cleaning Archives - white house black shutters

How to Clean a Stroller (plus a giveaway)

posted on: May 1, 2013 93 Comments

Not only is it time for spring cleaning, but garage sale season is also here. I'm scoring deals but also buying a lot of used items, which means cleaning stains and doing more laundry. We buy most of our kids' clothes at garage sales or get them as hand-me-downs, and sometimes I'll even buy clothes with stains on them knowing that I can get them out! My secret weapon? Shaklee's Nature Bright. We've been using Shaklee products in our home since Doug and I got married, almost 5 years … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cleaning, simple tips

40 BAGS 40 DAYS Week Three Progress

posted on: March 2, 2013 3 Comments

This week I focused on two spaces that needed a large burst of energy rather than a quick clean up: the kids’ room and clothing and craft storage. I also cleaned up my purse and a nightstand, and focused on keeping the laundry going and keeping things put away. Shortly after I wrote last week’s progress post, I got to work cleaning out the kids’ room: their closet, drawers, room, and bins in the attic. Sure the room was clean, but drawers and closet were far from it. To avoid getting … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 40 BAGS 40 DAYS 2013, 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS, basement, cleaning, closets, hallway, ORGANIZATION

40 BAGS 40 DAYS Week Two Progress

posted on: February 23, 2013 7 Comments

Earlier this month we kicked off our third annual 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS decluttering challenge. Want to join in? It’s not too late! Check out this post, get our printable calendar, and join the closed facebook group for support. Are you already joining us or want to see blogs who are? Link up at the bottom of this post! Saturday (3 BAGS): started the kids room. I brought bins down from the attic and started going through them. I got together a bag for Goodwill, a small bag of boy stuff for a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 40 BAGS 40 DAYS 2013, 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS, cleaning, ORGANIZATION

40 BAGS 40 DAYS Week One Progress

posted on: February 16, 2013 8 Comments

This past Wednesday, we kicked off our third annual 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS decluttering challenge. Want to join in? It’s not too late! Check out this post, get our printable calendar, and join the closed facebook group for support. Are you already joining us or want to see blogs who are? Link up at the bottom of this post! This week, I wanted to start small and tackle the places that were out in the open and had collected clutter. Papers, junk, stuff that was staring me in the face and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 40 BAGS 40 DAYS 2013, 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS, cleaning, family room, foyer, ORGANIZATION

How I Clean My Hardwood Floors (with Oreck Grab-It and Steam-It)

posted on: December 22, 2012 86 Comments

With three young kids in an old home with all hardwood floors, I feel like I am constantly cleaning up the floor. We have dust bunnies, the occasional crumb, toddler messes,and a crawling baby who tries to eat any speck of mess that he finds. (yuck) A few of you have asked how I clean our hardwood floors. I’ll tell you how I used to clean them, and then how I clean them now. Here’s how I used to clean: Sweep or vacuum multiple times daily. Feel like I’m on a game show and go as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cleaning, favorite things, giveaways, SPONSORED

My Small, Calming Bedroom

posted on: September 5, 2012 12 Comments

In case you were wondering, I haven’t finished our upholstered headboard. Maybe you don’t even remember the headboard I started back in December. You might not even have known this blog then. I’ve done some major cleaning in here and it looks NOTHING like the room I last showed ya. You know what, I owe you guys a view. These are the “before the after” pictures. The only thing that I bought in an actual store was one pair of the curtains (Target), everything else was from Goodwill, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cleaning, closets, garage saling, our bedroom

End of Summer Purge and Organize

posted on: August 28, 2012 15 Comments

When I’m not blogging I’m doing stuff, and when I’m blogging, I’m a procrastinating slob. Anyone else have this issue? I’ve had an itch to do some decluttering so I started with my basement. Dun dun dun. One thing that really helped me was this notion, would you want to move it? Even the stuff you like? Box it up, move the box, unload it, and find a new spot for the crap? The answer is usually no. Back when we did the 40 Bags in 40 Days, I told you I cleaned my basement. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: basement, cleaning, laundry room, ORGANIZATION, simple tips

Let Your Mess Make You Money with ForRent.com

posted on: April 20, 2012 1 Comment

Although we just finished the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge, things are still gonna get messy around here. I’m sure everyone has that one room that has a hard time staying clean, for us it’s our bedroom. Something needs to be moved? Put it in our room. No room in the linen closet? Don’t make space for it, just put it in our room. Laundry not finished and people are coming over? You get the picture... When cleaning a space that has gotten a bit out of control, I think it’s best sometimes … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cleaning, our bedroom, SPONSORED

40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS–Week 7 & OUR ATTIC IS DONE!

posted on: April 6, 2012 3 Comments

Woo hoo, week 7! Today is day 39! Are you proud of yourself? I am. :) Since we technically still have today and tomorrow left, I am going to hold a link up next Friday. It’ll be more like a reflection of the whole challenge: what you got out of it, how you feel about your home now, what you learned, are happy about, all that stuff. So you’re not off the hook, and we’re not completely done yet!! This week I tackled two areas in our hallway that needed to be finished: the linen closet … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012 goals, 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS, attic, cleaning, closets, hallway, ORGANIZATION

Our Daily Schedule

posted on: April 4, 2012 13 Comments

I asked on our facebook what you’d like me to post about, and one of our readers left the following comment: I need to hear from other moms of 3 or more children - on how they maintain/keep up with house and balance time for themselves and their family. I am drowning these days and it doesn’t help that I have an infant waking up a lot through the night!!! Yawn!!!!!! I love this idea and also love hearing how other moms manage things and get through their day. I thought I’d start by … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cleaning, life with kids