Tips to Keep a Clean House: How I Get Motivated

Ok, so here's the thing about being a stay at home wife. There are times when you just flat don't want to get out of your pajamas and away from Netflix long enough to sweep your floors. And being "your own boss," in a way, you can. Your house may look like the H bomb went off around you, blankets and pillows tossed about and take out wrappers everywhere, half empty glasses of water, coke, tea, Kleenex strewn from one end of the couch to another from watching Steel Magnolias for the 987 billionth time.  So what do you do?? How do you pull yourself away from reruns of Grey's Anatomy long enough to get your house in decent looking order? (Once I start with Grey's I get stuck, especially after Owen showed up. He's my fave. I've been a Kevin McKidd fan since I was 9!)

Here's my tip. Do a good ol' 15 Minute Before Bed Pick Up and go to bed.....

THEN... here's what I do the next morning... There are some days when I get a TON of cleaning done in my pjs. I can tackle those around the house projects and get totally caught up on laundry and the dishes and shampoo the carpets and mop and all that while I'm still in my pjs some days, but on the days when I feel the pull towards the bed and Netflix....

• I leave the TV OFF. It's a distraction. Trying to find something just to "have on" while you're cleaning can sometimes take a good 30 minutes, especially if you're like me and you've seen practically everything.... So instead I turn on Pandora radio. We have a Sony Blu Ray player that has the Pandora app on it, so I'll turn the TV on, but play music through it. I usually pick something like MoTown or anything upbeat. MoTown dance breaks in the kitchen are perfectly acceptable, and occur on a regular basis at my house.
• I have a little breakfast, always something with some protein in it. I love scrambles, just fyi. 
• And then I shower, put on makeup and do my hair. That's my secret. I find that I am TONS more motivated to get everything done if I look good, and not ratty in my pjs. I won't go all out and do winged eyeliner, red lips and curled hair, but I'll put on some foundation, blush, eyeshadow and mascara and I'll at least wash my hair, whether I style it or not is another thing all together. I am ALWAYS more productive if I feel better about myself, and makeup and hair accomplishes that for me.  Plus, if I need to quickly run out of the house for anything, I'm already ready. If I want a time out for lunch, I can run through the drive thru and not scare the little fella at the first window plum out of hit wits. 

And that's it. THAT's my secret. Hair and makeup. You know, them Gypsy Housewives may be onto something. Seriously, I mean they clean their houses wearing high heels and hoop earrings. For reals. (I'm so addicted to Gypsy Sisters  and My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding it's not even funny!) 

Also, another thing is that I really LOVE having a clean house and I love having it neat and tidy for my hubby when he comes home. I like the house to smell like Pine Sol (he says it smells like Christmas, and therefore loves it) and to have supper on the stove, and me not looking like a cave monster for him when he comes in from a long day at the office. The reward is always the evening off to be with my honey. There are some nights that if I've been cleaning particularly hard that day I'll make supper and spend the evening with Aaron and then when he goes to bed, I'll shut the bedroom door, turn off all the lights and watch a movie, just me. I love foreign movies or romantic dramas that I've never seen before for my solo movie nights. 

It may seem absolutely pointless to you. And some days I am like WHY would I shower and do my hair and makeup just so I can get hot and sweaty and gross, but other days I need that extra push. You are more productive when you feel good about yourself I find. 

So what do YOU do to get motivated to do your household chores? Leave me a comment and let me know!

I think it goes without saying, hopefully, that Pandora Radio did not perk me to mention them, MoTown doesn't know that I love their oldies, and the Gypsy Sisters don't know me. And sadly, Kevin McKidd doesn't know me either. :(

Tips for Keeping a Clean House: The Laundry Monster

Laundry. *eye twitch*

It's pretty safe to say I HATE doing laundry. I mean.... I hate it. I hate laundry like I hate getting teeth pulled without Novocain. Like spinach in my teeth on picture day. I hate doing laundry like I hate running into my husband's ex-girlfriend and seeing that she looks way hotter than me.... ya know? I loathe doing laundry. I hate it. Did I mention I hate laundry? Yeah. I hate laundry.

But, it's a thing. It's a real deal, big girl, grown up, congrats-you've-got-your-own-life thing and there's no getting around it.

I don't have an Earth shattering, end all, be all set of "rules" to go by when it comes to doing laundry, only that it gets done regularly. I started doing my own laundry when I still lived at home with my parents, and it hasn't gotten easier over these past...... over these many years... let's not talk about how long it's been.

I have a little bit of a routine when it comes to doing my laundry, and so I thought I'd share it with you all today.

I love y'all. You know that? Right? The title of this blog is the "SIMPLE" life, not the "PERFECT" life. There is no such-a-thing in this world, so don't judge me on account of my super full closet, or my power cords hanging haphazardly underneath my shelf... I'm not perfect, and I certainly hope that you don't think I am trying to pretend I am.



With that being said, let's hop into it! (And you'll get a mini tour of my laundry room too!!)


Laundry for us starts in our closet. All of our dirty clothes get dumped here.

I keep our basket small, so that I don't overwhelm myself with clothes. When the basket (the one pictured was from Family Dollar about 4 years ago.) gets to this point (full) I know it's time to wash clothes. (When it's still filling up I like to wash my towels, rugs etc...) It fills up about every 3 days or so. This basket equals one "large" load of laundry, to me it's more like a medium though.


Here is our washer & dryer. It's a Kenmore Elite set that we bought in the fall of 2009 at Sears -right before we got married. They've held up so so well and I am super pleased with them.

I decided, when we started working on the house pre-wedding, that I wanted my utility room/laundry space painted a happy clean color, and so I chose this blue from Sherwin Williams - I'm sorry, I can't remember the name - because of how pretty the blue and white looked together, and it's the one room in the house that I haven't reconsidered the color on. We took this room from NASTY brown paneling to this and I love it. My ironing board cover is from Wal-Mart and I liked that it had the EXACT same color blue as the walls! ;) Again it's from Fall 2009, so I doubt that it's still available.


Organization is KEY and it's a huge part of keeping your laundry monster at bay. I have STRUGGLED SO HARD in this space with organization, and if you were to be standing in the room with me, you would know that on the opposite side of the room, it's all cray-cray. But the laundry side of this room has finally come around. I used these four white stacking bins (Dollar General circa 1997) to hold my stain removers (I don't need those a lot, so they go on top), lost socks, laundry bags (like for delicates) and then the top bin on the right holds extra mouse traps and D-Con packs.... old house, people. It maximizes all that vertical space we have in this room. The ceilings are easily 12ft tall in this room, as it used to be part of the carport, but it was closed in to make this room.

I LOVE this system, and I loved that thinking outside of the box helped me create this space using the bins that I already had. They had been in my Dad's workshop before he passed away, and when my Mom moved from that house, I laid claim to them.

Just because it's a laundry room does not mean that it can't be cute. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that this room is Pinterest Perfect (are those really peoples homes??? Like really really? Who lives that perfect?) But I wanted a little decoration in here so that I didn't go crazy.

This home has endless love and laundry.

So true. So so true.

I found this free printable on Pinterest and it's from a website called 247moms.com. I will link it for you HERE. And the lamp and lampshade I got from Dollar General a couple of years ago. Unfortunately I haven't seen the shade again there, but they still have the base (although now it looks more green than blue...) I framed the printable in an old black Dollar Tree frame and then using some red hemp cord from my jewelry making stash hung it on the wall and think it's super cute!


Ok, so back to laundry itself. I have this handy dandy little step down into my laundry room, and so to save my back (which isn't happy at all today as I type, idk what I did but it's mad at me) I set my basket on this step and load my washer.

I don't sort anything. Except towels. Lights, darks, whites, reds, they all get thrown in together. I wash everything on the "Tap Cold" setting and I haven't had a problem with color running, ever. This is a time saver/lazy girl thing that I do. If you are a sorter, sort. Sometimes, just for the heck of it, I'll sort out a white load and use a little bleach on them, but just to say that I sorted laundry and did a whites load that day.

I have a very small arsenal of products that I use in my laundry. I use ALL with Oxi Clean detergent. I buy the one in the blue bottle with the orange top because Aaron says it smells like candy and he likes it better than the regular ALL in the white bottle. Whatever. It's not a huge price difference, if any at all, so I do that. I alternate these days between using Downy and Vinegar as my fabric softener. Now, wait a second before you start throwing things at me. Missy, I thought you were an exclusive vinegar user in your laundry..... Y'all remember my Save Money, Skip Fabric Softener post from a few months ago?? In my defense, I did not buy the Downey. My Mom bought it and didn't like it, so she gave it to me. I haven't noticed a difference in my clothes, so I'm using it up, and I use the vinegar on my bedsheets, towels and rugs. And I throw in some Downey Unstoppables for extra smell goods.


After my clothes have washed, I throw the clothes in the dryer and let them dry. When that loud, annoying, wonderful buzzer goes off, I rush into the laundry room and immediately start folding and hanging. (And you see, I'm not a faker, whites and all are in that dryer!)

The basket that you see on top of the dryer came from Dollar General and that's what everything gets folded into. The rug was a TJ Maxx find when I re-did my bedroom at my parents house in 2008, just before I met Aaron. It's an oldie.  I have a hook hanging behind the door that I put my hanging things onto, and then when I'm ready to put it all away I grab the basket and the hanging things and off to the bedroom I go!



It's simple, it's lazy, but it keeps my clothes clean. Rarely does my laundry ever pile up. But my washer is always running. This is how I stay on top of the craziness. It's not groundbreaking, but it works for me, and that's what is important. Find a system that works FOR YOU and for YOUR FAMILY. Us wives/moms have the hardest jobs of all, whether you are a full time working mom or if you stay home like I do, and if you find a system that works, that doesn't overwhelm you and drag you down, stick with it. For me, that means not sorting laundry and only doing small loads every day. Am I perfect? Nope. Is my home perfect? Far from it. Perfect doesn't exist people. Remember that. Perfect isn't a real thing. I didn't say my laundry "never" piles up. I said it "rarely" piles up. "Whatever is good for your soul, do that."



Thank you all for hanging out and doing laundry with me today! I'll chat with you all again very soon!  Love y'all chickens! See ya later Alligator!

Tips to Keep a Clean House: The Before Bed Pick Up

I can't stand the thought of going to bed with my house a disaster. Even if I am dog tired and just barely going, I still take the time to tidy things up before bed. That way the next morning I can wake up and jump right into my day!

When Aaron and I first married, I was just 20 years old, and still figuring out this whole "adult/wife" thing. I complained one afternoon to my Mom about how I hated having to get up in the mornings and face a dirty house. She gave me the best advice ever, and it isn't something new, and it isn't something that she just magically thought up on her own. And honestly, after she told me, I felt like a dunce for not thinking of it myself.

I call it the "Before Bed Pick Up."

I don't clean anything before I go to bed. I pick up. The natural cleaning products stay tucked away in the cabinet under the sink for this one - unless I have to pull them out. Basically all I do is do a clutter sweep through the whole house (we have a small house, so if you have a larger one, maybe just sweep through the main living areas), taking about 15 or 20 minutes, sometimes longer, depending on the mess, and clear it all away. Part of this "trick," if you want to call it that, is having a designated home or destination for everything in your house. Organization is the key to running a smooth home.

If Aaron has left his dirty clothes laying on the bedroom or bathroom floor, I grab them up and stick them in the dirty clothes basket. I don't complain or wake him up and tell him he should do it himself. He works so hard for me so that I can stay home and do what I love doing- being a wife- so if he wants to leave his dirty pants on the bedroom floor that's fine, I'll pick them up, no big deal. If there are shoes laying in the living room floor I put them in the shoe basket by the front door or in the one in our bedroom. I make sure the throw blankets in the living room are folded and put where they belong, be it over the back of the couch or in the cabinet. I straighten the pillows on the couch and put the remotes in the basket where we keep them. If there is anything out on the counter tops in the kitchen, it gets put away. I never leave dirty or clean dishes out overnight. If they're dirty, I wash them, dry them and put them away. If they've been sitting in the drainer I wipe them down and then put them away. I always start my mornings with empty sinks. (No dishwasher, alas)And I never, never leave things piled up on my kitchen table. Never.

I make sure there is no clutter on the dresser top or on the vanity in the bathroom. There's nothing quite like paddling into the bathroom at 3 in the morning and tripping over things or knocking things on the counter over when you go to wash your hands. I usually always sweep the bathroom floor before bed, just because ours tends to accumulate lots of stuff over the course of an afternoon. That floor attracts dirt, I swear.



You'd be surprised how helpful it is to do this every night. You wake up in the morning ready to hit at the heavy stuff, because you don't have to spend half your morning "picking up" from the night before. It helps my brain to unwind and not have to go to bed with the knowledge that my house is a flipping mess all around me. It only takes 15 minutes. That's nothing. So why aren't you doing it? Your house will thank you! 

So give it a shot tonight before bed! Do the 15 Minute Before Bed Pick Up and see how clean your house feels!

Tips to Keep a Clean House: Make Your Bed!

Welcome to my new series, Tips to Keep a Clean House! This series is just what it says it is. I'll be offering you my tips on how I keep my house tidy, clean and "drop in" ready!


The fact here is, when your house is clean, don't you just feel better? I always think about that scene in the remake of The Stepford Wives with Nicole Kidman (it's back on Netflix btw). The part where she and Better Midler and their friend Roger walk into "Bobbie's" (Bette's) house, which is the biggest disaster I've ever seen, for the first time and Roger looks around and asks "Are you making Anthrax?" A clean home makes you feel better, makes your family feel better, makes any guests you have feel more welcome, and not like they just walked into a crime scene. I am HAPPIER when my house is spotless. My husband appreciates it and he is happier when everything is clean and in order.

I'm talking about a CLEAN house, not a tidy house. There are differences, and we will examine them later on in this series.

My first tip is a simple one, but it always seems to be overlooked. Every time I go into someone else's home to clean, the first thing I notice is that 90% of people leave their beds unmade. I can't handle it. I just can't.

From the time I was a tiny girl, my Mom was ingraining it into my brain to always make my bed. "Always make your bed before you leave your house!" she advised me once. "That way if you get into an accident and die, and people come into your house to get your things, they won't think you're a slob." Her exact words. I mean, if I'm dead it won't matter to me that people think I'm a slob because I didn't turn up my bedsheets. I remember laughing, out loud, at that statement, telling her that I didn't think it was that severe, and she agreed, saying she was just trying to comically make her point.


All it takes is a minute. Sometimes less, to make your bed. So why don't you do it?  For me, its the second thing I do in the morning when I get up. The first is taking Tabby out for some relief. Bless her little bladder. Next I walk back down the hall, into our bedroom, and make the bed. It's part of my routine, it's easy.

This is what our bedroom looks like when I first get up. I usually sleep for another half hour/hour after Aaron leaves for work, then I get up and start my day. And yeeees we sleep with a fan in our bedroom. We only have 1 window air conditioner and it lives in our living room. Please pardon my pink water glass. Keepin' it real, guys. I love you!

Our bedroom is always kept clean, and tidy. But to me, you couldn't tell because of the unmade bed and the stack of pillows on the bench. You can see them in the bottom right corner of the above photo.


I kind of feel stupid giving you a blow by blow about how I make my bed, but.... I'm gonna.

1. Straighten your fitted sheet. This is a must for me, because I cannot stand to get into bed and feel the sheets wadded up around my feet. So if it's popping off of the corners, tighten them back down, straighten it out as best you can. 
2. Adjust your pillows. Whether you lay them down or stand them up, get them into position. I've been standing ours up recently, it makes for a nicer appearance when our bed is fully made, I think.
3. Grab your flat sheet and pull it up and straighten it out.
4. Do the same with your quilt/comforter/blanket. 
5. Once they're lined up and even with each other, fold them over, back towards the middle of the mattress. I sometimes fold it back over on itself, to hide the sheet, but usually that's only when I'm feelin' fancy.
6. Pile on the pillows. I start with the shams that match my bedding set, then I layer my decorative pillows. What's on our bed now is a hodge podge, mish mosh of a couple of different sets, but I like the look, so I go with it.
7. Turn on your pretty little lamps (thinking about changing them out. What do you think?). move your ugly fan to a corner of the room (I usually move it to between my side of the bed and the window, it blows into the hall that way, cooling that end if the house) and take a breath. That took so much energy and so much time. You deserve a break. Go get a glass of sweet tea and rest your achy bones.

But doesn't it look so much better? It frees up the space where I store our pillows at night, so it instantly de-clutters the room.

I change the sheets on the bed once a week, usually on Mondays. However, I am a clean freak, as we all well know, and I sometimes change the sheets twice or three times a week. It depends on a number of things, including how hot it is outside-how much we sweat during the night-, how violent Tabby gets in her sleep, sometimes she tosses and turns so much I swear she's rubbing her butt bald, how much the sheets have stretched etc. I wash our mattress cover and pillow covers (the hypo-allergenic anti-bedbug type covers) once a month or so, along with the quilt or comforter that is on the bed at the present moment. Depending on my mood, I sometimes go through phases where I spray the bedding down daily with Febreeze. I mean, we do have a dog that we share the bed with, so... there's that.


So that's my first tip to keeping a clean house. Make your bed. EVERY DAY. Even on Saturday. Your bedroom will feel more clean and more glamorous if you do!