Kitchen Makeover

We are not done, but I wanted to post some progress pictures of our kitchen that we (mostly my husband) are working on. This process doesn't really give me an excuse for the state of my kitchen tonight...

That's just from pure laziness...and I'm sure none of you have ever let the dishes pile up like that...but I have. I'm no stranger to unloading my dishwasher only to immediately fill it completely with what's in the sink! I need to get this under control. Now.

This remodeling process started on a whim with my husband ripping out 3, yes 3!, layers of linoleum to uncover the hardwood floors. We are in the process of redoing the floors, counters, cabinets and walls. I'm so excited with it so far! 

The before of the floors.

Part of the process...

The walls in progress.

Getting closer...

Now I should go do those dishes...

New Stage

I just recently turned 30.
And a few days later I had my second child.
I am getting older and my family has gotten bigger, and I need to be better about my time.
I wrote about being more efficient here and then an update here.
I wouldn't say I am doing great, but I have had a lot going on, so it's been hard to find my rhythm with this. But I am determined now.
My mom gave me the book Steady Days when my son was born 2 weeks ago. I have read some of it. I am trying to get ideas. To get inspired. To get my butt in gear!
This evening I took about 5 minutes to purge my "container drawer" where I keep all my food storage containers.  I threw away lids that had no containers, and threw away containers that had no lids. Then I took about 20 that I rarely use (since I have SO many and only so many places to put them since my deep freezer died) and stored that on an open shelf going down to the basement. I didn't want to throw them all away in case I do need them one day. And surely I would need them first thing tomorrow if I threw them away tonight.
Anyways, it was 5 minutes. But it felt great and it was a simple start for me to be headed in the right direction. To get cleaned up. To simplify. To make life feel more in order somehow.

Doing the Dishes

I am not a fan.
It is not my least favorite thing to do. But I am still not a fan!
It's been a while since my husband and I made any kind of "rule" on this. What we've normally done is "try" to put things in the dishwasher right away (I try, and I try to make my husband) and then when it gets full run it. Then husband puts away clean dishes and I load it with anything that has had to wait in the sink while it is running.
This has failed us. Between work, coaching volleyball, having an infant, and me being pregnant, this has just not worked. We have ended up going days with clean dishes that have not been put away and a sink full of dirty dishes. We don't always give in until the sink is so full we can't do anything else with it. And this is with having other people at our house for various meetings and babysitting.
Unacceptable!
So, my husband came up with a new "rule" and thus far I am very excited about it!
We will not go to bed with ANY unfinished dishes! If the dishwasher is running then we need to wash any other dishes that could not fit in it. The sink is clean when we go to bed. And when we wake up. And this is a very nice, very freeing feeling! It's working!
This is what's working for us right now. Head on over here to find out more great tips on what's working for others.

WFMW - Using Fewer paper towels

It is so easy to have a small spill in the kitchen, grab a paper towel, wipe it up and throw the towel away. As I have been on a journey to find simple, yet meaningful, ways to save money, I have found I can be very wasteful with paper towels...
So i bought a package of 18 plain, inexpensive white washcloths for about $4 at Wal Mart. And I bought 2 small painter's buckets for about $2 each.

In one of the buckets I add a little bit of Oxi Clean powder (you can use any cleaner you might want) and some water. I add a handful of washcloths and let them soak. Then, when I need to wipe up a spill or wipe down my counters, I just grab one that has been soaking. If the mess is not bad, I rinse off the cloth and put it back in to soak for next time.
If the job was a bit bigger and I do not want to add it back to my bucket o' clean water and Oxi Clean, I use my other bucket to hold the dirty ones until I wash them all in the laundry.
I store them both right under the sink, so they are accessible and ready to go. I still buy paper towels, but use them for things like getting the grease off the bacon before I eat it and drying out my fresh lettuce leaves that I have just washed to eat...

This is something I have found that works great for me and my family! We buy and use less paper towels (good for environment and our budget) and the cleaner is stretched a lot further when in the bucket o' water! For more great ideas, head on over o We Are THAT Family.