleanse yourself peeps... Time to wash away the excess and enlighten the soul to a New You! Go to each bathroom in your home, open the cabinets and count your towels. Ask yourself this main question.
Do I wash laundry more than once per week? If so, then you do not “need” too many towels.
If you are one who conserves the water and energy and hangs the towel to dry to reuse for the next shower, then you NEED even less!
Consider what you have and maybe make all of one color be in different bathrooms, if you have newer ones, keep them and recycle them into cleaning rags, donate to your child if they have their own home or apartment or a friend who may be just setting up house. Local shelters could always use towels.
Move on and do the same to the wash cloths.
Check on your make up and purge ANYTHING over 6 months old (yes, even your favorite eye shadow!) Gives you a reason to buy yourself a new exciting color! Make up has expiration dates and mascara in particular can be a host for bacteria. Keep you face healthy and toss the old in the trash. Refill cotton balls, q-tips and other regulars. Update your first aid box and make a grocery list of what needs to be restocked. Open the shower curtain, if you have more than 2 bottles of shampoo and conditioner and 2 bottles of body wash.. put the others away. Clutter in the shower is just plain not relaxing! (only reason I say up to 2 bottles of each is IF you have someone who uses a different shampoo formula (sensitive, dry scalp, child) and body wash if you use male and female scents. Otherwise make that ONE bottle of each :)
MONDAY-
Living Room / Family Room
Do you Live with the Family in those rooms? Do you have too many TOYS in that space? Do you have broken or in need of repair furniture? Have you had a wish list for something NEW in there? if so, TODAY is the day to make a note of what to DONATE, what to put on the SHOPPING LIST and what to do in these areas for the SPRING UPDATE. Check your furniture seats. Do they need FOAM to make them sit better? How about wanting to keep the piece of furniture but it simply doesn't fit in with your décor any longer - custom fabrics and upholstery is what you need! if so, check with your local upholstery shop and get them redone (DMA Upholstery - 410-857-4371 is one located in Westminster MD who services quite a large area of business in MD, VA, and PA for more than 26 years.- for those of you in that area) A new look makes an incredible difference in something otherwise looked as "old or outdated" You have heard the saying "One mans junk is another mans treasure" Play the opportunity of recreating and making grandma's old glider into your hip new reading chair that is covered in chenille with a toss pillow that reads R-E-L-A-X ....Freshen up your TOSS PILLOWS with a new fabric and CHANGE the window treatment.
Go through the movie shelf or cabinet.. Decide if you would like to give away the children movies if they have been seen over and over or your kids are grown. Consider a streamline way of storage and use a binder for DVD's and house up to 320 in ONE book! Toss the jackets and walla, SPACE!
Do the children have game systems? Are they being used or were they replaced with a newer version of Xbox or ?? DONATE the one that was replaced OR ask yourself.. WHY did I BUY the NEW one if the other one was fine? Did you cave into peer pressure from TV commercials or Christmas buying and just spent to spent? TRY NOT to buy just to buy. What is NOT BROKEN, Do not FIX.. just enjoy what you have. Trust me, there is so much pressure with the latest and greatest. We get so much simply because of that!
TUESDAY-
Laundry Room
Laundry rooms are not meant to just toss the clothes on the floor. Get a SYSTEM. I will ALWAYS teach that an INVESTMENT in EACH AREA is worth is weight in gold! Spend up front for the best system you can afford and you will never regret it! So I strongly suggest a sorting of clothes system. Do you have room for a three bin wheel cart? if so GET ONE. DK, LIGHT and WHITES (or delicates) When the clothes come in from the members of the home TEACH them what color to toss them in. We all LIVE in the home. Not ONE member is the "one" who is responsible for cleaning. Teaching others (no matter what age) is being responsible and preparing them for the future. Men, children and working moms all have this responsibility.
If you have a cabinet for laundry soaps and agents, have ONE. (store you extras in a storage area - if you have such a place) Take note of what you need to replace.
Clean out the LINT TRAP EVERY TIME YOU USE YOUR DRYER! Preventing a fire is your number one reason as well as energy efficiency that is extremely important!!
CLEAN your WASHER. There is additives to actually reduce build up and possible odors to your wash tub. USE them to neutralize and freshen up.
WEDNESDAY-
Mud Room
Take note of how many shoes you have sitting in there. If more than ONE PAIR / PERSON- TOO MANY. As the family grows, our feet get bigger, right? so therefore depending on how many live in your home, that can lead to quite a large heap of shoes.
For Example: If you have heels and it is Sunday and you are in work shoes the rest of the week, take the heel back to the closet! This season due to weather, you ma have a bonus pair added to the ONE allowed (BOOTS) BUT have the boots on a handy drip mat neatly lined up for ease of access and in an orderly fashion. After the snow leaves us.. REMOVE them and have them nest back into the closets where they belong.
Coats- whether you use a hook method on the wall or hangers in a closet - ONE PER PERSON. This is NOT the storage of everyone's coats. Leave space for guests.
USE BASKETS or trays or pretty platters to be your catch all for keys, wallet, purse and mail when you come home from work. Keeping them handy as you walk out the door gives you a sense of calming due to the ease of locating them without a frantic... WHERE are they?
If you have any furniture or tables in the mudroom, check on the stability and styling of them.. Do they need to be repaired, replaced or updated? (spring cleaning is another segment to sign up for in this series) STAY TUNED
THURSDAY-
Toy boxes
PURGE any items the children have outgrown or simply is not being used. So many other children in your area are without the luxury of having more than one when most of us can gratefully say we are blessed with an abundance. Considering DONATING. if you keep what you have that is fine. Consider PACKING UP SOME and playing the ROTATING system and when we bring out our own toys a month later, it FEELS BRAND NEW and EXCITING! Kids are just little us. We all get happy with something new. If we see things around the home day in and day out, it looses its zest and we can be "bored" Pack it up, bring it out again and walla- we are like WOW.. this game IS fun!
FRIDAY-
KIDS ROOM
Kids rooms are Easy. We tend to find ANY ROOM other than our own.. the easiest because we are not "attached" to those things, like we are our on closet and sentimental items. So PURGE the season of clothes that no longer fits. Children grow at an alarming rate. Pretty safe to say.., children will NOT wear the same size this time next year.. so take note of the season coming up. Do they need more tops, bottoms jammies etc? Plan to watch the local paper or websites for upcoming consignment sales and mark your calendar. Retailers are also bringing out the pretty new spring attire. BUY A LITTLE. They grow fast and too many items just gets passed on and at your loss of $$ . So teach them LESS is MORE in life. A crammed closet is not a richer person. it can lead to TOO MANY choices. Who needs THAT stress?
Go through the socks and underwear, shoes and outerwear- drawer by drawer. check on the swim clothes and next season. Take note of what WILL be needed.
Too many blankets, stuffed animals, books and past hand made crafts? Take a look at what you have.. if already read books and moved on to the next level, donate. If you have stuffed animals just because they are cute, donate! if you have crafts just because they were made by your child and they love art and not "truly special" recycle (they will make you more! Consider having the child HOLD the craft, take a PHOTO of them and cherish the picture forever. You actually get a bonus of the child and their look and siz as well as the memory of that craft and not the dust on the craft. Have your children lay in the pile of stuffed animals and make a cute face of them enjoying their furry toys and snap a picture. Once again having one or two photos versus a pile of unused toys. Take your child to the shelter where they donate their toys and allow them to experience the great feeling it is to help someone less fortunate.
SATURDAY-
GUEST ROOM - (kids rooms if you have more than one)
Check the bedding for fresh linens
Buy new pillows
Add a handmade bag (or purchase one from Mel and Me & Co ( 717-495-7668) or consider signing up for a class to make your own - from the same company) inside holding the overnight travel essentials - small toothpaste, tooth brush, guest soap, shampoo and conditioner and lotion and pouf with make up remover cloth)
Have a pretty towel and wash cloth to the end of the bed
Make sure the furniture in the room has at least 2 EMPTY drawers
Neatly have some decorations on the furniture but not too much so they have some space to put some of their personal items. Add family photos and generations of items to give the welcomed sense of your sentimentality. May be design your guestroom as a beach theme so it feels like a home away from home and real retreat. Or maybe you are a super modern edge type and give your guest a feeling of spaciousness and a feeling that less is more.
Have an area in the closet for hanging of their clothing and empty hangers and floor space for the suitcases
Iron and ironing board for their ease in the closet
Paint your guestroom in a calming and relaxing color to allow them to drift away for their best sleep and get refreshed for the upcoming adventures you have planned for them.
GETTING INTO THE GROOVE?
Need MORE TIME?
Take as long as you need to do each room in the home BUT Boot Camp is not about postponing the event. DO what it takes to limit yourself to a clean sweep in only that day. If we make excuses and need more time to work in each room is only setting ourselves up to looking at the areas and holding on to excess. When you open the cabinet in the laundry room, PULL it all out. If more than one softener... Set it aside (IF YOU HAVE A STORAGE AREA) if you don't, you can have more than one in that cabinet) NO NEED to store your stock in two areas... if in the toy box and you have missing pieces to a puzzle that has long time NOT used, GET RID OF IT. Do not think twice. Keep up this pace in EVERY area and you will succeed. THE FIRST BAG IS THE HARDEST.. THE RESULTS will speak for themselves and the feeling of relief is worth more than you realize!
YOU are doing AWESOME. This is a HARD task to face.
A big pat on the back for all of you tackling this job. I am proud of you and support you on this journey. Not one step of this process is easy. Otherwise you would not be here t take this class. I have no client that is free of excess... Some more than others and ALL for various reasons.
I love hearing from you and appreciate you questions and comments. Sign up for all or some of my classes and make sure you report your "toots" of your success to me throughout the week!
TEAM WORK is TERRIFIC and ... THIS process is just the beginning.
May you feel a lift in your step and a smile in your heart this week and continue to keep those kitchen clean as you add more rooms to the list of ACCOMPLISHED!
Melany~