Simplify My Home Challenge

This is the page I am using for the Simplify My Home Challenge, to make it a little easier for everyone to follow along and locate the posts, see where we are up to and such.  The dishcloth swap is a fun way to get started and know that you will have a few nice dishcloths coming your way to replace the ones you destroy during the cleaning process LOL  Each month throughout the year, I plan to have some missions listed.  We will be covering various areas of the home and  I hope you will join with me to take up some, or all of  the missions, as we work together to simplify our homes.

January:  Where to begin the process?

I think it makes a lot of sense to begin our challenge in the kitchen.  We all use this room of our house on a daily basis, and therefore, it needs to be able to function well.  A cluttered benchtop, cupboards full of plastics without lids make life more difficult than it needs to be.

Mission 1:    Work your way through all your kitchen cupboards.  Do you need to move things around so it works more efficiently? What do you need to keep, and what can you remove?? If things are too congested it will be difficult to find items, and difficult to return them!  You don't have to do all your cupboards in 1 day..... spread them over a week if you need to, or alternate with some of the other missions to mix it up a bit.

Mission 2:  Get those benchtops, shelves, sink, and stove tops clean and clear! Give them a good scrub and only put back what you want to keep on there!  Include the window sill as well in this mission.  Is part of your kitchen bench used as a dumping ground by family?  Can you leave a basket there that everything gets dumped into that you can then sort out every couple of days? We will work on dumping grounds more, but for the moment, just try to contain it, rather than having it spread right across the whole bench!

Mission 3:   Time to get the food under control!  Clean out the pantry and fridge and freezer.  Get out your Homestead Binder if you already have one and turn to your menu plans.  Have you been using them?  Do they need changing?  Do you need to make some?  If you can manage to get a menu plan worked out for a few weeks ahead, then you can make sure you have the items in your pantry and freezer all there and ready to go.  Knowing ahead of time, what's for dinner and that you have the ingredients on hand is a real time and money saver!  Under the resources tab, I have some blank Menu plan sheets that you can print off and use.  This also enables you to get your shopping list sorted out ahead of time.

Mission 4:  Make it look beautiful to you....... does the front of the fridge need clearing, the curtains and windows washed,  decorations dusted off or put up on the wall, the cupboard fronts wiped down 

, a revamp of tea towels, hand towels and dishcloths.  Do you have cookbooks/recipes in the kitchen? How are they stored? How many of the books do you use or need in your kitchen?  Do you have many scraps of paper with recipes on them, and if so, then how could you better display them (perhaps stick them to sheets of paper and pop into a binder or book?).   Is the fruit bowl full of fresh fruit or fruit fly??  What about a nice vase of flowers???  Make it pleasing to YOU!



February: 
Mission 1:  Locate your SOS (Spot of Simplicity), your time out spot,,  a place where you can sit  and also those spots where you need to sit once a week or so to do your bills, work on menu plans, write letters, attend to paperwork etc.  Declutter  or make your SOS.  See the post about this on the main page.
Mission 2:  Are there things that still need to be finished off from the Kitchen missions?  Continue to work on these so you have them all completed and can tick them off!
Mission 3:  Form a new habit of using your SOS and keeping it a special place!

March: 
Time to take a breath and tend anything you've not finished the past two months. Get working on setting some routines in place to help keep on track.

April:
No matter what part of the world you are in, it hopefully will be a time when you can see to your garden areas for a bit of a tidy up.  Get your verandas and porches tidied up, swept and washed down, and  take a look at the outside of the house to see if it needs a bit of a wash down. 



May:
Time to get sorting out your stashes of material, yarn, craft items, patterns........ how many UFO's can you find that you started with great intentions and never got completed??  I know I have quite a few, but I'm not sure exactly how many  ???? This could take more than the month of May!!

June:
This month we are working in the Laundry.  Give your washing machine a clean over and put it on a rinse  cycle (no clothing) with some vinegar to help clear the pipes without causing any damage.  Clear out those laundry cupboards and get rid of all the stuff you no longer use.  Make up a batch of homemade washing liquid, wipe down the walls.  Try to get the most from your laundry space so it works well for you no matter how small it may be!