Use the Good Dishes…Life is Too Short
As you know already, April was my month to spring clean, purge and get organized. I mean, what else can you do when the weather is the pits and you can’t get outside?!
In case you missed it, here are the links:
At the same time I was doing this, I was also attempting to follow I Heart Organizing‘s 30 day challenge to simplify life by purging stuff from around the house.
Purge, baby purge!
I got rid of a lot of stuff:
Good bye enormous bag of hotel soaps and shampoos. (am I the only one who has this little problem?)
Good bye 6 large black garbage bags of clothes for Goodwill.
Good bye to my post-pregnancy clothes. Never going there again.
Slowly getting rid of the baby stuff. Slowly. Very slowly. (I have a hard time with this!)
Good bye junky broken toys.
Good bye broken washing machine.
Good bye too many packages of dried spices, old dishes and broken appliances
Good bye dust too! Whoa nelly.
Good riddance!
And I learned a few things along the way!
I need a manicure and a massage.
Keeping a house really is a lot of work.
Keeping a house in good shape takes so much time and energy. Not to mention money.
We use the good dishes.
But most of all, you don’t need a lot of stuff to live and be happy.
Go back for a second. Use the good dishes? What does that have to do with anything?
I don’t know about you but we seem to have 2 sets of things around here, which makes for A LOT of stuff. One set for us, one set for guests. Um, why is that?
Why do we save the good stuff for the guests? Why are we not important enough to use the good dishes? And the white towels?
So, I have decided that we are using the good dishes. Everyday.
Why do we save the good stuff for the guests? Why are we not important enough to use the good dishes? And the white towels?
So, I have decided that we are using the good dishes. Everyday.
I got rid of the junky day-to-day plates we were using, with mismatched plates and cups, chips, and cracks. All gone. We are now using the Denby set Mr. Burbs & I got for our wedding. They were only seeing the light of day on special occasions, and isn’t everyday that we have together a special occasion, really? Sounds sappy, but it’s true.
So pull out the good stuff, and live the good life.
Use the Good Dishes
These are so much nicer to eat on!
Pretty.
Moving on.
After I wrapped up my Spring Clean series last week, I got a few requests for some Before/After photos from my Spring clean, so here they are!
Kids Toy & Play Room Clean and Purge
This was my dirty little secret. Before!
And this is it After!
For about 5 minutes anyway.
My Living Room Spring Clean & Purge Before and After
This was my living room during my spring clean & purge.
This is it After!
Good bye dust.
Good bye popcorn under the cushions.
Cushion covers and throw pillow covers washed.
Easter cleaned out.
Waiting for summer!
What I love most about all of this, is that it is so nice (and easy) to live a more simple life. I’m taking care to buy and use only what we need, reuse and upcycle what we can, and we’re using the good stuff. And for me, a clean house means a calm mind, and a happy mom. Everyone is happy then!
Now come on summer! It’s time to get outside! Pretty please!
I totally agree about using the good dishes. My great-grandma used her china every day. Your home looks lovely!
Love your post today Jo – your house is so inspiring . . .
GREAT! Very inspiring (& I’m pretty jealous that you actually have good stuff – ha ha!).
You have some great dishes! And wow you really got organized. You go!
Delighted Momma
Wow! Good for you, purging your whole house is really an accomplishment. We moved last July and I purged like crazy and it felt so good to get rid of stuff or find better homes for things I never used!!!
Your family room is so pretty by the way!
yes, I just did a huge spring cleaning of my living room. Yours looks great! good for you for using the good dishes.
still workingin my spring cleaning.
that part i hate the most is when guilt sets in.
ill come across stuff that ive been saving for ever and im like, wow, this is junk or when im all dont with a room, i feel awful that i ever ever let myself let my house this cluttered and messy. i cant imagine what it will be like when we start having kids.
No, you’re not the only one who has the sample size/hotel shampoo bottle problem! My family constantly saves them and sends them to me… I guess they think I’m too poor to afford my own shampoo?? Anyway, I solved it by saving a few full size shampoo bottles and pouring all the same brand ones in the same bottle which saved having all those little bits and pieces around and made us actually use them up. Any odd ball ones were put into a cute little bucket we could reach from the shower and I refused to put a full size bottle out until we all used up the rest of them. As for the mini soap bars I followed a tutorial I found online to make liquid soap since I was out of the liquid type and didn’t feel like spending money for something that (in theory) I already had. It may sound a little extreme for something that was free to start with but the shampoo and conditioners lasted us for over a week and the hand-soap has lasted months.
Your living room looks great! I hope your little ones didn’t create TOTAL chaos the moment after you snapped a picture. I know my little one always rips apart my hard work the moment I turn my back. 🙂
ahhh…do you feel a little lighter? I love Spring cleaning…well the end of Spring cleaning…xo
Lu
A good recommendation when you have a large amount of the hotel toiletries is to donate them to your local shelter. I used to collect bags of them when a company I worked for had dozens of people travel. I collected them until I had a good amount and delivered them to the local shelters….they were extremely grateful for this…since they are the perfect size!!!