Be Gone, Yellow-Green

You're banished!

Did you think the doors and trim were white? They've always been a light yellow. Just goes to show 1) the relativity of colour and 2) just how dark it was in there. The baseboards are painted cloud white by Benjamin Moore--and it's an off-white. It's practically glowing next to that dingy yellow trim.

We still have a ways to go before that dratted yellow-green is gone from everywhere:

But I started!

True Story--
This evening over a backyard fire, I said to Chris, "What if we just paint the treads as well as the risers on the stairs and save ourselves a lot of sanding?"

And he said, "I thought we'd decided that already."

Maybe we had! I am going to go with black and white. I am so excited. It is really too bad I won't get to it before we go away--it would have been good to have a few days after painting them when no one would be using them.

P.S. About the housekeeping? Yep. I've totally fallen off the wagon. I'm not sure what I have done and what I haven't. But I'm doing my best to clean as I go--and that meant spending close to an hour on my knees scraping up paint blotches in that itty bitty back hallway, today. The floor finish is all but gone--so the paint spatters really stuck.

I am having so much fun.

Day 8 & 9

Working on the house this weekend. I really need to find some nice shrubs which will work, here!

Day 8 (Saturday)

I worked eight hours ending after 9pm.

When I got home, I wondered if I'd walked into the wrong house! The kitchen was beautiful. The counters were clear, the stove was shiny --and no pots!

The living room was tidy, too--which is a major accomplishment given my daughter had had a sleepover in there with two friends the night before.

How did I do with the checklist?

1. Make the bed. 
Yes! 

8/8

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)
No.

4/8
 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack while coffee brews.
Yes. 

8/8

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
No. 

3/8

5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
Yes. it involved folding and putting away the shirt and shorts I wore on Friday. 

8/8

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
No. Someone else may have done some laundry, though.

6/8

8. Do the Evening Dishes.

Yes! My husband did them.

7/8

Day 9 (Sunday)

I tried to sleep in--my first day of vacation! But there are too many rabbits in the neighbourhood and the beagle was intent on greeting them all with loud vigorous barking.

But, once I had my coffee, I started to get excited about getting some projects underway.

My son and I got started on taking down the popcorn ceiling in the back hallway.

I painted our front door from red to blue.

Hooray for one coat coverage! That's Behr Marquee "Island Dream" on the right.

I even painted the short wall in the stairwell. I went from yellow-green to blue-green. It is so calming (more later).

But, this is about the housekeeping checklist. How did I do?

1. Make the bed. 
Yes! 

9/9

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)

yes.

5/9

 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack while coffee brews.

Yes. 

8/8

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
No. 

3/9

5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
Yes. 

9/9

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
No.

6/9

8. Do the Evening Dishes.

Yes. And I should do more. 

8/9

I had one of those wonderful putz about the house days eating leftovers for all meals.

And pie.

Sweet.

The Back Hallway: Navy and white or white and navy?

The area I call the back hallway bugs me. The colour makes my skin crawl, actually. I had been going to work on it during the One Room Challenge last Spring, but changed my mind to work on my dining room. (I still have the table to finish before I'll say I'm done.)

It needs work.



The doors (and probably the trim) were likely painted with oil based paint. I think so because when Chris went to sand the doors to fit back into their openings without sticking, the paint loosened--and now, you can literally peel it off the doors. With your fingers.

The fact that the underlying paint is yellowish is another clue it is likely oil based paint under there.

So, the doors need to be taken down and sanded back to bare wood, primed and then re-painted. That's an outdoor job--and not one we could do in the Spring with the ground half frozen and wet with melting snow. 

And, I want to bring down the popcorn ceiling.

Of course, I do!

But this space has the potential to be amazing.

Option 1:

Creamy white walls, navy blue doors.

source

(It took some digging, but those doors are painted Farrow and Ball's Hague Blue, mixed into a Sherwin Williams' exterior paint.)

Option 2:

Navy blue walls and white doors?

source

I love all the cognac here. Unfortunately all the wood in my space is on the stairs, around the corner and not really a part of the space.

As you can see, I've started!

Whichever way I decide to go, there's no rush, no timetable.

Do you have a preference?

Housekeeping Challenge: Day 7 Not the End.

Such a good week.

I woke up today full of energy. What's the best way to celebrate a week of housekeeping? Why--with a few chores, of course! I did a few I would consider to be my weekly chores--it just seemed right to do them on Day 7.

I vacuumed the stairs, dusted my bedroom, washed the kitchen floor--and in extra special honour of Day 7, wrestled the slipcover back onto the sofa.

It's been off since April. I washed it--and intentionally left it off until the back yard dried up from the Spring rain. And then, of course, I just didn't want to deal with it. Today was the day. It wasn't even all that difficult. I love it all nice and white again--and I'm thinking a nice bright cushion in honour of summer would be nice. But I don't really want to spend any more money right now.

1. Make the bed. 
Yes! I love my bed. I notice there's a lot of bland beds out there in blogland.

7/7

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)
Yes. I even swished the toilet bowls--with cleaner and everything.

4/7
 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack while coffee brews.
Yes. 

7/7

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
Yes, but I didn't set a timer. I haven' felt a great need for this. I wonder if it's because school's out?

3/7

5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
Yes. I even dusted. I almost vacuumed.

7/7

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
Yes! 

6/7

8. Do the Evening Dishes.

Yes! Every last one.

6/7

I hadn't thought I'd post past today--but I'm having second thoughts. Tomorrow is my last day of work before I take a week off--and being "on vacation" mode could be very dangerous to my new sparkly house. We are leaving Thursday for an out of town wedding--and I would love to come home to the house the way it is now. 

So, if it's all right with you, I'll continue.

Housekeeping Challenge Day 6: Pushing Through

I had big plans for today--none of which I accomplished. Theoretically, I had time, but mentally, the time I had to leave for work lay in my path like a huge caltrops lying in my path.

Plus, there was a thunderstorm--and the power went out for twenty minutes.

So, I kept to the bare minimum today.

1. Make the bed. 
Yes! I went one step further and put on some pretty pillowcases, too.

6/6. 

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)
no. 

3/6
 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack while coffee brews.
Yes. 

6/6

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
Honestly, I can't remember, so no. 

2/6

5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
Yes. 6/6

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
Yes! I got the folding done from yesterday and yet another load done and hung up on the line. 4/5

8. Do the Evening Dishes.

When I got home from work at 10:20pm they were done!

5/6

Happy. So tired.

Housekeeping Challenge Day 5: Company's Coming!

Today was another day off--thank goodness!

I vacuumed and put down the new entry rug. I say "new" even though I bought it two months ago--it was sitting in a corner--still rolled up and taped.

It is a little smaller than the old one.

left: taken in January; right: taken today. You can see the small child's chair is on the rug on the left but not on the right. I think I'll be keeping the old one for winter use.

I taught my daughter how to unclog the beater bar on our vacuum, today! And I dusted like a dervish. The house looked pretty good by the time my company came. I was very happy.

Here's how the rest of it went:

1. Make the bed. 
Yes! 5/5

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)
yes! 3/5
 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack while coffee brews.
Yes. 5/5

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
Yes! and then some.
2/5

5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
Yes. 5/5

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
Yes! I got the folding done from yesterday and yet another load done and hung up on the line. 4/5

8. Do the Evening Dishes.

Woot! Yes, indeedy. Take a look at that beeyootiful counter! It was like that when I prepared supper, too. 4/5

I work tomorrow night, but I have the day free. 

Housekeeping Challenge Day 4: Temptation

Thankfully, today was a day off.

I decided to focus on the laundry.

Believe it or not, it's all clean.

So, I fired up a webinar and folded for a long time.

These clothes in the basket and on the table are new. I washed them just today--they had to be taken off the line quickly when it threatened to rain. More folding in the forecast, tomorrow!

How did the rest go?

I found it really, really hard to ask the kids to do anything--after all, I was home, these jobs are my job. But, I did. Unfortunately, my daughter did not do the vacuuming I asked her do--but my son did do the dishes after lunch (and brought in the clothes off the line).

I had to overcome the HUGE temptation to just take the day off, too. The house is looking OK, after all.


1. Make the bed. 
Yes! 4/4

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)
yes! 2/4
 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack while coffee brews.
Yes. 4/4

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
No.
1/4

5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
Yes. 3/4

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
Yes, I'd say so!  3/4.

8. Do the Evening Dishes. (Honestly? If I stick my hands in dishwater after supper, it counts! It all counts.)
This was hard. I really, really wanted to leave them. Oddly, what spurred me on was the fact that even if I did the glasses, plates, and cutlery--there would still be the pots and pans to do! 3/4.


Thanks for you encouragement--and the accountability. It is the only way those dishes got done.

Housekeeping Challenge, Day 3. People are doing it for themselves....

Worked an eight hour shift which ended after 10pm. I'm exhausted.

I focused on getting the meals planned and the shopping list completed before work so there wasn't a lot of time for housework.

1. Make the bed. 
Yes! 3/3

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)
yes! 1/3
 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack while coffee brews.
Yes. 3/3

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
No.
1/3

5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
Yes. Though honestly? I really cannot remember. 3/3

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
Yes! My daughter did some of her bedding--and my son did a load of his stuff. 2/3.

8. Do the Evening Dishes.
Hubs did them for me, bless him. 2/3

My daughter cooked supper while her brother and father went grocery shopping. My son also washed the kitchen floor, today, too. 

The house is looking so much better.

Yay.

The Housekeeping Challenge Day 2: It Feels Good.

As I was puttering in my bedroom this evening, folding clothes and putting them away, I realised I felt happy. Happy to be moving, clearing, making my surroundings pleasant.

I asked my daughter to clean the upstairs powder room and she did. That will make it super easy to keep up with. My husband pitched in a cleaned up a lot of the kitchen today, too.

I worked today--and I made supper--so I wasn't sure how much of my list I'd get done--but then I thought about this blog and all of you and decided I wanted a before and after picture. Whatever works, right?

But first, the score card. How did I do?

1. Make the bed. 
Yes! 2/2

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)
no. 0/2
 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack.
Yes. 2/2

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
I decided to focus just on the dining room table.
1/2

Ta da!

Some of you will notice that the table is sitting on white legs. The table top is actually sitting on top of the old white table. The paper underneath is to catch drips from the goop I was going to put on top of it to seal it two months ago. 

But there. A good before and after and a glimpse of the stalled dining room project for you!


5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
Yes. 2/2

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
No. 1/2

8. Do the Evening Dishes.
Yes! 1/2 

Tomorrow is another long work day and I plan to focus on getting our meal plan for the week and grocery list together.

But, even though I can't (and probably won't) get it all done--I am glad I am doing something!

A Housekeeping Challenge: Day 1 Report.

Not to make excuses but it was an awfully long day at work. When I got home at about 8:30 pm yesterday all I was good for was bed. So I went.

So, the first day didn't go that well.

1. Make the bed. 
I did do this: but 1/2 hour later I noticed the dog had been in and turned down the covers to sleep on the pillows. 

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)
No. My daughter is supposed to clean the upstairs bath for me today. Cross your fingers. 
3. Put away dishes in dish rack.
Yes.

4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.
No. But I did make supper in the crockpot. 

5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom
I picked up the stuff the dog had dragged out of the trashcan. That counts, right?

6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.
Someone else washed a load and hung it on the line to dry. I didn't see this--but I was told about it. Hooray.

8. Do the Evening Dishes.
Someone else was supposed to do them. She didn't. 

So, 4/8. 
I'm OK with that. I probably slept 9-10 hours last night. I'm good with that, too.

A Housekeeping Challenge.

I'm here, I'm here!

It took me a while to process some of your comments--namely those surrounding the issue of getting help from other family members. I responded in the comments, here.

I've been working many hours at the job--and trying to stay cool in the heat. One thing I have not done, however, is taken my own wise advice.

I have let things pile up. Like so.

Again.

But nothing comes of quitting but nastiness, so I'm pulling up my bootstraps and starting over.

Obviously, I need some accountability.

Here's the deal. For one week, I will return to my housekeeping roots and do the following tasks every day (and yes, I will delegate as I can!).


1. Make the bed.

2. Swish and swipe the bathrooms. (Full bath on the main floor and the powder room upstairs)

3. Put away dishes in dish rack.


4. 15 minute pick up throughout main floor.


5. Pick up the principle (formerly, master) bedroom


6. Laundry:
Wash one, dry one, fold one, put one away. Not necessarily the same one.


8. Do the Evening Dishes.

If I don't run the water too hot, I can get these suckers done in under ten minutes.

The Challenge is not only to do these things every day, but to report to you on my progress each night.

The last time I did this, I didn't have a job. Now I do. This week I am working the following:

Sat, 8 hours
Sun, 6 1/4 h
Mon, 8 hours
Tues, off
Wed, 7 hours
Thurs, off
Friday, off.
Total: 29 1/4 hours.

Let the challenge begin!