Harmony at home - My 7 day guide

I started the year very motivated and have lots that I want to get done. I realised that I needed to do quite a bit of work to make my home more of a sanctuary to recharge. With the space organised, fresh and clean it feels more under control. The big thing I noticed is it took away some little stresses everyday that just were unnecessary and this gives me head space for other things. It seems to be really working so I thought I'd share a few tips with you. With just a week of January left it seems to be racing by but you can still get a 7 day guide to get harmony. It will be a bit of work but it's worth it. 

Monday
The first thing to do is give the floors a really good clean. I turned all the chairs up onto the kitchen table and cleaned all the floors in the kitchen, the utility and carpets and really freshened the place up. And then something really simple I brought some nice yellow flowers for the kitchen table. Yours can be any colour but they just gave me a lift and lasted for about 10 days which was great. It's been such a long time since I had fresh flowers in the house. I got a bit way laid organising but stopped myself and just went back to the cleaning the floor. I banished the dogs and put the music on and it was quite therapeutic.

Tuesday
Next walk round the house and made a list of all the things that need to be fixed or organised. I really want to make it more mine and a much better living space so I listed everything that needed fixing, and things I want to buy/replace. This took me about 20 mins. Then I sat in the room I finished in and just sat there quietly for a while. I imagined what I would like the room to look at, the things I didn't like about it and how to change them. I thought about how I would feel about the room if it was done and compared it to how I feel about it now. Then with that in mind I added some more things to my list. Some of them a bit more of a project than a list of jobs. I went round each room doing this which took about an hour. Make sure you sit for a while in each room. Then at the end pick one 'project' (not one of the small jobs) and commit to it. Post it on our Facebook page if you like. This will be your project for Feb.

Wednesday
The next thing I did was organise the hallway. Ours had shoes and dog leads and post and keys and all sorts and it the part of the house that I have to clean the most. So I moved this lovely pine cupboard we have and filled it with our shoes. Then I moved pine drawers into the space and put all the dogs stuff in there and made a space for the keys and the post. Each day I try and take a bit of time to get rid of the post that's not worth keeping and put the keys back on the hooks. I put up some hooks for my bag and I try and sort through my pockets and bag each day. Finding the keys and everything else I need in the morning has become less stressful and for those of you that know me you'll know keys are a bit of an issue in out house! :-)

Thursday
I moved the dogs beds and made some space not too far away from the door. I started to declutter and moved some of the things that I wanted to get rid of to this space and then I went round the house and picked up a few things and put them in this corner. I am a bit of a hoarder so this is the first step to getting them out of the house. After a few days I'm sick of them being there so I get rid. There has only been one item that I didn't part with.  (I also have a take to the shop pile as I have fabric and sewing machines and all sorts I bring home to finish off at night) I then spent the rest of the time doing all the washing getting all my clothes clean. This is setting me up for tomorrows task!

Friday
I laid all my clothes out on the bed in piles. A pile of jeans, pile of jumpers, pile of t-shirts etc. Then I went through each pile and made four piles. A pile of clothes that fit and I like. A pile of clothes that fit and I don't like. A pile that I don't want to keep either because they are the wrong size or are past their best and the fourth pile was clothes that I like but are too small. When I had done this I packed my clothes that are too small but too nice to get rid of in my motivation suitcase. I'm trying to loose weight and I'm looking forward to getting back into all my lovely dresses - you WILL see them this summer! Then I got a bin bag and put the pile of 'get rid' of clothes in it and put them by the front door. The next pile, the ones that fit but I don't feel good in I left them in my declutter pile. They will sit there for a week and as I pass them each day I will decide which ones to keep. By the end of the week I was ready to get rid of them. And the fourth pile you can then nearly put away. What I did, but it may seem a bit excessive, I organised them into outfits. I was inspired by something I read about Steve Jobs wearing the same outfit because it took away a decision each day that he didn't want to waste time on. It worked great. But it does need refreshing each week. 

Saturday
Now with the clothes sorted todays task is to give your bedroom a really good spring clean. I turned the mattress and cleared out the clutter and gave it a mini makeover. This is the place you go to at night to recharge your batteries and make sure you can face the day tomorrow full of beans. So I think it's important that its a little sanctuary. You want to look forward to going into your room at night not dreading it. This aids a good night of relaxation. Lavender incense sticks or essential oils can also relax you and help you get a good nights sleep. 

Sunday 
Todays task is a big one. Its to clean out the kitchen cupboards. I put the bin in the middle of the room and cleared out all the out of date stuff and I also cleared out all the junk food as we are on a healthy eating plan. I organised all the cupboards to make it easy to see whats in them (this makes the shopping list much quicker as well) and gave them a clean as I went. The Dyson came in very handy here. And I cleaned out the fridge and organised it so that it was more hygienic with meat together, diary, veg etc. This task took a good few hours so give it the time it deserves!

So that is my 7 day guide to harmony at home and so next week when February comes we can get well on the way with some other projects. 

2015 #makeitcount

January is always a strange month. You’ve over indulged and over spent in December and the New Year comes and you resolve to do lots of things differently.  Last year my New Years resolution was to become more organised and I can honestly say that I finished the year more organised than I started it but looking back over the year I hope that that wasn’t my greatest achievement.

As I crossed the Irish Sea heading home having spent a wonderful Christmas and New Year with both mine and Tom’s family I was looking out at the slightly stormy sea. It was like a blank canvas, full of possibilities and it  was all just bubbling under the surface waiting to come out. That's how I feel about 2015. 

I, like many, can think of all the things I don’t like about myself, my life, my habits and resolve to try and change them. Or for 2015 I could not. This year I am going to give myself a break and simply resolve to make this year count. Good things and bad things will come my way and I can’t control them but I can control myself. I can try and make small changes in my life, watching less TV, eating better, but at then end of the year I want to feel like I gave 2015 all I had and came out the other end a better person.

Having decided to approach 2015 in this way I feel and energy and buzz that I haven’t felt before at this time of year. I fell like each day is going to bring something great because I’m going to make it great by being good to myself. I’m going to make that project I’ve been thinking about for ages, I’m going to swap the fizzy drinks for bottles of water (done that already), I’m going to find time to use the spa voucher and I’m going to make each day count in some small way.

What was really great is that the few nights I have been lying in bed thinking about what my little thing is going to for the following day so when I wake up I know already and I feel good which is a great way to start a new day.

So for 6 days I’ve stopped watching TV before 9pm to make time for other things (thank God for sky plus) and for five days I’ve swapped all my drinks (except one morning coffee) for water. However, yesterdays' thing is one I got really excited about. I took something I didn’t use/didn’t like and changed it into something I do like/use. And the best thing is I might do it for one day, or everyday for one month and either way I’m still sticking with my resolution.  And having over spent a bit during the holidays it is a great way to keep crafting and be rather thrifty about it. I’ll try and post them on Facebook & pinterst so you can check my progress. 

So I'd like to wish you all a great 2015 - whatever you resolve to do have a great year, be kind to yourself and #makeitcount