The New Pantry Cupboard

My house doesn't have a pantry cupboard and this has frustrated me for a long time. And I don't just mean a walk in pantry, I mean it doesn't have a pantry at all, just above and below bench cupboards. As a result I have dreamed of having a pantry for a long time. And since I have no intention of moving anytime soon I have had to think outside the box to resolve this. And this is what I have come up with:

Pretty, yes? And even though it is not yet finished, I am in love with it already. It has freed up an incredible amount of space in the cupboards and I can finally see what I have and what I am running low on. I am a little confused as to why I haven't done this before now...

Household Routines

I have unsuccessfully tried many household routines over the years and the only thing I have learnt is that you can't use someone else's routine for your own. You definitely need to make your own.

The first step is to identify those tasks that you must have done every day, without fail. And there is no point being too detailed in identifying that list, that will just cause you to lose all motivation. Housework is something that unfortunately requires motivation for most of us so making your list too big to start off with is just asking to be disappointed. This doesn't mean the chores you need to get done aren't so very few, it just means you need to find a way of referring to them that doesn't scare you off before you begin.

For example my basic daily list comprises of only four things - the kitchen, the laundry, sweeping the floors and a general tidy up. Simple right? But deep down we know this list isn't so very small. The kitchen for goodness sake! This can take anywhere between 10 minutes and several hours, but listing every task in the kitchen does absolutely nothing for my motivation. So 'kitchen' is all that is written in my daily plan. How much I get done of this is then entirely up to me, after a point. The dishes must absolutely be done, so must the countertops. And if I have been doing this consistently that is all that usually needs to be done. Anything else is optional.

The laundry - a peek in there will quickly let me know whether anything needs to be done. I try to do one load everyday. Between the two girls, myself and a husband with a very dirty job, there isn't usually a day go by when there isn't a load to do, but it happens. Still this written on my list isn't intimidating either.

Sweeping the floors - need I elaborate? 10 minutes tops.

General tidy up - again this can take two minutes or it can take an hour. But it is one of those tasks that if let go, will take me a lot longer to recover from, but done consistently is relatively easy to manage.

After this there is all the other tasks that need to be done regularly, but not necessarily every day. I'll post on that subject another day.

So, what's on your list?

The Great To Do List

I have a To Do list for task and projects around the home that is pages long. It contains things as simple as cleaning out and organising a particular drawer or two, to tasks that will take several weeks, like rebuilding the front retaining wall. Two things stop me from achieving everything on this list, time and money. I'm sure these are the two things that stop almost all of us from getting everything done.

The great To Do List, and yes, tidying up my desk is on the list!

A couple of weeks from now and the time problem should be solved, but unfortunately that means the money part becomes more of an issue. With one less income in the family the budget will need to be more carefully scrutinised. That's if I had one. A budget that is.

So that becomes another thing on the To Do list, but one that moves immediately to the top of the list. So this week I will be trying to set a budget for the Homespun family, and no doubt checking out some budgeting sites online.

I Heart Housework

Yes, it's true, I do. I love the feeling of satisfaction I get when I have cleaned until a room shines. Mind you it's not often enough that I do this, clean a room until it is completely done, usually it is just a 'lick and a promise', but when I get around to it the results are wonderful.

With my work finishing in a few weeks doing this should become the norm. It's been a while since I have been able to finish a morning's housework, put my feet up with a nice cup of tea and know that the entire house is sparkling, so I am looking forward to the opportunity to do it again. This week I did attack the kitchen, though it was entirely the exterior that got the treatment, the insides of the cupboards will have to wait. But three days later I still get a kick out of walking into the kitchen and seeing the results.

Now if only it would stay that way...

It has been a bit quiet on the blogging front, but it has been a crazy few weeks for me. Saddest of all is that I will lose my job in a few weeks. I work in a large book store and it is a job I adore more than any job I have ever had before. I am shattered. Worse than not having this job is that the reason I will no longer have it is because the book store is closing. For good. Forever. I can handle not having the job, but knowing the store won't be there, or any of it's type around here, is something that saddens me immensely. I love these stores, have loved them since the first time I walked into one, but soon they will no longer be there. Well, there will be one left in the state of NSW but it is too far to go to get my book fix.

My little family also headed off to Sydney for a (very) little holiday. The girls are on their school holiday so  we had a quick break and visited a squillion museums over the space of 2 days. Okay, slight exaggeration there but we did visit The Sydney Observatory, The Australian National Museum, Centrepoint Tower, Sydney Aquarium, the Powerhouse Museum and the National Maritime Museum! My legs are still sore from all the walking. Unfortunately we left the camera at home. Darn! But a good time was had by all.