Have you watched any of the videos from The 20/20 Cure? He provides a little extra information in them, plus you get to "meet" the man behind Apartment Therapy (his name is Maxwell). There are also great links to other articles related to each day's task. It's worth checking out.
Now on to cleaning one room. I was tempted to skip. And almost did. Seriously, does this look like the kind of day that energizes you to clean? Well, maybe it does for some people. Not me. It's more of a wake up call that we're not in Florida anymore. And the kids need winter hats. And my favorite snowy day activities include comfort food, sweats, a warm drink, and basically laziness--which is practically an antonym to cleaning. Nonetheless, I stuck to it.
{Day 6: CLEAN ONE ROOM}
The kitchen made me cringe every time I walked in it today--so I figured a 20-minute surface cleaning would be a good start to fixing that. Then 20 minutes somehow multiplied into 80. I blame the kids. And a phone call. And the basic principle that effort begats motivation.
{Start Time: 4:20}
Rather than messing around with the easy stuff first, I got right to the parts that were bothering me. Cleaning splattered walls (where we lack backsplashes), grimy cabinet doors (tempting to blame the kids, but somehow the top cabinets were nearly as bad), underneath items on the counters, side of sink where the dish strainer rests, table and chairs. Also putting away items that didn't belong in the kitchen, or maybe belonged but didn't need to be stored on the counter as I had been. And sweeping the floor. I was on the phone when Daniel got home so he finished it all off with a good vacuuming, and Brylee-rella wet-Swiffered.
{End Time: 5:40}
Okay, I realize that doesn't sound like too much. And it wasn't. Without distraction it really wouldn't have taken 80 minutes. Either way, it's clean. And I remember that we have white cabinet fronts. And we actually have a little bit of counter space when things are put away. Oh, yeah, and sitting down for dinner is much more pleasant when you don't have to push things out of your way.
And, a quick update on one of "the areas" of focus for this Cure...
{AREA 4: Bookshelf, living room}
Rarely looked at yearbooks were moved to another room and blankets put in its place (this freed up a storage ottoman to put more of the kids' toys). Amp was moved out of the corner and baby swing put in its place (I'll soon start watching my sister's baby when she returns to work). Matching green lamp was added from bedroom to add more light and symmetry. Tall flowers fill in the empty space in the center where I hope to soon add a large mirror.
