Tidy Brown Wren, bringing order to your nest

Spring cleaning is one of those chores that has fallen out of favor. Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers would practically tear their houses apart and put them back together every spring. With central heat and air conditioning and powerful vacuum cleaners, we no longer need to disrupt our lives with that heavy duty chore. Having said that, there is a need to take care of some cleaning chores that never seem to get done. Spring is a good time to do it. Today, we'll talk about windows and upholstered furniture. Window Spring Cleaning: 1. Take down all window treatments. 2. Curtains can be washed, dry-cleaned, tumbled in the dryer on "air", or simply vacuumed. Be sure to check the fabric care label. If you have very large, heavy drapes it might be better to leave them hanging and vacuum them before steaming them with a hand steamer to freshen them. 3. Shades can be left in place, as well, if they are too cumbersome to remove. Vacuum them and then wipe w...

It's that time of year when we need to go through our closets and purge out the old clothes and prepare for the new ones. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to try and clean out your closets. I'm going to take you through the process, step by step. 1. De-clutter your bedroom. Make your bed (it will be a work surface), and clear the floor of all items that have nothing to do with your clothes. You don't want to try to organize on top of clutter. 2. Take out each item of clothing and place it in a pile according to the type of garment it is. Example: shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, jackets 3. Don't sort shoes or accessories yet-that will come later. 4. Go through one pile of clothes at a time. Start with the smallest pile first. Take away any clothes that are too small, too big, too ugly, too old, wrong color, wrong style, wrong decade. It helps to have an honest friend with you to help you make these decisions. If you're not sure about the item, try it o...

Do you ever feel like you are falling behind in the maintenance of your home and car. It's those little things that keep getting pushed aside. Before you know it things are looking a little run down or even becoming a safety hazard. We've developed a way to keep track of those little maintenance jobs. 1. Make a spread sheet on your computer (or even use paper and pencil). 2. Down the side, list all of the areas you can think of that need occasional care. (examples will be given at the end of the post) 3. Across the top, list the months of the year 4. If you want to remind yourself when to do the jobs, highlight each month the job needs to be done. Also, write it in your planner or calendar on the correct month. 5. When you accomplish a task, check it off in the appropriate box. If you have a bad memory, like me, you will appreciate this chart. With one glance, you can see what you have done and what still needs to be done (or delegated :)) ...

A young housewife and new mother recently asked me for a list of things to do each day to help her stay on top of her household chores. Here is what I gave her. Daily: -wipe up kitchen, plan dinner -make beds -wipe up bathrooms -sweep kitchen floor -put away items before bed Monday: -laundry, grocery shopping Tuesday: -iron clothes, water plants Wednesday: -dust whole house Thursday: -vacuum whole house Friday: -mop floors, change linens Saturday: -clean glass surfaces, clean bathrooms Sunday: -attend church, rest, plan menu and grocery list for next week Each week, pick one of these items to accomplish. -wipe down fridge (inside and out) -clean oven -mend clothing -vacuum and dust behind furniture -change filter for heater/air conditioner -wipe walls and door trim Every home will have different chores that need to be done. The point is to break up the work into smaller chunks and do a little every day. Try it!

What do you do with those pictures you've ripped out of magazines? What about the newspaper articles, travel brochures, and "someday, I'll. . . " ideas? It's time to get those papers organized. Let's get started. 1. Collect all of the papers. Check on your desk, bedside table, car, purse, kitchen counter. Gather them together in one pile. 2. Go through them, one by one, and sort by topic. Any papers that are obsolete need to go directly into the trashcan. 3. Decide what to name your topics. Examples are: decorating wish list, weekend get-aways, party ideas, inspiring quotes and stories, organizing ideas, new recipes to try. 4. Label separate files for each topic. Place the papers in the labeled files. 5. Place files in file drawer or file box. 6. Glance through the files every once in a while and weed out outdated papers. If this seems too detailed for you, at least keep all of your papers in a single drawer so you can look for them in one pla...

Now that Christmas is over and the decorations are put away (right?),you're left with the paperwork that came with your Christmas gifts. You know, warranties, directions, receipts, user manuals, etc.. They are probably piled on your desk or kitchen counter. An easy way to deal with them is to make a warranty binder. Just a few items and in less than an hour, you'll have it all organized. 1. Purchase a binder from the store and some clear page protectors or pocket dividers. An easy way to determine how large your binder should be is to pile all of your papers into a stack, measure the stack, and that should give you an idea of how large a binder you should get. My personal binder is a 3" size. 2. Divide all of your papers into catagories. Examples can be: electronics, appliances, toys, office equipment, etc.. There is no right or wrong way to catagorize. It is totally up to you. 3. Label the different page protectors or pocket dividers with your catagories. 4. ...

Do you find that the entrance to your home is always a mess. Do you have a hard time keeping track of keys, purse, shoes, etc.? Here are a few ideas to keep you on the right track. 1. Let's start with your feet. Shoes carry in more germs and dirt than you would want to know about. Keeping shoes at the door helps to keep your floors clean (less housework) and you'll always know where your shoes are. 2. You MUST have a specific place for all of your belongings. Your keys should be returned to the same place every time you walk through the door. The same goes for your purse, sunglasses, phone, gloves, coat, and anything else you have with you. 3. Have a spot (shelf, basket, bench) where you can put things that need to exit the house with you. Dry-cleaning, library books, mail, and so on. This tip alone will save you a lot of frustration and maybe even some money. 4. Develop a system for handling mail as it comes in the house. First, open all mail. Throw away junk m...