Domestic Goddess

You may (or may not, if you really know me) think that I am a Domestic Goddess. You wouldn't be entirely wrong, just mostly wrong.

Domestic Skills I DO NOT possess (or at the very least, am not very good at):
-sewing, crocheting, knitting, etc.
-cooking without recipes
-cooking with ingredients I am not familiar with
-baking bread
-keeping my floors mopped
-providing art projects for Weston
-interior decorating
-cake decorating
-canning

Domestic Skills I Am Pretty Good At:
-baking sweets
-cooking anything from a box, package, can or from the freezer
-cooking with (most) recipes
-vacuuming
-tidying
-doing dishes
-turning on DVD's for my kids
-putting together Weston's Thomas train track
-making beds
-planning outings for my kids
-paying bills
-grocery shopping
-ORGANIZING!

I have decided to share with you my favorite things for performing my domestic duties. First of all, I think I have mentioned before that my house is not always clean, but it is almost always tidy. I'm kind of Type A like that. That is why I have a hard time letting my 2 year old do art projects. I don't like the mess. Anyway, first of all, my all time favorite thing for organizing and keeping my house looking tidy is BINS. I use bins everywhere, in every room of my house.***

Here is Weston posing with the toy bin storage in his room. I love this thing. I think it cost $3o at Target (by Do Your Room). It looks cute and each bin has specific things that go in it (blocks, Thomas tracks, fire truck, potato head, etc.) so that Weston can clean up by himself, since he knows where everything belongs.
I use one big bin for all the balls. It sits right next to the basketball hoop, so it's easy to clean up. I also like the hanging storage circles from IKEA ($6, I think). I use them to store all of Weston's random stuffed animals.
I am the most proud of this organized area. I just got these shelves all cleaned out and organized a few months ago. I wish I had a "before" picture because it was a mess. This is our "medicine" cupboard. I found these really awesome stacking plastic bins at Walmart for $1 each. Before this got organized all our medicines, band aids, old prescriptions, vitamins . . . anything remotely pharmaceutical, was thrown in one big bin. You could never find what you were looking for and it looked horrible. Anyway, I separated it out in categories and then I added the open stacking bins for the miscellaneous stuff that we use more often.
This is my least favorite part of the house. When we bought this desk I tried to keep in mind that over 5 years I had not been able to infect Ian with the "tidy bug" and it would probably never happen. So, I loved that we could put bins in the hutch that Ian could throw things in and not actually have to organize. It has worked out great. The problem is that the rest of the desk can NEVER stay tidy. It inevitably becomes the collecting ground for loose papers, movies, scriptures, mail, coupons, etc. I have not perfected the art of keeping the desk tidy, and it irks me to no end. (it looks particularly bad in this pic with wires everywhere because we just got cable and Ian was messing with our Eyetv so that we can watch TV on the computer)I am also a big proponent of bookshelves. There are always going to be stacks and piles, but if they can avoid being on the floor or tables, then I'm happier about it. This is our movie shelf in the living room. I know we should probably consolidate to a big disc case, but I like seeing the case covers. It's easier to peruse. Also, check out my new Halloween decoration from my mom! Thanks Mom!
Next on the list, besides bins and shelves, which are pretty obvious, is my Black and Decker Dustbuster. I just got this little beaut a few months ago and I'm not sure how I lived my Type A life without it all those years. I use it for the obvious cleaning up of minor messes, crumbs and such, but it is also great for cleaning the couches, edges of the carpet and tile floors and cleaning out gunk from the highchair, booster seat and carseats. Bonus! It is wall mounted! (see below pic of my laundry room)
Also seen in that picture is the set of hooks that we finally bought to keep the broom and mops up off the floor. SO much nicer.

This next picture doesn't have much to do with cleaning, but simply an example of my need for organization. Snacks on the top shelf, pasta and cornbread and seasoning packets on the next shelf, baby food (fruit on the right, veggies on the left) on the 3rd shelf, and pancake mix and jarred foods on the bottom. These pantries were the best investment (Target, $40 each).
Other cleaning things I can't live without:
-Clorox disinfecting wipes. I buy the big 4 pack at Sam's Club and use them for EVERYTHING. Cleaning the bathroom, wiping my kitchen counters, spot cleaning my kitchen tile, cleaning kitchen appliances, wiping doorways and walls, etc.
-Munchkin bottle brush. I hand wash Davin's bottles and this is by far my favorite bottle brush.
-Dirt Devil vacuum. I have an abnormal relationship with vacuuming. I love it. It is my favorite thing to do when I want to feel productive. Vacuuming is so easy and only takes about 15 minutes (if you live in a little one story 1400 sqft house), but also makes the house look so much cleaner! Most bang for your cleaning buck.
-Toilet brush and Lysol Toilet Cleaner. Growing up we did not ever own a toilet brush. I had literally never seen one. We always cleaned toilets by hand with a rag and some Comet. When I grew up and realized they had these handy scrubbing brushes and liquid cleaner that basically did the job for you, I knew I would never go back. I don't resent you for making me do it by hand, Mom. I think it gave me character. :)
-Endust. I love how it makes my furniture shine and actually gets TONS of dust off my dressers, piano, shelves, etc. Do NOT use this stuff on mirrors or glass. It gets very streaky and will not easily be cleaned. Trust me.

If you made it this far in this post, here is a pic of Weston sitting in front of the TV stand. It's a little blurry, but Weston was looking so cute today in his new polo, jeans and tennis shoes. Also note the several bins in the TV stand that keep all the crap contained.
This morning we went to Gardner Village with some friends to see the witches and all the Halloween decorations. It looked so cute this year! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. Lame. I borrowed my friend's, but it was almost out of batteries and I don't have the pics yet, so hopefully I got one good one in there. I will have to post those when I get them. In the meantime, get to organizing!

***I counted 31 bins in my house (not including Weston's toy bin storage thing). I got them everywhere from Bed, Bath and Beyond to Dollar Tree.