If you have been here a while, you know that every year, I like to follow along with A Bowl Full of Lemons and their super awesome home organization challenge. It is a 14 week cleaning/purging/organizing challenge that always gets me excited for the new year. I secretly think I subconsciously refrain from throwing things out (old toys, clothes, etc) during the end of the year, just so I can feel more accomplished during the challenge!! Hahaha
The first week usually starts the second week in January, but you can catch up/join any time. She has everything posted on her blog.
Week one begins in the kitchen. This is where I spend 90% of my day, so I love this one so much. This past summer, we moved from Maryland to Virginia, so I have a new house to organize this year! I still sometimes find myself changing and rearranging things to find them the best home.
Here is a before of what our counters looked like. I had a bunch of fruit/vegetable bowls taking up space. (This really drove me crazy!) We still had some lingering holiday/snow items laying around that needed to be put away.
I was able to give it a quick cleaning and put everything where it belongs, and find a new home for my oils. They fit perfect!! I also found a new basket to hold all the fruits and veggies and utilize some vertical space instead of all the bowls! (Except it's empty right now because I need to get to the grocery store! :D)
I am so excited to finally have this area set up in a way that makes sense, and gives me a clean work space!!
Part of this week's challenge also involves cleaning the appliances. When we moved into this house, the stove had SO.MUCH. baked on crud. I am still trying to get it all off, little by little, without damaging the surface. This week, I tried something new. I usually use baking soda and vinegar to gently scrub the surface, but this time I used baking soda and my Young Living Thieves cleaner. It worked SO great! You can see how it got to work picking up a lot of the grease and junk. I still have some work to do, but this mixture took off a lot more than I have been able to do so far!
I am ready for week 2!! It's the pantry! :D
Are you participating in this challenge too? I would love to see your before and afters! Come share them on my Facebook Page!
You can also see daily updates on my Instagram. If you follow me, leave me a comment and I'll follow you back!
See you soon!
XOXO
