Express Happy House Challenge Plus Week 4

Can you believe we are already at week 4? It might not sound like a lot, but out of only 5 weeks of tasks, we are almost at the end. That being said, take a look around. How are things looking in your house? Are you feeling like you are enjoying a cleaner, tidier home? I hope the answer is yes! As always, let's first take a look at my results.

Make the Bed: 7/7
Empty the Sink: 7/7
Sweep the Kitchen Floor: 6/7
Clear the Clutter: 6/7
Sort the Mail: 7/7 (I'm back to doing 7 instead of 6. I get the newspaper on Sunday so I have to sort the coupons and circulars)
Spray the Shower: 7/7

While our game night party had me too pooped to clear the clutter, it surprisingly didn't knock me down on emptying the sink. That is one habit I just will not allow myself to break. It's better than smoking, right?

Challenge PLUS
Week 3: Bathrooms

• Deep clean shower/bath
• Deep clean floor and baseboards
• Clean all mirrors and glass
• Clean light fixtures I just realized I forgot the guest bathroom fixture, I'll get that this week!
  
• Scrub toilets including the base
• Clean cupboard interiors/exteriors- discard unnecessary items
• Clean counters and all items on counters

Between hosting on Saturday and tackling 3 bathrooms, I'm spent! And I hate to disappoint you all, but there are no before photos. Just know these are bathrooms, and so they were dirty :)







How did you do this week? Link up and/or tell me in the comments! I would love to see a bunch of 7/7s but the effort is what's key! So if you aren't boasting a perfect score, don't worry about it. You'll get there!

Now, time for new tasks this week. I'm a list freak. Love em. I think the reward of crossing off a to do just makes chores that much more fun.

Write It Down!

Tailor this one to suit YOUR needs. And it could change daily. But either in the evening, or first thing in the morning- give yourself a short to do list. What is the top one, two or three things you need to accomplish that day? Put it on paper, I promise you will feel accountable! By the way...have you liked My Happy House on Facebook yet? Now would be a great time to do it :)

Organize Your Outerwear!

It's simple. Have a home for your coat, purse, diaper bag, shoes, etc. Anything you take with you out of the house should have a place inside the house. This is an especially important task if you have little ones. Make sure they have a place for their things and you won't be tripping over them when they are home! So simple as that- put away your outerwear! Most people leave the house on a daily basis, so that's why this is a daily task. If you don't, it's a freebie and you can use that time to work extra hard on another task!

Challenge PLUS
Week 4: Bedrooms (Start from the top and work your way down)

• Clean all light fixtures/fans
• Strip all bedding and clean
• Dust all furniture
• Organize closets (Give yourself a donation goal and get rid of some unused items!)
• Organize drawers
• Clean mirrors and windows
• Vacuum and/or clean floors

So two quick housekeeping items before we're done. First let's recap all our daily tasks and our plus items.

Week 1: Make the Bed & Empty the Sink+ The Kitchen!
Week 2: Sweep the Kitchen Floor & Clear the Clutter +The Dining Spaces!
Week 3: Sort the Mail & Spray Your Shower + The Bathrooms!
Week 4: Write It Down & Organize Your Outerwear!

But now it's your turn! Share your blog post link below with your results and your before and after photos! Don't have a blog? Tell us your results in the comments and if you have before and after photos, post them to the My Happy House Facebook Page! Can't wait to see how you all did.

Like this blog? One click is all it takes to vote!

Warning: I'm about to Vlog! Folding Towels Tutorial

By request, I am showing you how I fold my towels. I learned from the greatest laundry folder ever, my Mom. She rocks....at folding socks. And anything else that requires folding. Anyway, brace yourselves. (Please note: the quality of this video is anything but stellar, but it worked for the amount of time I had. I do apologize in advance.)



So...yeah, my video debut in the blogging world. Not 100% sure how I feel about that. But I'll do just about anything for my readers! You better appreciate this Lindsay! And if you have a request for any other house tutorials, just ask! Your wish just might be granted :)

Happy House Express Challenge: Week 5

Guess what gang? It's the 5th and final week of this Express Challenge! But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Let's talk about last week. I really rocked it, even amongst our kitchen overhaul. I'm feeling like this might the way to do the challenge. Quick and dirty clean! This girl was 7/7 on everything again!

Alright, NOW let's look at our last weeks' tasks! You're going to like this, I know it!

Clean the Counters!

This is my cheater task...I'm pulling a two for one....

Yep, that's the kitchen AND the bathroom. But it's such a quick task, that we can combine them. You use them every day, they see a lot of action. The counters in the kitchen and bathroom take a toll, so give them some love and wipe em down! It can also be a motivator to keep your counters cleared! Less clutter = Happier Counters. I swear! But brace yourself for our second task of the week, it's a doozy.

Relax & Enjoy Your Clean House!

Sounds tough huh? I think you can handle it though. What's the point of working hard to have a clean house if you can't sit back an enjoy it. So make sure to take a minute each day to appreciate all your hard work!


Let's recap:
Week 1: Make the Bed & Empty the Sink!
Week 2: Sweep the Kitchen Floor & Clear the Clutter!
Week 3: Sort the Mail & Spray Your Shower!
Week 4: Write It Down & Organize Your Outerwear!
Week 5: Clean the Counters & Relax & Enjoy Your Clean House!

So don't forget to either link up your own Express Challenge blog post or simply give us your results in the comments! I love seeing how everyone does, perfect scores or not!

Real quick, let's give a shout out to last week's participants!
Eve @The Nerdy Nest
Etta
Nancy

Way to go rockstars! Next week we'll do one final check in, I can't wait to see how we wrap this challenge up! And if I can just ask for one little favor before you go, just give me one click to vote. I'm now #23 on Picket Fence Blogs and I'd love to keep climbing! It honestly just takes one click- that's it! Thanks for all the votes so far, my readers rock!

Happy House Express Challenge: Week 3

We're trucking right along to week 3 of the challenge. That means we're two weeks down, 3 to go on our way to a Happy House! Is your home feeling cleaner? Tidier? A little more organized? I know mine is. I get started on the right foot every morning by making the bed and I come downstairs to a clean sink, floor and tidy family room. It makes me smile from ear to ear! And speaking of all those tasks, let's see how this past week ended up for me.

Make the Bed: 7/7
Empty the Sink: 7/7
Sweep the Kitchen Floor: 7/7
Clear the Clutter: 7/7

Ok, sure, I could have just said I hit all my tasks 7/7, but that was more fun. Look at all those 7s! Maybe I'm lucky this week, I should play the lottery. Anyway, how did YOU do? We've got a lot of people participating so I can't wait to see everyone's results! No worries if you are new to the challenge, just check out week 1 and week 2 and you'll be all caught up!

Since we're all pros at those 4 tasks, it's time to add two more. I gotta tell you, I'm loving this two at a time business! Gets me all jazzed up!

Sort the Mail!

We all get it 6 days a week. Too often it just ends up in a pile on the kitchen counter. No more! No more unorganized piles of mail! If you need some tips on how to organize your mail, check out this previous post....although I need to update it, so keep an eye out for the new version coming soon! Just remember that this is about organizing the mail. It doesn't mean all the bills are paid that day or everything is filed, but things are in their place. It should either be in a "to do" area, "to file" area, the recycling bin or garbage. Once you've done that step, you can easily go back to it and do what needs to be done when you have the time that week!

Spray Your Shower!

Choose your favorite daily shower cleaner and get to spraying! I'm currently using the Method Daily Shower Cleaner. It smells heavenly! Just get in the habit of spraying it down after you shower, and this task is a no brainer. You do shower every day, right? Eh, if not, make your significant other do it! :) There are also lots of home solutions you can try as well. Spray shower doors with full-strength white distilled vinegar after you’ve squeegeed the glass, or before you step in and turn on the water. It will help release the hard water deposits so they don’t remain on the glass.

So real quick, let's recap all our tasks we're doing this week:

Week 1: Make the Bed & Empty the Sink!
Week 2: Sweep the Kitchen Floor & Clear the Clutter!
Week 3: Sort the Mail & Spray Your Shower!

Lastly, before I go, one last reminder to let me know in the comments how YOU did this week. We got very close to our goal of getting 20 people to participate last week. So I'll overlook us being a touch short if we can get to 20 this week. If we can manage that, there will be a giveaway at the end of the challenge! Take it one step further and blog about your week doing the Express Happy House Challenge! Steal the button on the side of the blog, make your post and then come back and share it in the InLinkz!

Tackle It Tuesday

It's Tuesday. You didn't forget, did you? I feel rather accomplished today, and one of the reasons is because I took advantage of Cam's cat nap this evening and cleaned our bathroom. I try to give it a (very) quick wipe down daily so it doesn't get too dirty, but I find it still needs a good cleaning once a week. I love getting ready in a clean bathroom. Something about getting clean in something that is clean. Double clean. Clean2. You get the point.

Now off you go! Time to tackle something. You've got lots of time left in the day. Then come back and tell me what you tackled! Maybe a load of laundry? Unload the dishwasher? Clean out a cupboard? The options are endless! :)

OH! But before you go, take note of the sidebar. That's right folks. I'm trying out Ol Facebook for My Happy House. I thought it might help with check ins, reminders and little updates. Go on...like it. You know you want to! My Happy House on Facebook.

Product Review: Method Daily Shower Spray

I've talked before about the importance of a daily shower spray. If you've never used one before, trust me, you should. I finally made the switch to the Method Daily Shower Spray and am thoroughly pleased!

Product Review:
1. The scent is quite nice- sort of baby powder like
2. It is non-toxic, so I feel ok spraying it while I'm still in the shower with no harm to my cooking baby
3. It works just as good as any other spray I've used, if not better
4. It is a touch more expensive than the other sprays I've used, but I find the benefits to outweigh this small negative

Things to note:
1. Starting with a clean shower is rather key. The shower sprays are really meant to keep up on a clean shower, not actually clean the shower
2. However, this spray specifically says that if you don't start with a clean shower, just expect 3-4 weeks for it to actually clean it. I thought that was pretty impressive.
3. If you aren't faithful with it, it doesn't take long for the grime to come back. I find I can miss a day here and there, but more than a couple days and you lose a lot of the progress.

My Weekend (a few days late)Cleaning Round Up

I'm finding the major cleaning is only getting done on the weekends around the Happy House homestead. Our weeknights have been consumed with other tasks, some good, some not so good. While I am still trying to accomplish small tasks throughout the week, I'm trying to continue to hold myself accountable on the weekends.

Completed Week Tasks:

• Basic tasks like keeping the kitchen tidy, and clearing clutter
• Clean out fridge
• Empty, organize and clean pantry cupboard- this one felt sooo good!

For the big cleaning, two weekends ago, as I posted, I really dug into the living and dining rooms. Now all they need is a light weekly dusting and floor sweeping and they still look great! This weekend, I knew I wanted to get down and dirty with my family room and our half bath. While the half bath gets a regular cleaning, it needed a good scrubbing. Both rooms got the works!

Family Room:

• All items and furniture dusted
• Rug and couch vacuumed
• Floor Swept
• Straightened and decluttered
• Windows Washed

Bathroom:

• All fixtures scrubbed!
• All items cleaned and disinfected
• Floor cleaned

Are you a weekday cleaner or a weekend cleaner? If you are a weekend cleaner, what small tasks do you try to get done during the week? If you are a weekday cleaner, how do you spend your weekends? All fun...or do you still mix some housework in there?

P.S. Stay tuned as I am going to start an actual house tour soon. First room on the list will be the family room. I'll work my way around the first floor and then move upstairs...hopefully by then the nursery will be ready for it's big debut. Luckily, I have plenty of time before that will happen though as it's current state is nothing to brag about right now :)

New Year Challenge: Week Three!

Phew. Really glad to see this week end. Two and a half baths are NOT fun to clean. However, the result makes it completely worth all the hard work! Don't you agree? I'm sure you do, because I know you kept right up with me and finished making your bathroom(s) sparkle! (Haven't started the challenge yet? That's ok, start here at the beginning and then go here for week one check in) We'll keep with the theme from last week, so let me show you how I did.

(This applies to all bathrooms)

• Showers emptied, scrubbed, products organized and replaced? Check!
• Vanities and Drawers emptied, washed (inside and out), products organized and replaced? Check!
• Toilet scrubbed scrubbed scrubbed? Check!
• Floors washed? Check (I deep scrubbed the heck out of those bad boys!)
  

Other Accomplishments (i.e. things I should have told you to do....but forgot):

• Toilet brushes cleaned
• Garbage cans cleaned inside and out
• Rugs laundered
• All items refilled- back stock put away

Like I said up there, phew. Oh and I know ya'll are visual folks, so let me show you how they look!

Half Bath:

Guest Bath:

Master Bath:
And remember that I told you we needed to keep up on our bedrooms as well? Well, I made sure that I did. Just for all of you :) And to prove it, I snapped some very candid shots today. No prepping for these, which means you get to see my bed after being nestled by one naughty puppy while I was busy cleaning. The bedrooms were dusted, mirrors cleaned and floors vacuumed once this week. Oh, and I didn't take pics of my drawers, but I promise, they are all still completely organized.

Don't forget to post YOUR results in the comments!!! Free pats on the back if you do!

Ok, done with that. Now moving on, because this is the exciting part right? And here is me being completely honest with you, because I like being honest. I chose our next room because mine is disgusting me as I type. It's quite possibly the most frequently used room in our house, and it needs some TLC. Stat.

KITCHEN!

Cupboards

• Interiors organized* (if they aren't already)
• Exteriors cleaned with all purpose cleaner

Counters

• All items removed and cleaned
• Counters washed- don't forget the edges!
• All items replaced- but for simplicities sake, try to not put back at least one item- keep the counters as decluttered as possible!

Appliances

• Exteriors scrubbed
• Fridge- remove food items, discard expired items, wash shelves and drawers, replace food in organized manner

Floors

• Sweep
• Mop (Or in my case Hoover FloorMate them)
• Afterward- sweep daily

Misc.

• Clean Kitchen Table
• Clean Garbage- inside and out

*You might be thinking- why aren't we cleaning out the interiors as well? I've found that to be an extremely time consuming project! So, rather than do them all at once, I just do one a month or so. Start this month by picking one to empty out, clean the interior and replace the items.

This just might win for longest post ever. Sheesh, am I almost done yet???

And just like last week, don't forget our ultimate goal. Deep clean today, maintain tomorrow and beyond. So on top of cleaning your kitchen, don't forget your weekly chores of dusting and vacuuming the bedroom and maintaining your closet. And now, adding this week, wipe down your bathroom counters, toilets, mirrors, daily spray the shower and sweep the floor.

Next week we'll check in to see how you did on the kitchen as well as maintaining the bathroom and bedroom. Don't forget to stop back in and let us know how it's going! I hope you are sticking with it! And just in case you are thinking of quitting, I'm calling you all out here with your special "pat on the back." I hope I can put your name up here again next week!

Way to GO!

mamaK
Amy
Fishandtam
Mrs.A
Mrs.Wright
multiplepowers
Mary
rap and tric

Now off you go! Clean! Conquer the dirty!

New Year Challenge: Week Two

One week down. So, how was it? Did you make it through? Or are you stuck under a never ending pile of clothes that have escaped your closet? I'll be honest. This wasn't easy for me since I was gone half the week, but I still managed to get it done. Did you wake up each morning with a sense of refreshment while your eyes bounced around your super clean and organized room? I know mine did!

The check in for this week will go as follows, indicate which pieces of the rooms you finished. And don't be discouraged if you couldn't get it all done! Just add it to your chores this week.

For example, here is my list:

Closets emptied, cleaned and organized: Check!

Bedding removed, cleaned and replaced: Check!

Furniture & Fixtures dusted: Check!

Windows cleaned: Check!

Floors vacuumed or cleaned: Check!

Other Accomplishments:

• Boxed up two boxes for donations
• Reorganized my Shoes Under organization system and took new pictures for my closet

Fresh, clean bedding:

Newly organized closet:

Socks are organized by color:

Reply in the comments with your results!

I'm sure you are just waiting on the edge of your seat wanting to know what we are going after this week, right? It's my favorite (said with the biggest eye roll this side of the Mississip).

BATHROOMS!

Shower/Tub

• Remove all products
• Scrub the tub
• Organize and replace products
• Use a daily shower cleaner to keep up on grime

Sink/Vanity

• Remove everything from the counter tops, drawers and cupboards
• Clean with an all purpose cleaner- including the counter, insides of drawers and cupboards
• Organize all the goodies you removed- toss at least 3 items
• Put all the items back

Toilet

• Use toilet cleaner for the bowl (A great green cleaner that deodorizes as well is to just pour 2 cups of vinegar in the bowl, let sit for a couple hours or overnight, scrub with a brush and flush)
• Use an all purpose cleaner for the exterior, don't forget the top and handle

Now, keep in mind, the goal is to deep clean everything so that we can just keep up on things. So, while we've added bathrooms this week, I don't want you neglecting your newly cleaned bedrooms! What? You thought you were done? Heck no lil lady (or man if that's the case...I don't discriminate)! So on top of your bathroom chores this week, dust and vacuum your bedrooms. Shouldn't be too difficult, they are relatively clean! Also, be certain that you are keeping up on your closet. Clothes either go in the hamper or in drawers, not on the floor!

When we check in next week, we'll see how you did on your bathrooms as well as check in to see how your bedroom is looking. So get to moving! I can't wait to hear how you all did in the first week! Keep up the good work!

Tackle It Tuesday: Showing You My Dirty

This is embarrassing. But I'm only human, so I'm sure you understand. You see, my shower head was in need of some attention. It, well, I don't need to tell you, I can just show you.



Yeah, disgusting right? That's not even the embarrassing part. It's the fact that I've been looking at the grime for a couple weeks, and am just getting around to cleaning it! It's especially embarrassing knowing just how easy it is to do.

Here's how I cleaned it- and for you greenies out there- you are going to love this one!

1. Get your tools- Plastic Sandwich Bag, 1 Cup Vinegar, 1/2 Cup Baking Soda, Rubberband, Scrub Brush (not pictured)

2. Pour the vinegar in the plastic bag, if your shower head is on wand, remove it from it's holder and place it in the bag. If it's stationary, pour in the vinegar and slide the bag over it.

3. Pour in the baking soda, and wind the rubberbands around the neck, over the baggie.

4. Again, if it is a wand style, you can just shake it. If it is stationary, just sort of massage the bag to swirl the vinegar around.

5. Let it sit for about 5 minutes.

6. Remove the bag and scrub lightly with a scrub brush. Most of the grime should have come off in the vinegar mixture, but the scrub brush will just remove any lingering bits.

7. Turn on the water, and rinse off the shower head.

MUCH BETTER!

Does your shower head need some love? I promise you, I did this is all of like 15 minutes. Maybe you've never let it get like this! Well, what did you tackle tonight then? Give me a new idea! Time to go...I need to go shower. :)

Halloween Round Up & Master Bath Revisit

It seems like every year we debate on whether or not to put together a costume. Should we? Shouldn't we? We should. Oh crap. What are we going to do? However, this year, I got a little clever. After trying to think of great couples from movies and television this year, it dawned on me. One of our favorite shows. One I've mentioned on here a few times. The Biggest Loser! We could go as Biggest Loser contestants. Not too expensive to put together. Perfect. Done.

So we got to work, and pieced together this little ditty. And the party loved it!
*please note- that is Carl's cheesy jolly grin...not his normal little shit grin. ;)


But just like in the show, we had some work to do! So about half way through the night, we ran to the car for a planned quick change and came back as new people!




It was a huge hit! Success!

Gibson also got in on the fun. He was a pumpkin, I guess that's obvious. ;)



And he had so much fun watching for the kids! I knew there were trick or treaters because his tail would smack the closet and ottoman. He loved it!


And while I was creating and applying the iron-ons for our shirts, Carl had other plans. He decided the bathroom wasn't quite done. 1. He didn't like the faucet we originally bought. 2. He wanted to install hardware on the cabinets. So, here is a quick revisit with a little better natural light.

OK, time to get moving for the day! I've got a few purchases to put away, and I've got some cleaning to do! How about you? I bet you are doing something productive today! Don't feel like doing physical work? How about working on your Christmas list and budget? Or perhaps a holiday schedule. What? It's November now. I can totally talk about the holidays now! And just for that, I'll leave you with some more inspiration pics. Hope your Sunday morning is enjoyable!



*Photo credit BHG & Martha Stewart

Transformation Thursday

It was way too late to blog last night, so this Transformation Thursday is coming at you bright and early on Friday morning.

We wanted to paint the house the second we moved in, no surprise that we would be a tad impatient. However, I had to pick the paint colors while I was driving to work one day (it's a long story...maybe I'll go into that later). Regardless, picking paint colors while driving is not the smartest idea. Especially for this fickle gal. I picked a lot of great colors that day, but one was a dud. Our Master Bath color. I wanted it to scream fresh, clean, spa! And it was instead screaming limey, derranged hospital room. The color was too light, and had too much yellow in it. In the daylight, it didn't look too bad, but at night with the light on, it was anything but calming. My oh-so-patient husband told me to find a new color. Well, it only took us a year and a half to finally get back around to painting it, but oh it's so much better!

First let me take you back to 1997...er 2008 when we first moved in. This is what we walked into:


So, to give it a face lift, we painted (the bad color...which really isn't represented very well here), swapped out the dual finish brass/chrome fixtures for brushed nickel, and installed a towel rack since there was no towel storage at the time. (That also proved to not be a great solution- another thing you should know is I really despise wasting money....)

So the only other thing we knew for sure needed to be done was to swap out the faucet. Other than that, for the time being, we weren't going to do anything else. We still aren't sure how we want to really redo it, but countertops and doing something with the shower are high on the list, just not right now. ANYWAY- so the paint was all wrong, the towel rack was less than helpful, but I dealt with it for quite some time.

But Carl was home this week. And he wanted a project. So the Master Bath won. Now, the colors don't look completely different, but trust me- they are! Like I said, the above pic is a poor representation. The new color is a lovely, deep avocado. Mmmm! We also installed 2 foot brown shelves from Lowes to replace the towel rack, and the faucet got changed out as well. MUCH BETTER!


*If I can get photos that represent the paint better tonight, I'll do that! It's super dreary here today, so a natural light photo was not happening this morning.

So what did we do?
Paint: Grassland by Valspar in Eggshell
Faucet: Moen
Fixtures (Light, towel holder, toilet paper holder, robe hook): Brushed Nickel to replace the Brass
Shelves: 2 foot shelves from Lowes
Hinges and Doorknob: Installed brushed nickel to replace the brass

Now THIS is a bathroom I can live with...happily!