Continuing the Cleanup

Alright, back to reality after our glorious vacation.
You may remember that I was in the middle of A Bowl Full of Lemons 14 Week Challenge. It's a culling and cleaning challenge tackling a different room each week, hopefully making up for the fact that I don't have a full week to set aside for Spring cleaning.

Due to sickness, vacation, and well... life, I fell quite behind in the challenge. Like, fell-off-the-wagon behind. So, here I am trying to get back to it. The thing is, four out of the next five areas aren't really that bad.

First up: the Living Room
We probably spend most of our awake, home time in this room. It's usually pretty clean as it gets a once-over every week, and the majority of the furniture we use on a weekly basis. Ok, so there are some dog toys I need to pick up, and I continually have a stack of supplies on the coffee table for whatever my latest craft is. I did put those white baskets in the TV cupboard to hide video games and controllers in. I also removed a short bookshelf from the corner, as it was just holding decoration stuff. A quick pickup and this room is done.

Next: the Master Bedroom
If you remember, we actually re-did our master bedroom and bathroom just last year. (They still remain the only major rooms to be painted and "complete" from a decorating and design standpoint.) Well I am pleased to report that we have been able to maintain a clean and serene boudoir! I really do think the key is that we have very few items actually stored in this room. I did move the bookcase from the living room upstairs, as most reading occurs before trying to fall asleep. My goal is to end up with no more books than this shelf can neatly hold. (As we speak there are about 4 or 5 heavy boxes of books in the basement.) Once again, a quick pick-up/wipe-down was all this room needed. (Not counting the MONTHS we spend getting it to this state last year!)

And finally: Closets
The closets in the two spare rooms really aren't that bad. The one in the guest bedroom I try to keep mostly clear in case guests need hanging space or want to stash their suitcases out of the way.
I do store all the spare blankets up there as it seemed like a good place as any, and guests know where to find them if the room gets too cold.

The spare room closet holds our luggage, extra pillows, and the air mattress. Ok, so I know it doesn't look the neatest, but there really isn't much in there. I could nest the suitcases, but we use the two smaller sizes the most.

And the linen closet, which is impossible to get a good picture of because it is in a very narrow hallway. I did place a bunch of pillowcases, a duvet cover, and a shower curtain in the donate pile. I also moved the mismatching sheets to my painting drop-cloth supply. I have been torn about the towels. They are still in decent shape and I need a set for extra guests, but I really need to downgrade the brown ones to "puppy towels." Everybody has a stack of old towels, right? You know... the ones for drying off the dog, putting on the floor to mop up messes, throwing in the car for sand/mud... that's not just me, right?

Eventually I would like to get some baskets or something to make this feel a bit more organized, but let's face it; it's not my top priority.


Now that Spring is here and gardening season has started, it is only going to be more difficult for me to continue the 14 Week Challenge (which has technically already ended!) The next area is Bathrooms... wish me luck!