A Plan for Taking Back the House!

In the past, I have tracked habits here at Common to Moms.  I've done this partially because the public forum is great accountability for me and partially because watching someone accomplish something is great motivation for others. 

This year- 2014- I am planning to make A LOT of changes in my life.  Mainly, my goal is to move past survival mode and choose to live in a more peaceful and complete way.

I'm happy to report that the process has already begun.  In the last week or so, I have already begun to do things like use my calendar to plan my life at least a week in advance (this helps to quell the chaos in a life full of doctors' appointments and therapies), taken back grocery shopping and meal planning, cooked a little, saved receipts (to soon use to do some budget tracking) and made a plan for how to take back my house from the chaos of twin pregnancy and almost a year of  3 children 3 and under.

Today I want to break down my plan for taking back my house and share it with you. 

First, I feel the need to clarify that although I have needed to improve my habits on cleaning before, this is not the only thing crying out for change in our current life circumstances.  It's more that while I was busy nursing, changing diapers and changing toddlers, stuff began accumulating in the corners of  our home.  And while some things grew, other things began to get lost in the shuffle.  Showers, make-up, clothes that fit, quality restful time all began to dwindle while chaos increased.  Life was hardly ever completely crazy, but neither was it truly complete.  Satisfying? Yes.  Fulfilling? Almost.  Complete? Not really.  The start of the new year has me realizing that what will get lost in the chaos of babies and small children (if I'm not careful) is peace at home and a respectable me. 

"Taking Back the House" to me means getting rid of clutter, working on cleaning habits AND adjusting our home to function for six people instead of four.  Let's face it- almost DAILY I run into problems trying to squeeze a six-person-life out of a four-person-home. I have been reading a lot about organization, cleaning and home management (as well as a little personal soul searching) so I have come up with a pretty comprehensive plan (at least I think it is!) for how I'm going to tackle taking back the house.  And as I mentioned before, I think its both helpful for me and inspiring to others to share it here on the ole' blog.  Consider this a life over-share and if you want to join me as I attempt to conquer some major disorganization and lifestyle adjustment, then I can only say thank you!  Any and all support and encouragement are welcome.

Without further adieu- here is the plan to Take Back the House.

1. Divide my home into three zones.   

Zone 1- Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen & Laundry
Zone 2- Master Bedroom
Zone 3- Kids Rooms and Bathroom

Admittedly, I have chosen the hardest zone to tackle first- mostly because if I can conquer these areas of my home then I can DEFINITELY continue on and conquer the rest!

2. Chose a starting point within Zone 1 - The Dining Room!

3. Make a list of every stitch of clutter or randomness in that space and what I need to do about it.  The goal here is to check things off the list until the area is completely clutter free.

4. Keep this area CLEAN.

5. Celebrate my clean and de-cluttered space by changing things in the space to better fit our family including but not limited to changing or updating decor.  This is definitely the FUN step!

6.  Rinse and Repeat to the end of a zone, then take time to reflect and re-evaluate the process.  Share on the blog and keep moving forward.  Taking the entire year to complete all three zones is definitely allowed- it will be no small task!

So that's the plan in as much detail as I can predict!  Stay tuned for my Dining Room Over-share Post!

Till Next Time,
Rachel