happy living Design

index chopping boards

We had a set of colored plastic chopping mats awhile back. Each color represented a food group and was supposed to prevent cross-contamination of food. Eventually the chopping mats got all chopped up and I haven't replaced them. I always wondered that since I stored them all next to one another that the cross-contamination prevention was a mute point. I would have had to have another plastic sheet separating them. This product solves the problem. You just need to find room to store the filing unit. Pretty cute.

from MoMA Store

spring cleaning

Does anyone really do spring cleaning anymore?  It was more of a necessity back in the day when fireplaces were the main source of heat during the winter and the rugs and drapes needed to have the soot shaken out.  But spring is still the most popular time to do a deep-clean around the house, purge and organize (my favorite things!).  And after the 3-month spending hiatus, I feel some major purging coming on.  I did a bit during the last 12 weeks, but not nearly enough.

Martha has a nice Spring-Clean Your Life gallery which is based on the book Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear Your Clutter, Find Your Life by Gail Blanke.

photo from Martha Stewart

canning the housecleaner

I did something crazy a few weeks ago.  I let my housecleaner go.  He was great.  No complaints there.  But I had been thinking about it for awhile and just decided to go ahead and do it.  It was really a bit of luxury for us and great while it lasted.  Originally he came every two weeks and then we went to every three weeks with my supplemental cleaning in between.  I loved coming home on those Thursdays to a clean and refreshed house.  Chris cleaned for us for about a year and before that, at our other house Barb also cleaned for a little over a year.

Why would I do this??  I honestly can't say that I had any inclination that the stock market was going to go below 8500 points and I was taking advance steps towards tightening our budget at home.  A general tightening of the budget was in my mind, and I also wondered if it was really necessary for our tiny family of two to have a housecleaner (the house, except for the bathrooms, never gets that dirty anyway).

But there is another part of me that felt that I lost touch with my own house.  Is that weird?  I think there is a benefit to being engaged with your home and something both meaningful and practical that is lost when everything is left to the hired help.  When I am the one scrubbing the bathroom floor I notice the that caulk along the base of the tub needs to be done and I make a mental note of it.  The housecleaner is not necessarily going to notice and even if he or she does they may not remember to tell you about it.  On a less practical note is not the scrubbing and dusting just as much a part of making a home as say the decorating and cooking?

I am not implying by any means that I am noble or deserve a pat on the back because I am back to cleaning my own house.  I am just glad to be an active particpant in the 'keeping' process again, I guess.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and IKEA Docksta table

Never thought you'd see those words all together.  I inherited a Docksta table from my very cool brother and it needed a bit of cleaning up.  I picked up a couple of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and wholla! the table is like new again.  This may not be a light bulb moment to the rest of you, but I thought I would share.  I cannot say what a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser actually is or whether someone will find out in 10 years that they cause cancer (I am pretty sure they are considered non-toxic), but man does it work.

Yea, those are the curtains that I have been meaning to sew for like weeks.  No months. :P

PS.  I have a new category called 'scrubby sponge'.  That is what the boy sometimes calls me since I love to clean (Not!).  So the 'scrubby sponge' category will pertain to all aspects of keeping our houses clean.