Total Home Makeover: Week 3

I’m 3/4 of the way through my 20 Day Challenge! This upcoming week is my final week, and I can’t tell you how great it’s been! My hubby and I love planning, organizing, and streamlining, and this challenge has really sparked our motivation.

Haven’t joined us yet? Get the book!

Days 11-15

This last week we were challenged to organize our laundry area, office, family room, kitchen, & dining room.

Thankfully, none of these are really trouble zones for me. I had a CRAZY schedule this week, so the Lord knew what I needed. :)

The Laundry:

Our washer & dryer is in the basement and there’s no folding/hanging area, or even a shelf. However, just completing my daily & weekly routines has made my laundry drama SO much more manageable. We only use one kind of laundry detergent for everything, and we don’t use fabric softener, so the top of the dryer is sufficient. I fold clothes upstairs on the couch.

I DID decide to try Renee’s suggestion to make my own detergent, though! I’ve wanted to try for a while, and I just happen to have all of the ingredients on hand thanks to a friend passing extra along!

You’ll have to get the book for the recipe, but I’ll be sure to let you know how well it works. Follow the Raising the Barrs Facebook page for the day-to-day stuff.

The Office:

I shared with you after Week 1 that we decided to set up a computer table in the guest room for Rob. That’s gone well! He enjoys being out of the chaos when he needs to get work done.

My “office” is a cupboard in the kitchen. It was a mess. Since it closes up out of sight, I usually just stuff things in there to keep them out of the kids’ reach or remember to tackle them later. So this week I organized it. Here are before & after photos…

Before: 

After:

My “office cupboard” houses our entire DVD and music collection (yes, we’re minimalists – that’s the whole collection in back there), as well as my office-y things. This week I placed two containers in it to separate things. On the left are all of my cards and stationary, and to the right is my address book, mail to reply to, and misc things like white out and index cards. The top shelf is now empty so that I can safely store my laptop when I’m not using it.

The Family Room:

Well, I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it is the area I try to keep the least cluttered. I only made a few changes there, removing an unused end table. We have an open cart housing the modem & my magazines/books that I want to make a little curtain for. On my to-do list for the near future.

The Kitchen:

I cleared my counters! Enough said. :)

The Dining Room:

Thinking about this still. Not much to organize as we have simplified to fewer dishes & serving trays and focused on an open attitude rather than impressing anyone, but I do want some new decor. Thinking about a chalkboard pennant with our weekly menu, but can’t decide if it would be too tacky.

What say you? :)

Meet Renee!

I’m excited to share with you that Renee is going on a book tour  and you may get the opportunity to meet her in person or online! She’ll be touring 50 states in 50 days! Stay tuned to her schedule page for more details!

You can also touch base with her in the forums of her online Total Home Makeover Club. I’ve loved learning from her and getting to know her!