2007: Type A to the Max
You might think that getting a book about housekeeping from your boyfriend for Christmas is offensive.
not i!
Inspired by my friend Alice, whose successful 2006 resolution was to plan group volunteering events every month, I'll be tackling my domestic world month by month in 2007. This book is organized by room, so I'll probably start by learning whatever there is to know about one room per month. The kitchen will probably be a year-long project though..each room has about 30 pages of content while the kitchen alone has 100 pages! As for the "cleaning and maintenance" part of the book...let's just say I'm going to adopt the parts of the book that minimize work and probably not adopt parts of the book that maximize my time spent fussing about house. I mean, come on. Who vacuums their vents weekly? And if your couch needs fluffing that much, maybe you should have bought a different couch. I admire the friends of mine who have adult homes that fit their personal style, without seeming to put much thought or effort into it. Too bad I'm not one of those people, and I study everything to its thoroughest depths!
Lemon
to combat alkaline odors
To eliminate strong odors from cooking fish or vegetables... simmer half a dozen lemon slices and a handful of cloves in a pan of water for ten minutes. (I subbed cinnamon since I never have cloves.)
A good sign that this book has everything I need in it:
This week, we deep-fried some catfish on the stove. No amount of aerating is getting rid of the smell! Martha has a page of natural air fresheners, so the one we're going to use is lemon.
Schedule:
January - Finances & Home Office
February - Routine Cleaning & Bedroom
March - Photo project & Kitchen I
April - Spring Cleaning & Moving?
May - Kitchen II
June - Living Room
July - Dining Room
August - Outdoor Spaces
Sept - Fall Cleaning & Entry, Halls, Stairs
Oct - Closets
Nov - Lighting
Dec - Bathroom
And to keep myself accountable, I'll perhaps use what I learn from my Kate Spade Occasions book to host some type of gathering each month. I've found that my house is much cleaner when I entertain often, and hopefully we'll have a new place soon that's more entertaining-worthy. One occasion per month isn't that crazy...we seemed to do quite a few this year already. Things I always want to do:
Housewarming where I actually hang out with people
Cooking-oriented party
Craftsy party
Better poker nights
I wonder if I want to host a bridal shower...
Grown-up cocktail/mocktail party
Themed dress code party
Karaoke Revolution + DDR party (to celebrate not having downstairs neighbors anymore)
Milestone birthday party ;)
Baking-oriented party
Holiday party
not i!
Inspired by my friend Alice, whose successful 2006 resolution was to plan group volunteering events every month, I'll be tackling my domestic world month by month in 2007. This book is organized by room, so I'll probably start by learning whatever there is to know about one room per month. The kitchen will probably be a year-long project though..each room has about 30 pages of content while the kitchen alone has 100 pages! As for the "cleaning and maintenance" part of the book...let's just say I'm going to adopt the parts of the book that minimize work and probably not adopt parts of the book that maximize my time spent fussing about house. I mean, come on. Who vacuums their vents weekly? And if your couch needs fluffing that much, maybe you should have bought a different couch. I admire the friends of mine who have adult homes that fit their personal style, without seeming to put much thought or effort into it. Too bad I'm not one of those people, and I study everything to its thoroughest depths!
Lemon
to combat alkaline odors
To eliminate strong odors from cooking fish or vegetables... simmer half a dozen lemon slices and a handful of cloves in a pan of water for ten minutes. (I subbed cinnamon since I never have cloves.)
A good sign that this book has everything I need in it:
This week, we deep-fried some catfish on the stove. No amount of aerating is getting rid of the smell! Martha has a page of natural air fresheners, so the one we're going to use is lemon.
Schedule:
January - Finances & Home Office
February - Routine Cleaning & Bedroom
March - Photo project & Kitchen I
April - Spring Cleaning & Moving?
May - Kitchen II
June - Living Room
July - Dining Room
August - Outdoor Spaces
Sept - Fall Cleaning & Entry, Halls, Stairs
Oct - Closets
Nov - Lighting
Dec - Bathroom
And to keep myself accountable, I'll perhaps use what I learn from my Kate Spade Occasions book to host some type of gathering each month. I've found that my house is much cleaner when I entertain often, and hopefully we'll have a new place soon that's more entertaining-worthy. One occasion per month isn't that crazy...we seemed to do quite a few this year already. Things I always want to do:
Housewarming where I actually hang out with people
Cooking-oriented party
Craftsy party
Better poker nights
I wonder if I want to host a bridal shower...
Grown-up cocktail/mocktail party
Themed dress code party
Karaoke Revolution + DDR party (to celebrate not having downstairs neighbors anymore)
Milestone birthday party ;)
Baking-oriented party
Holiday party