2 Weeks: The Entryway and Living Room

So, yesterday, we dumped a bunch of stuff from the car directly into the entryway to be sorted later.  If you're like me, it's still sitting there, waiting to be sorted and put away.  Which means that my entryway which is, in fact, part of my living room, looks like a bomb went off.

My living room also looks like a bomb went off, as it is the most used room of our entire house.  There's piles of laundry ready to be put away, dirt on the floor in between all the toys, blankets, and pillows.  There's DVDs that need to be put away, books stacked up on the mantle, papers and mail on the end tables, empty water glasses out, computers (and cords) all over, shoes in the walkway, music scattered across the piano, and bags full of stuff for every activity right in the entryway, along with coats, sweatshirts, and other accessories cluttering up the entryway.  Hurricane Cook Family just came through and left a path of destruction in it's wake.

So, today is all about your most used areas of your home, and the ones that you want to be the most presentable when you open your door to someone.  To get these 2 areas (which I've combined due to proximity) I will be using the following supplies:

Vacuum
Smallish Rags (2)
Lemon Pledge (yes, I really do buy normal cleaning products sometimes)
Glass Cleaner
Paper Towels
Bucket
Liquid Castile (I'm using eucalyptus today)
Broom and Dustpan

Okay, let's start by cleaning up.  Put all the clothes, dirty dishes, shoes, bags, and general "junk" away where it belongs.  Get your family involved and become a tidy up whirlwind.  One thing I've learned over the course of the last 10 years of keeping my own house is that if your house is neat, people will automatically think that it's clean, that is unless there's muddy footprints across your black bamboo hardwood floors, but honestly, what would I know about that? (insert sarcasm here)

So try to make sure that you spend a few moments every day "neating" or "tidying up" your house.  You'll create an illusion of cleanliness even if you don't have time to dust, mop and vacuum.  Once everything is tidied up, I like to clear out any movable furniture and remove the rugs, then sweep.  You could vacuum if you want, but my vacuum scratches my black bamboo floors (which show everything btw) so I sweep with a broom and dustpan.  After sweeping I get a bucket of hot mop water with a squirt or two of castile soap and I mop the floors, again on my hands and knees because I don't believe in mops.   This may take a lot more time depending on how much flooring you have to mop, if any at all.  My floor takes lots of time, but once upon a time, floor mopping took just a few minutes because we had carpet in our living room.

When the floor is dry, move your furniture and rugs back into place (don't forget to vacuum the rugs).  Now, grab a rag and furniture polish and dust your main furniture pieces.  I do the piano, the end tables and the bookshelves.  We have other shelves on our walls, but I only dust them half the time, because they're high up and no one really sees the dust as much.  Dusting doesn't take that long and it's a great way to remove allergens from your home.  If you don't want to use furniture polish (which I also only use about half the time) but you don't want the dust getting airborne, get your dust rag wet, then ring it out really really well and dust with that.  Don't forget to dust lampshades.  They harbor tons of dust, and when they're dusted, they let more light filter through too.  Dusting done, check.

Now grab your window cleaner and clean windows in your space.  Don't forget to clean any windows in your door, as they probably have finger and nose prints on them, I know mine do.  Also, if you have a TV that you can clean with this method, do that now.  I have a special cloth to wipe my TV down with, and I do that while I dust.  With the dusting done, you're pretty much done.

I would like to think for a moment on organization before I go.  Your entryway and living room are the hub of your home.  You live in them constantly, and you have lots of stuff in them usually.  Organization is key to keeping these areas "clean".  I like to have coat hooks behind or next to the door, so that I don't have a pile of backpacks and coats right on the floor in the entry.  I also recommend (for your sanity) having a shoe bin near the door, if possible.  We don't wear shoes in the house (also for my sanity), so there's usually a pile of shoes right in front of the door that I feel obliged to trip on anytime I'm in the vicinity.  So, instead of continuing to nearly break my neck on tiny pink shoes, I decided to put a large basket near the door.  When we come inside, we all put our shoes in the shoe bin and it keeps the area much more clutter free.

I don't know about you, but my kids like to play with their toys in the living room.  I dislike this, but since it's their home too, I'm trying to embrace this concept.  It's a trial every day.  I have chosen to put a white plastic bin (with a lid) full of toys in the living room.  The kids are free to play with the toys, and at the end of the night, either they, or I, pick up the toys so they're not on the floor.  If the girls bring toys from their bedroom (or socks, or clothes, or, or, or...okay you get it) I keep another white plastic bin at the end of the hall.  This way, I can drop their stuff into the bin and then I can instruct them to put away the stuff in the bin.  It's a nice system.

Another thing about living rooms is that it's easy to grow out of your storage and then have overflow.  Pare down if this has happened to you.  Our DVD shelves are completely full, but our bookcases aren't, so I've tried to attractively incorporate the extra DVDs into the bookcase so Brad can have all the movies he wants.  We have tons of books, and if we ever grow out of our storage, we'll have to pare down a bit too.

When purchasing new furniture, keep storage in mind.  Do you love to cuddle up under a big blanket when watching TV in the evening, but your blanket is always in the way?  Think about investing in a storage ottoman if you're looking at getting something new.  Does your family love to play board games but you have no where to keep them, so they're stacked in a corner of the room?  Look into shelving, or a storage ottoman, or a coffee table with some storage in it.  When you are out to pick up a TV cabinet, make sure you get something that will accommodate your Wii or PS3 with all the controllers and games.  This way, you won't have to stare at all those wires hanging out there all the time.  Thinking about purchasing furniture that serves multiple purposes can maximize your storage space and help you make your living room work for your lifestyle.

Tomorrow we will be talking about your main dining area, and what you can do to help keep it looking great.

Good Luck!

Kristin