How did everyone do on their entry/foyer last week???   Luckily for me, I was working one week ahead of you so I would have time to post the blogs, because life happens and I didn’t work on any of my cleaning plan last week.    That happens and you have to pick up and start where you are.  Don’t give up thinking you are behind….just start where you are.  We had a death in our family so time was spent make arrangements and being with family.  Quite honestly being sad makes it hard to do anything. 

So I am happy I have this blog series running as it makes me get things done so I can keep up with all of you, despite how I am feeling.   So this week, we will be working in our living room.   Our living room is one of the most used rooms in our house, second only to the kitchen.   It also is the first room you see when entering our home.  We hang out daily in the living room as a family watching TV.

Before you get started read the Living Room Cleaning Grand Plan by Katie Leckey. 

http://organizedhome.com/cleaning-grand-plan/living-room

My first step in cleaning our living room was to take everything off the walls and clean the pictures.   I spent some time looking around my living room with new eyes.  What would I think if I just walked into this home?   I was not very happy about how the bookcase looked in the living room.   This is where we store our collection of family movies.   So that had to be organized.

I had to search a bit to find a photo of our over crowded bookcase as I forgot to take a before picture.  As you can see we have movies and games stacked on the shelf.  I wanted to organize the movies and games!  

I decided with my hubby’s permission to remove all the movies and disks from their cases.  We threw out all the cases and put all our movies into DVD binders.  We did this for the video games as well.   I still want to organize these better and put the movies in alphabetical order, but there wasn’t time.   That will be a future project.   I need to buy two more DVD cases, one for music CD’s and one for computer games. 

Another cleaning task that makes a big difference in the living room is to treat the floors.   I will admit this task takes a while and is a pain to do, but the end result is very nice.   I use lemon oil to treat our hardwood floors.  As you can see from the picture it makes a big difference in the appearance of the floors.   We have floors that are nearly 50 years old so this helps to keep them looking a little better. 

As you can see from my checklist, I didn’t get everything done.  That is ok, every little bit helps and I can always go back at a later time and finish up a I have time.  The whole point is you are improving each room a bit each week.  

Lastly, while completing the items on your checklist, keep a running list of the items you would like to buy for or do in this area.   My list for the living room contains the following:   buy two more DVD cases.

Remember, small bites is the secret to eating an elephant!

Tasks this week:  Plan into your schedule time this week to work on spring cleaning your living room. 

Next Week:  Week 4: January 22 –  Kitchen/Pantry

God bless you as you look well to the ways of your household!
Proverbs 31:27

Previous Posts:
New Years…New Beginnings – intro post
Week #1:  Gather Your Tools!
Week#2: Entry/Foyer