brokencrayons's Profile

Painting tile only looks good if you paint it WHITE. It's not as obvious because the grout is usually white. I did this in one of my bathrooms a couple of years ago and it made a HUGE difference (the tile was 70s pea green). The most important things are: lightly sand the suface, use a primer made for shiny surfaces (like glass), use a sponge roller, and use good flat or eggshell paint. Gloss paint makes the tile look VERY painted. Good luck!

I would also like to know where the child's table set is from. Pretty please!

Pendant light source please!

That bed is great! Could someone tell me where it's from?

I used to be completely overwhelmed with cleaning my house after I had children. Let's be real, I was overwhelmed before I had kids. I grew up with the clean all weeked routine, so that is what I thought you should do. But, with kids I was finding that impossible to do. I was desperately trying to find time in the day, week, month to get things done. Then I realized that there are not many things that I need to do that take more that 30 minutes. This includes mopping the floor in one room, dusting the furniture in another room, watching my favorite HGTV show, vacuuming the den, etc. That is when I started cleaning 30 minutes (or less) a day, and it has worked great! I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 year old and like @sarahrae mentioned
"....doing most anything while they're awake can prove to be fruitless." So, I started waking up 30 minutes earlier to clean one big thing in my house every day. One day clean the master bathroom floors, next day mop the kitchen floors, another day scrub the shower, etc.
Like @jennyinthesouth, I have dark hardwood floors throughout my house,so cleaning them was a priority. I just tackle the hallways one day, the dining room another day,etc. This has helped me to keep my floors reasonably clean even with two little kids crawling around. Another thing that has helped to keep my dark floors clean is to have a no shoe policy. For years I thought it did not matter, but with dark floors, if you look closely you can actually see things that you track into the house.

@pricesstial - I used to mully over where to start when I first started my program. The key is to write everything down. Make a cleaning schedule for the week, and this will make all the difference. This does not need to be formal, I have my schedule written on a napkin that I keep in my purse. I reference it to remind me of what needs to be done on what days.

@sarransmith And @Danica123 - with two small children you have to try to find time when you can. Here are a couple of examples - I clean my kids bathroom during my 2 year olds potty time. I clean the bathtub one day, and mop the floor (with a natural cleaner) on another day. I used to sit with him and think about how much time I was wasting just sitting there waiting for him to poop, but now I clean. Also, I let my son eat dinner in the dining room, and I dust (with Method natural dusting cloths) while he eats. That way i can keep an eye on him, we can still talk, and get something done at the same time.

@HemanStyle - I will by stock in the company that makes those bleach tablets to clean the toilets. I used to try those blue ones years ago and they just didn't work. But a couple of months ago, I bought a couple of store brand bleach tablet toilet cleaners and they work like a dream. Now I just have to clean the toilet seats and the outside of the toilet, which take seconds.

I'm not one of those people who need to keep their home spotless, but starting this cleaning program has helped me in a big way to try keep my home clean. In reality, there are days when I want or have to sleep in (like when my 1 year old decides that bedtime is not until 1 o'clock in the morning). On those days, I either postpone that cleaning item until the evening when the kids go to bed, or put it in the timeslot of a smaller item later in the week.

I have found the key is to not lose your mind over cleaning, it will all get done eventually.

That curtain fabric is just what I've been looking for. I can't seem to find the Gisela fabric on the IKEA website. Did you purchase it recently?