Home Sanctuary

Wow! Time to Turn in Points!

Ladies, if you've been "playing along" with me this month, you've earned "points" for doing daily Small Things. If you joined in late and are wondering what these points are all about, you're about to find out!

At the beginning of each month, I give you a simple Tally Sheet to use so you can keep track of your Small Thing accomplishments, and see just how much those tasks add up! This is also a great tool to get your family involved in our friendly little compeTISH. Because we are sweetening the pot with a couple of prizes.

Today's Small Thing is to add up your total points and email the number to me for a chance to win this prize: A Kindle E-Reader.

Now, if you said "Eh, who needs points, gratification is all I need," I applaud you. AND I offer you a chance to win a Random Drawing for a canvas print from my store, RachelAnneRidge.com. Simply email me with the words "Random Drawing" in the subject line and I'll toss your name into a hat! Here is one of my personal favorites, but you can choose anything you'd like:

You can even earn some final points for January's tally with this easy two-step task:

1. Send me an email (rachelanne (@) homesanctuary.com) with either your Point Total, or your Random Drawing entry. I love seeing photos of your completed Tally Sheets if you want to include them, but it's not required.

2. Leave a comment, letting us know which was your favorite Small Thing this month! This encourages our fence-sitting Company Girls to go ahead and jump in for next month and it's just FUN to see which tasks you enjoyed!

POINTS: 40 for doing the two-step Small Thing. You will have until midnight Friday (Feb. 1) to get your emails to me and comments posted. I'll announce the winners on Monday, along with new prizes and a new Tally Sheet!

Fine Print: Be sure you did the Small Thing on the day (or within the time frame) assigned. This is an Honor System! In case of a tie for Most Points, the tied names will go into a hat and one winner will be drawn.

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How Shall I Couch This?

Splish Splash

Last night, I forced myself to go to my Zumba class. It's part of my effort to instill some discipline into my life, since I've really let things like exercise go in recent years and I need to shape up. To be honest, I really enjoy the first 20 minutes of class... and then simply endure the last 40. I actually kind of hate it. Ugh.

ANYWAY. 

I needed a shower when I got home. Thankfully, we have a dimmer switch on the bathroom light, so I wouldn't have to see just how far I've let things go in the bathtub. I was eager to lather up and do a bang up job shaving my legs.

I set the razor down next to one of the other ones in there and realized that my daily fight against clutter has failed when it comes to the tub.  Do we really need 3 shampoo bottles, 2 Old Spice Body Washes (yes), petrified washcloths and hairbands in there?  The days of plastic tub toys are over for me, but I remember when they multiplied like rabbits in the tub, not so long ago.

Scooping up the tub clutter is the easy part.  It's the scrubbing of the tub and tiles that seems to take forever.  Just to prove how long and difficult a job it is, I timed myself.

4 minutes, 37 seconds.

Rats!  It took at least that amount of time just to locate the Ajax and sponge.  That's almost 10 minutes that I could have spent on something really gratifying, like checking my roots or plucking my eyebrows. Or shaving my legs.

Today's Small Thing is to take 5 minutes and scrub your tub or shower. 

If you keep your bathroom cleaners in a handy spot, it will just take a second to locate what you need and then... go to town! 

When the tub is sparkling, I feel like lighting a candle and soaking in bubbles. Skip the shower, baby...I'm going for a long hot bath!

80 points max.

 

POINTS: 40 for cleaning one bathtub or shower

BONUS: 20 for assessing your handy cleaners: do you need to replace or move something to the bathroom so it's easier to clean up next time?

BONUS BONUS: 20 for doing at least one additional tub/shower

When was the last time you gave your tub a good scrub and removed the clutter?  This is a task that truly results in "Sanctuary."

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Facing the Big Bad Ugly

I've been putting off doing something for months. Every night I go to bed saying, "I'm going to do it tomorrow. I really am." And every day I find 100 things to do instead.

The thing I've been procrastinating has turned into a Big Bad Ugly. Over time, it's gotten bigger (at least in my mind) and become a huge weight on my shoulders. And the longer it goes, the more I don't want to deal with it.

The thing I've been putting off is dealing with some medical bills. I need to make some phone calls and fill out paper work. But the numbers are so big, they scare me and I don't want to face them. So I haven't. UGH.

Do you have something that's become a Big Bad Ugly in your life? An awkward phone call you KNOW you need to make, some bills that need taking care of, a letter that's long overdue. An apology. A really awful bathtub that needs scrubbing. The longer you've put it off, the worse it's become.

Today's Small Thing is to face your Big Bad Ugly thing. Take a deep breath and be brave enough to look it in the eye and say "Today I will slay you."

I've always found that the DOING of the thing I've been procrastinating is far less painful than the AVOIDING of it. I can sleep better at night and I can enjoy life again, knowing I've put my big girl panties on and done it. That's what I'm going to do today, and I want you to do this along with me me.

Let's let our faith be bigger than our fear. Ps. 34:4 says, "I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."

POINTS: 100, because we need a big reward for doing something hard

What Big Bad Ugly thing will you tackle today? Let's join hands and deal with these monsters together! Today I'm facing the medical bills.

#1 Home Decorating Mistake

Some time ago, I gave a workshop on creating a home sanctuary. I talked about the three legs of the sanctuary "stool:" peace, order and beauty. We discussed making a housekeeping schedule and we came up with about 50 menu ideas for a monthly menu plan. Toward the end of the session, one lady raised her hand and asked a question.

"That's all good stuff," she said. "But how do you just make your home LOOK good?? You know, like how do you decorate it?"

I realized in that moment, that most of the ladies in there probably couldn't care less about a menu plan...they simply wanted some decorating advice!

So I gave my top three decorating tips in the last remaining minutes of the class.  Today, I'll discuss the #1 mistake people make and how to easily fix it.

Decorating Mistake #1: Bad lighting

The Solution: Light bulbs

I have a rule that overhead lighting (that fan light, or the light in the middle of your ceiling) should never be used as your only source of illumination. Ladies, VANITY ALONE should make you go out and purchase a couple of lamps for each room - because we all know that no one looks pretty underneath a ceiling light (think dark shadows under the eyes) or worse, a fluorescent light. The exceptions would be: if you are looking for a contact or are performing surgery - THEN you may have your ceiling light on.

Discount stores carry inexpensive lamps, and new low-wattage light bulbs make bringing in some ambiance through lighting very affordable.  It is one of the very best uses of your decorating dollar.  Even a small nightlight in a cute little lamp can make a dark corner suddenly seem cozy.

I have 8 lamps in my living room/kitchen area and I use them all. It makes my old barnhouse look ah-mayzing.

One of my eight lamps in this room.

Today's Small Thing is to analyze your lighting situation. 

Do you have bulbs that need replacing in fixtures you already have? Can you move a couple of lamps around to make a room feel inviting? Would a three-way bulb give you the option of creating different types of atmospheres? (yes). Are you guilty of using your ceiling light as your only source of light? Repent and move on, girl.

POINTS: 40 for scrutinizing the lighting in your home and changing what you can today. Shop your own house for a lamp that's not being used, or simply rearrange a lamp or two. Put light bulbs on your shopping list, and wander down the lamp aisle at Walmart next time you're there.  For less than 25.00, you can make an absolutely dramatic improvement to your sanctuary.

Next week: Decorating Mistake #2

Do you have lighting/decorating questions? Let me know!

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First things first:

I wish I could make prints of each and every one of the heartfelt and joyous Mission Statements you girls came up with!  I was touched by the thought and feeling (and humor) that went into each one. Alas, I had to draw one name, and the random drawing winner of the canvas print is Michelle, whose statement said:

Welcome to our home. We hope you find it to be a safe place where you will be met right where you are at and experience warmth, comfort and respect. We strive to work together as a team toward cleanliness, organization, and self discipline while practicing grace and understanding toward each other. We will choose to give thanks and honor time as we learn how to care for our space, our guests and each other. Preparation favors discipline. We hope you feel welcome and Loved here.

From her comment, it looks like Michelle got her family involved and came up with something they can all take ownership of. I really like that. Michelle, email me and we will talk about creating a beautiful print out of your lovely words! Congratulations!

Next, let's have a Friday Small Thing.

While we were in the kitchen yesterday, I took the opportunity to tidy up my frying pans. I have about five of them, three of which should be thrown out but I keep around just in case my good ones should go missing. Or in case I want to fry a whole lot of things at one time. You never know. The need to eat a pile of bacon might overtake me and I'd need to press every last one of them into service simultaneously.

Today's Small Thing is a Fry-day thing: just get in there and tidy up your frying pans...and shoot, why not do the other pots and pans at the same time? Psh, easy..especially for points.

POINTS: 30 for freeing the fryers from failure

BONUS: 20 for playing with pots and pans

 

 

Now let's have some Company Girl Coffee. I had a bit of a rough week with my cold hanging on, but I'm feeling better. I even felt good enough to have lunch with one of our CG's, Janice!  We met at a local Panera and had a great time! I only regret that we did not get a picture together....we will have to do that next time. Thanks, Jan, for the lunch!!

So, tell us about what is going on in your life! Our weekly coffee time is a chance to visit one another and make new friends. If you're a blogger, feel free to link up below - and everyone (bloggers and non-bloggers) is encouraged to visit the list on my blog! Have a great weekend, girls!

 

Utensil Power

Speaking of rummaging (as in rummaging through medicines on Tuesday), I find myself digging through my utensil drawer quite frequently. Yes, I should have nice dividers to organize things. But I don't. It's a freaking free-for-all in there.

All the odd shapes and sizes of the kitchen tools make them difficult to organize. I think it's the tongs that mess things up, but it could also be the pastry cutter that starts the rebellion among the ranks. Plus I'm always in a hurry and end up throwing things in the drawer and not paying attention to how they get put away. Can you relate?

Today's Small Thing is to straighten up your kitchen utensil drawer.

This is so easy, it's hardly even a small thing. It's more like a tiny thing. Maybe even in miniscule thing. Anyway you slice it and dice it, you'll have it shredded in no time.

POINTS: 30 flippin' points! What's your favorite kitchen utensil that you couldn't live without?

PS I LOVED the Missions Statements yesterday! I'll announce the winner of the custom canvas print tomorrow morning!!

Make a Homekeeping Mission Statement

It has been a couple of years since we've talked about creating a mission statement for our homes. Now that I think about it, all our work on setting up housekeeping schedules and getting organized is a little bit like putting the cart before the horse. You've got to know what it is you're aiming at before you start firing.

Wow, two metaphors in two sentences to illustrate the importance of having a goal.

In my original post, used this picture:

"If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time."

Almost every organization has a mission statement, and homes, the world's most important organizations, should be no different. A mission statement sets out the core values that determine the "how" and "why" things are done. As CEO's of our homes (yes, that's YOU!), we have the opportunity to set the tone, the goals and the vision for how we want to live and operate our little "companies."

Here is mine. I've changed it up to reflect the change in the season of my life, but you could modify it to fit yours if you like:

My home is a sanctuary for all who enter. It is clean and orderly enough to offer hospitality, and comfortable enough to feel homey. I choose to honor my husband's need for order and grace, and my family's need for unhurried time. I make progress each day, and choose joy and contentment no matter what.

I've chosen to put everything into the present tense, because it feels very tangible that way.

Today's Small Thing is to create your own homekeeping mission statement.

Keep it simple and don't overthink it. You can always modify it later. I found that simply taking 10 minutes to do this today made me focus on what is really important when I think about what I want my home to feel like inside. Home is about people....and your mission statement should reflect that in some way.

Feel free to borrow all (or part) of mine. I'm going to take some more time to hone mine a bit more. In the meantime, I hope you'll share yours in the comments today! We can inspire one another with our goals.

PS I love OrgJunkie's Mission Statement, at the bottom of her About Page.

POINTS: 50 for writing out a simple homekeeping mission statement

BONUS: I'll draw one name from the commenters to have their mission statement made into a canvas print! Your words - on one of my hand-painted backgrounds....woo-hoo!

Expiration Exaspiration

I've been battling a cold for the past few days, and if I've learned anything from this bout of illness, it's that my medicine cabinet has gotten dreadfully disorganized.  I KNOW I've discarded old medicines and vitamins recently, but where do these expired bottles keep coming from?  It's not a question you want to be asking at 3 am, when you are pillaging your cache of drugs for relief so you can sleep.

I (theoretically) have separate plastic bins for vitamins and medicines, but there has been so much rifling through them in desperation, always desperation, that they've gotten out of hand.

Yesterday, while in the thick fog of a DayQuil-induced frenzy, I did a quick inventory/sort and found it took very little time to toss the expired medicines and straighten up what was left. In less than 10 minutes, I'd thrown out the cough syrup from 2008, the prescriptions from Tom's ER visit, (2011), the vitamins from 2009 and the half dozen other bottles that cluttered the area. 

By the time I was done, I felt high. Or maybe it was just the DayQuil. I don't know, but it felt really nice.

Today's Small Thing is to purge your medicine cabinet of expired medicines and vitamins. You don't have to organize them unless you feel so inclined. But you'll be pleasantly surprised to find out it's not as hard as you think it is.

POINTS: 40 for cleaning out the medicine cabinet!

EXTRA CREDIT: 20 points for taking your vitamins. You know you should anyway.

What's the oldest thing you're throwing out?

Nice Rug

Walmart.com - quite a lovely rug!

We need a super easy task for this Monday morning. Who's with me on that?

I have several small rugs in my house that I don't vacuum because they get sucked up into the vacuum and make a terrible noise.  The ones that are located near the doors get a good shake fairly often, but I'll admit that the upstairs rugs get ignored pretty regularly.

Today's Small Thing is to give those throw rugs a good shake, vacuum or sweeping! 

How easy is THAT?

Oh, it's TOO easy.

RACE YA!!!

How many area rugs can you deal with out today? Welcome mats, bath rugs, kitchen rugs, hallway runners...you may have more than you think you do.

Each!

POINTS: 20 each area rug shaken, vacuumed or swept.

Company Girl Coffee, and Schedules

Whew! What a week of Small Things! It's not often we have to do so much thinking around here...most of the time it's pure silliness. I guess every now and then we have to get serious and do a few things that are important - like implementing a simple housekeeping schedule.

Remember, a schedule is simply a tool - a guideline - that will keep you from getting overwhelmed when you think you have to get everything done all at once. Simply do a little at a time, get back on the wagon when you fall off, and keep on going - you really WILL see a miracle happen.

Today's Small Thing is to pull out your shiny new schedule and do what's on Friday's task list.

That's all there is to it! Is Friday your day "off?" Well, then you just got lucky. Is it an errand day? Wash-Sheets-and-Towel-Day? Make it your goal to DO Friday's jobs as quickly as you can, and earn points for doing it!

POINTS: 60 for sticking to your new schedule today!

 

Now it's time for my Friday feature: Company Girl Coffee. It has been weeks since I last hosted and I'm excited to get back to it. It is an easy meme that allows you, my dear Company Girls, to link up and invite people over to your blogs. You don't have to have a theme - it's just a chance for us to get to know each other better. When you fill in the form below, enter your blog POST URL (not just your blog title) so we can go directly to the post you want to share. We have a fantastic group of ladies, and I hope you'll take the opportunity to visit!

In the spirit of sharing, for those of you who follow me on Instagram (rachelridge) and Facebook , I had lamented my need for sprucing up my living room after taking down my Christmas tree. Pillows, I needed colorful pillows!

Before: The Big BrownOut

After: Color! My soul sings for joy!


 

A trip to HomeGoods and Hobby Lobby served up some inexpensive pillows and a few small pretties that did the trick. My soul is happy.

Now, what's going on in YOUR life? I hope you'll link up below and let us know! If you're not a blogger, use the comment section to yakk it up with us! We want to get to know you better.