Making Your Home a Haven -- without stressing yourself out

Have you noticed my lack of Making Your Home a Haven posts? I slacked off, but this tidy business is taking a lot longer than it should. It's very hard to try to get it all done in the time frame I have.

Since I generally only have time to do major cleaning on the weekends (trust me, we need more than a pick-me-up), I've decided to stretch out making my home a haven by focusing on one task per week rather than by day.

In staying with the tidy theme, here's my plan for the week:
** Laundry Room -- pick up and wipe down
** Kitchen -- take extra canning supplies/dishes to garage. Move pots and pans. Wipe down interior of fridge. Organize canned goods.
** Living Room -- clean off desk and bookcase. Find a new home for displaced school books.
** Kids' Rooms -- get rid of excess toys to donate. Organize remainder. Vacuum well.
** Mom/Dad's Room -- get rid of extra junk!
** Misc. -- laundry caught up and put away. Put garage stuff in the garage.

I'll keep you updated on what I get done through the week. Feel free to let us know what you're doing/where you stand. After all, we're all in this together! =)

Making Your Home A Haven - Pt 1, Tidy

The Home Spun Heart is doing a series this week on making your home a haven. Each day she will present a new topic. Today's theme is tidy. You can follow along here.

Needless to say, my house is not much of a haven these days or tidy, at all. In fact, I'd be better off comparing it to a war zone since it looks like a bomb went off in the center. I've been meaning to get things done, but nothing is getting accomplished! And the list of to-dos is oh so long...

It is very discouraging. But, that aside, I can do this! I can regain control of the mess!

My plan for today is to finish and put away the laundry, thoroughly vacuum all rooms, mop, and declutter in preparation for the rearranging and painting that need to be done. If I have time, I'll bathe the dog 'coz frankly, he smells. What use is a clean house if it gives off the aroma of dirty pooch?

Maybe the list and blogging will keep me accountable for actually getting it all done. . .