I'm sure I'm not alone in admitting that I break most of my New Year's resolutions before the end of January rolls around. Halfway through the month I'm mainlining sugar, I've slacked off at the gym, and I'm still up at two am, surfing the web or Twittering. And that resolve to keep my home clean and organized? Gone. These are the kind of resolutions that never work for me. Better? Small changes that have big impact. Especially in my home.
A few years ago, it was thirty days of making sure all my dishes were done before I went to bed. Waking up in the morning and not having to deal with a pile of smelly, dirty dishes made my day just that much better. At least I left the house with a smile on my face. After that, I resolved to make my bed every day for a month. To make it easier on myself, I got rid of the top sheet and just used a fitted sheet and a duvet. Making the bed involved little more than straightening out the covers. Even if I had a pile of clothes on the chair, the bedroom looked neat, calm and inviting and I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face. I joined Apartment Therapy and heeded Maxwell's call to buy weekly flowers. There is nothing like a vase of flowers to make you feel pampered and extravagant. Are you sensing a pattern here?
This year I've decided I'm going to clear my desk off every night (even if that means shoving everything into a pretty box to deal with in the morning) so that I don't feel stressed when I walk by my desk on the way to the kitchen "after hours". If I can keep it up for a month, I've come to learn, it'll be a habit for life (and no, I don't have to be perfect — if I skip it one night, that's cool).
What can you do? Make it small and specific — straightening up the coffee table every night, clearing off the bathroom counter before you leave for work, putting the paper in the recycling bin at the end of the day, sorting through your mail as soon as you get it — and log it in the comments. I'll meet you back here February 6th to see how you've done and report on my progress.
Image: Katy Nida from Trace & Lisa's Eclectic Living on Capitol Hill
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Does anyone know where the white desk in that pic is from? I've been looking for one just like it.
luckily, i'm moving into a new apartment on the 13th, so it'll be a great way to start fresh with my decor and create new 'habits' (like actually putting away the dishes and laundry after they've been washed).
but i must say, the resolution i'm leaning towards in our new place is putting the remote back in the *same place* every night and putting dvds/games back in their boxes. i'm so tired of guessing what dvd will be in that 'benjamin button' box =P
I'm going to always put things away before bedtime.
The desk is from Worldmarket. I own it and I love it.
Worldmarket is not in Canada and doesn't ship to Canada.
*sad*
Clean the kitchen. It's not huge, but I love to go in there+have a cup of coffee+read the paper in the AM. It's much more enjoyable when that space is clean.
We just moved into our apartment so my goal is to a little every day to get us situated and make it feel like a home. Hopefully it doesn't take 30 days though!
Take my vitamins.
Waste less food.
Sweep the kitchen daily.
I like the idea of sweeping the kitchen every day. Also, I have been trying to straigten or clean at least one extra item a day beyond my normal house cleaning chores.
Does anyone know where the floor lamp is floor? It would be perfect in my office. Thanks!
Do all the dishes before I go to bed. Starting Friday. There's a bit of, uh, backlog.
Get my art on the walls. I moved in August, and the art is still just sitting against a wall.
Spend 30 minutes cleaning up every day. I can't decide if that's setting the bar way too low or WAY too high. First step: make a 30-minute cleaning music mix on my mp3 player.
West Elm has similar desks Jasmine
Clean as you go. I do this with everything, including crafting, snacking, dining, cooking, etc.
For instance, if I'm cooking, as soon as I'm done with a measuring cup, I rinse it and put it in the dishwasher. As soon as I finish with the flour canister, it goes back in the cabinet. After slicing the onion, the scraps go to the trash or compost tub. As soon as I have used as much olive oil as I need, it goes into the pantry cupboard. When the dish is simmering, I wipe the counter and put everything else away. As soon as the food is served, and the pan is empty: dishwasher. When we are finished eating, the dishes are scraped into the disposal or garbage and right into the dishwasher. When the dishwasher is full, I run it immediately. When it stops and cools I unload it so it can store the next batch of dishes. Even holiday feasts take a minimum of special cleanup time this way, and you hardly notice it -- leaving more free time for fun stuff!
If I snack, I trash any wrappers, put dishes in the dishwasher, put recyclables in the bin, etc.
Also, I don't worry about the perfection of rooms that nobody sees but me. I used to be fanatic about making my bed, but I no longer fret. Leaving it unmade allows it to air out and gives the cats places to nestle. If I'm giving a tour of the house, I make it, but otherwise I don't bother.
great black walls! very courageous.
drink more water - #1 resolution.
I agree on the black walls, i did a charcoal gray but its just not right, i am going to redo in black... with the bright white trim... i didnt make a resolution but i think making my house more "homey" is a good one... like this picture, all the pictures, and the shelves with the knick knacks and books, looks lived in/homey, i like it...
Stacyg: Thanks for the West Elm tip! I did notice that their desks are much more expensive, but it might be worth it.
I'm blessed to be a Canadian, but damn, the furniture shopping is so much better down south!
DHW: I've seen versions of that floor lamp at Winners. The ones I saw weren't metallic, but had a gloss white finish.
Keep my kitchen clean. It's kinda annoying to be the only one who puts things in the dishwasher more than once a day, the only one who washes the counter after cooking (or having a glass of juice), but I still want to have a neat, clean and usable kitchen. Let's see if I can keep up for a month...
Do my laundry throughout the week instead of trying to do 7 loads on the weekend. I wash everything together on cold anyway, there's no reason I can't throw a load in as soon as the basket fills. I'm much less stressed if there isn't a dirty laundry mountain in the corner of my bedroom.
Where is the painting leaning against the shelf from? I've sen it before in another room and love it.
yeah, where are those floor lamps from? and the end table? lol.
This idea sounds like FLY Lady's. I saw bits by her on TV. She likes to add one new good housekeeping habit a month. I hear good things about her, and am thinking of lurking on her site, in part because I miss the AT Cure after it ended. Although my home already is clean and tidy there's definitely room for improvement. I already have a list of 10 things I do daily for my home, so I haven't thought of a 30-day resolution for this post yet. Weight Watchers also says something similar about how long it takes to establish a new good daily habit, in its case dietary.
For laundry, I have 3 wastebaskets in my closet. One gray (holds light colors), one black (hold dark colors) and one red (holds bright colors). When one of them gets full, I do a load of laundry. So essentially, I'm sorting them as I go. Found this totally changed my opinion of laundry. I used to hate it but now it's no biggie.