lifewithlilred

Cleaning out my closet 8)

Clearing Out The Cobwebs: How To Clean Up Your Home

Spring creeping up around the corner can only mean one thing: Spring cleaning! Here’s how to make the most out of your spring cleaning sesh to get your house spick and span in no time:

Throw Things Away: If your closet is full of things that you never wear any more, it’s time to wave goodbye to them and get rid of them. Not only will this free up space but it’ll also allow you to see the things you like and want to wear more often. If you donate them to charity, you’ll also feel as though you’ve done something to be of service. If you can’t decide which clothes you want to keep and which ones you want to throw away, why not turn around the hanger every time you wear something? By the time a year is up it’ll be obvious which clothes you haven’t worn in a long time and which you don’t need any more.

Declutter: If you feel overwhelmed by how many things are on the surfaces inside your home, it’s time to start getting rid of them. In busy family homes it’s easy to let clutter pile up – but this can make you feel even more scattered and disorganized, and what’s more, frustrated at the state of your home. Marie Kondo says that you should throw away everything that doesn’t spark joy in you – and you probably should at least clear up the possessions cluttering up your house that either aren’t beautiful or that don’t serve a purpose. Put them all in a box and if they aren’t claimed by a family member in a week, trash or donate them – you could even go for skip bin hire!

Assign Chores: If you’re the only person doing any cleaning, you’ll get very resentful very quickly. Make a rota to ensure that your partner does their fair share and give your kids jobs to do in return for their pocket money. If you have a pet, it’s important to make sure you take turns with feeding and bathroom breaks.

Perfectly decluttered!

Do It Gradually: The worst thing about cleaning is when you have an entire day of it ahead of you. If you work full time it’s very easy to resent a Saturday morning spent scrubbing out your bathroom sink. It often makes it easier to bear if you clean gradually as you go along – this means that you won’t have any huge jobs left hanging over your head that you’ll have to devote an entire weekend to. If you do something small every night when you get home from work, like changing all the bedsheets, doing a couple of loads of laundry, or throwing out all the old food from your fridge, it’ll seem a lot more bearable come the weekend.

Hire A Cleaner: It is absolutely not admitting defeat if you hire a cleaner. Sometimes cleaning just isn’t a top priority – and sometimes it shouldn’t be. You should be enjoying spending time with your kids and your partner instead of worrying about the state of your oven or bathroom. If you have enough spare money, then hire a cleaner to at least give a good once over of your home. Just make sure that the surfaces are free of clutter before they come and you’ll feel a lot more happy and content with the state and cleanliness of your place!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Jan3

Surrounded By Clutter? How To Carry Out A Post-Holiday Clean-Up Operation

Posted on January 3, 2017 by lifewithlilred

The holidays are done and gone, and before we know it, Christmas Day will be a distant memory, and we’ll be back to the grindstone. Although most of us love the festive period, it does have its downsides. With family and friends popping in, mounds of gifts and wrapping, and days running into one, it can be tough to keep on top of cleaning. It’s easy to get swamped and end up with piles of dishes on the counters, boxes and rolls of paper everywhere, and tons of laundry to get through. If you’re surrounded by clutter, and you have an endless list of jobs, here are some tips to help you conduct a post-holiday clean-up:

De-Cluttering: Don’t even think about trying to vacuum the carpets or dust your furniture until you’ve got clear surfaces and floors. There’s no point in trying to clean around piles of laundry or navigate the hoover around new toys, games, or mounds of books and DVDs. Start your clean-up with a de-cluttering session. Before you start trying to find places for Christmas gifts, have a clear out, and throw away anything you don’t want to keep. Take new items out of their packaging, and create a pile for recycling. Make another mound for the trash. Get everyone to tidy their own rooms and you’ll get the job done in no time. Once you’ve got your piles sorted, load the car and take a trip to the nearest waste disposal site. If you’re throwing away items that are in good condition, you could host a yard sale or take a bag of stuff to a local thrift store.

Cleaning: Set aside an afternoon to get the house in order and you’ll feel much better afterwards. Allocate chores, such as doing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, and vacuuming the entire house. If everybody pitches in, you’ll be finished before you know it. Once you’ve tackled the pots and pans and hoovered the carpets, wipe down the kitchen and bathroom surfaces with disinfectant spray. Then, you can move on to polishing wooden sideboards, tables, and chests. Mop the floors and light some scented candles. Open the windows or use a fan to circulate the air. If you don’t already have one, look out for bargains in the January sales. You’ll find a host of tower fan reviews online.

Once you’ve got your home in tip top shape, the last thing you want is to let things slide and end up back at square one. Try and keep on top of tidying and cleaning. Don’t let dishes pile up or dust gather on the stairs. If you wash up every night and vacuum every couple of days, you’ll soon find that you spend a lot less time cleaning. Take the trash out and use diffusers and candles to give your home a fresh, clean smell. It may not seem like the most exciting way to spend the day, but you’ll feel much better after you’ve given your home a good spruce. There’s nothing worse than heading back to work on a miserable January morning knowing that you’ve got an endless list of chores to wade through on your return. -____-

Dec29

A Clean Home Is A Healthy Home And Here’s How To Achieve It

Posted on December 29, 2016 by lifewithlilred

A Clean Home Is A Healthy Home And Here’s How To Achieve It

When you think about having a home that you’re proud of, you probably almost always will think about how it looks. And that’s okay because we all do. How our home looks is hugely important to us. It can often be the sole decider for how happy we are in it. But it doesn’t have to be.

By being house proud, you probably also care a lot about how clean your house is. Just like caring about how it looks, this is another factor that can really make a difference to the overall look and feel of your home. In fact, having a clean home can instantly make it all the more healthier and, in turn, you’ll start to feel even happier in it.

Clean Everything: First up, one of the most obvious ways to go about achieving a perfectly clean home is to actually clean it. You might clean most things on a regular basis, but to ensure that your home is super clean, you’re going to want to do everything. It’s easy to forget to clean certain things or in specific areas, but by making sure that you go over everything every now and again, the people in your home will stay a lot healthier for longer.

Of course, cleaning everything can be a very daunting task so don’t be afraid to ask for help in that department. Oftentimes, people might opt for an initial deep clean by a housekeeping service to get on the right track. If this is something you are considering to add into your budget, simply enter a search for “maid service cost in nyc” (or your local area) to see if it’s doable. One good deep clean can set you up for success in maintaining it yourself.

Stay Fresh: Next, you’re going to want to make sure that the physical elements of your home are, in fact, healthy. It can apply to things like your walls and floors, utility systems, and even your roof. Damp can get into you home quite quickly, especially if you’re not clued in on how to prevent it. So, you might want to check your walls and make sure that you have no flaky paint or mold growing. The same goes for your flooring, too!

Have A Schedule: Even if you’re a regular cleaner and your house feels spotless, you’re going to want to stay on top of things in a more organized fashion. Having a cleaning schedule can help with that. You might have made up your own system, and it might work for you, but it will help to know exactly when things should be cleaned. Also, when you create your own schedule, you won’t feel like you’ve forgotten anything, or that you’re overwhelmed, as everything has it’s set time and day.

Get Fresh Air: When your house is feeling cleaner than clean, there still might be something wrong. Whether you’re a smoker (or spend a lot of time around people that do smoke) or don’t ventilate the house as much as you should, you might find that the air in your home can feel a little stale. When that happens, you might need a Breath of Pure Air. Investing in an air purifier can be a way to combat that and ensure that your home is clean and healthy.

Stay On Top Of Pets: As much as we love our pets, they can be a bit of a hindrance when it comes to having a clean and healthy home. So, it’s important to make sure that you stay on top of their cleanliness, too. You might bathe your dog as much as you can and groom your cat, but you have to think about the effect that they’re having in your home a little more. Hello, pet fur everywhere! When you do, your house will feel a lot healthier overall.

Featured Image By: Pexels

Dec28

The Cleaning Musts That Most Of Us Forget

Posted on December 28, 2016 by lifewithlilred

With Christmas gone, spring is literally just around the corner. It may be hard to imagine when the days are short and we’re all so cold, but it’ll be here before we know it. That’s why it’s time to turn our attention to spring cleaning once again. We all associate spring cleaning with scrubbing out cupboards and washing the floors. There’s nothing wrong with that. It is, however, important to remember the other things that need attention. Here’s a lowdown on the spring cleaning musts that most of us forget.

Clean The Cleaning Cupboard: We fill our cleaning cupboard, yet how often do we check through what we have? Remember that you’re cleaning your house with the products that you’re storing there! If they’ve gone off, or become contaminated, it’ll affect everything. With that in mind, get cleaning. It’s important to scrub the cupboard itself, too. Cleaning cupboards always end up with a sticky residue (Ew!) from accidents. Don’t allow your cleaning stuff to become infected with bacteria. Keep the space clean!

Keep The Air Clean: It may sound strange, but it’s important that you keep the air in your house as clean as possible. Damp or stale air can cause major health issues if you’re exposed to it for a long time. It can be hard to get your home fresh during the winter, but as soon as the beautiful days come, it’s essential that you get to work.

Throughout the whole year, you can avoid damp air by using a dehumidifier like those reviewed by Dehumidifier Web. During the spring, though, you can take literal air freshening even further. Open windows as often as possible to stop mold growth and staleness. It’s amazing what a difference a breath of fresh air can make. Clean your windows to ensure that they go into summer without any mold spores growing!

Look After The Outside: It’s also easy to forget the outside of the house when we get stuck into the cleaning. Indoors isn’t the only place that needs a little attention once the winter ends. In fact, the outside of your house will need you more, as it will have been exposed to the elements! Getting the house pressure washed will be an instant facelift for your home and is a cost effective way to make your property shine. You can find pressure washing pros by entering a search for “Pressure washing service in the Waynesboro, VA” or your local area. You should also turn your attention to drains and gutters as soon as possible. During the autumn and winter months, they will fill with leaves. Not clearing these could cause a major backup.

Once that job is done, turn your attention to your garden. It’s bound to have suffered through the winter months, so you may have a fair amount of work to do. Start by clearing any dead foliage, then get to working on making the space beautiful again. For the most part, a little clearing up will ensure that your flowers will grow through as they should. Think, too, about when to start cutting the grass. It’s always worth listening out for when your neighbors start doing theirs!

You don’t even have to wait until spring to transform your house. Why not get ahead of the crowd and do your spring cleaning in time for the new year? #2017goals !!

Dec8

Brush Away The Winter Blues With These Spring-Ready Sprucing Tips

Posted on December 8, 2016 by lifewithlilred

Brush Away The Winter Blues With These Spring-Ready Sprucing Tips

On the run-up to Christmas, we all love winter. The colder days and snowed in occasions can be bearable, because we’re so full of festive cheer. But, as Christmas winds down, the winter blues can start to kick in. When that happens, all we can think about is the promise of spring, milder days, and the beautiful blooms that go with it.

So, this winter, do things differently. Instead of letting the winter blues set in, beat them away. Think about some of the jobs that you’d usually do in spring and incorporate them into your winter revamp. It’s time to bring the spirit of spring into your home and spruce those winter blues away.

Begin With Basics: There are so many simple home improvements that you can do around the home that make such a difference to the overall look and feel of the place. By adding in a fresh lick of paint or giving everything a good old scrub, it could make your home feel like it’s had a complete renovation. It might seem like a big job at first, but as soon as you get started, you’ll begin to get excited about the result. When winter starts to feel a little stale, a quick clean or redecoration could make you feel so much more ready for spring!

Dress And Showcase: Next up on your home spruce, you’re going to want to show off what you can and work on the rest. Maybe changing up the accessories you have around the home is all it will take to add that little something that you’ve been looking for. Change the accent colors you have in each room or even add more accessories to create a look you’ve had in mind. If you’ve done all you can with the details, you might need to think big. If your furniture is starting to look a little shabby, why not upcycle it? Get a few ideas from Pinterest or on Youtube and sand, paint, and style away until it looks like something you’re proud to show off.

Replace Or Repair: Winter can make you think about the appearance of your home and forget about the functionality. You want it to look great, but glaze over the practical parts. But, if you prioritize them now, you’ll be grateful come spring. It’s so important to stay on top of the functional areas of the home, like your garbage disposal, oven, and even A/C systems. You might just need to give them a clean or routine service or they could need much more. If you require any repairs that need doing or need new appliances installed, now is the time. Ahead of spring, you can iron out all the kinks in your home to make it feel brand new.

Get Outside: It’s common for a lot of yard work to be saved for spring. By why not do it now and get a head start? There are so many garden jobs that you can get done in the winter. In fact, it’s the best time of year to do some things. And, you’ll even give yourself a break come spring as there will be less to do all at once. Then, you’ll have a clean and spruced up home that’s functioning fine and a gorgeous garden to go with it. And how could that not beat away those dreaded winter blues?

Featured Image By: Pexels

Dec7

Time For A Refresh! Simple Improvements To Make Your Home Feel Brand-New Again

Posted on December 7, 2016 by lifewithlilred

I would LOVE to paint my room black!

After a few years in your home, it’s easy for things to start looking a bit tattered – wear and tear can easily occur in any home. But rather than jumping ship, try making some simple changes in your home instead. Small but effective touch ups will make it feel like you have just moved in. So when it’s time for a refresh, here are some simple improvements to make your home feel brand-new again.

Give Your Home a Good Clean: You will be surprised how different your home will look if you give it a good clean. In fact, you might end up falling in love with it again. Try going through each room and get rid of any items that you don’t need anymore. And for items that you want to keep, make sure they are put safely away in new places. That way, it will stop your rooms from looking totally cluttered and unorganized. You also need to hoover every room and don’t forget to wipe down the doors. And to finish off the rooms, make sure you give the windows a good clean. They are likely to pick up dust over the winter season. You will be surprised how fresh your home looks after a thorough cleaning sesh!

Give the Rooms a Lick of Paint: A lot of the time the rooms in your home can start to look old and blah due to the paint. To ensure your home looks brand-new again, you should consider repainting the rooms. You will be surprised how fantastic they can look with a lick of paint. Head to the store and find a color that will suit your room. You might want to go for something bright in the main rooms such as the bedroom and lounge. A bright color can affect your mood. If you are not so good at painting, you could always hunt down painting contractors. That way, you can rest assured a professional will do a brilliant job with painting your interior! (My family has repainted a few rooms in our home and they seriously look brand new now! Love.)

Move the Furniture Around: Okay, with Christmas around the corner, you might not have the funds to buy new furniture for your home. But if you are bored of where the current pieces are situated, you can give your home a refresh by rearranging the furniture. For example, by putting the sofa in a different place in your living room, you might create a lot more space and it can look like an entirely new room. Do this throughout the house to make it look brand new again!

As you move your furniture around, you might notice things you don’t normally see that need some additional love – like your carpets or area rugs that were once covered up. If you find that your favorite area rug is looking worse for the wear, simply enter a search for “area rug cleaning drop off” in your general vicinity to get it back to its former glory.

Buy Some New Accessories: It doesn’t always have to be the big things you change to make a big impact in the room. You can just add some new accents such as quirky candles or an eye catching area rug to make a big difference to your home. Hit up the local home goods stores and buy some accessories to put around the house to make it look fantastic. Even some plants would be ideal for enhancing your home. As we said before, they not only will give your home more oxygen, but they look appealing too!

And don’t forget to upgrade your lighting in your home to make it look bright and welcoming. Some beautiful new light shades can make a world of difference to your property.

Pexels Image

Nov16

Fabulous Time Saving Hacks For Your Household Routine

Posted on November 16, 2016 by lifewithlilred

Fabulous Time Saving Hacks For Your Household Routine

Do you remember being a child and your birthday was a month away? It seemed like a lifetime. It stretched eons into the future as if it would never come around and that toy you so wanted would never be yours. The passing of six months seemed like a huge part of your lifetime – in large part because it was.

As an adult, the idea of a month until your birthday seems like nothing at all. You even get to the stage of not wanting your birthday to come around at all. Six months is a standard period, not an everlasting stretch of time you will never see the end of.

That’s because adults and children perceive time differently. By the time you’re in charge of your own home and family, time flies past at an astonishing rate and makes life more stressful. You feel like you’ve only just taken the Christmas decorations down before it’s time to put them up again – nothing ever slows down. And in the midst of that, you rarely have time to relax.

There has to be a way to grab back a little bit of time… right?

Time, a famous quote by Astrid Alauda once said, is the only thief that we can’t get justice against. Now it’s time to grab a few hours back from time’s firm grip. We spend an astonishing amount of time doing housework per week, and literally no one loves it – it seems a ripe area for a little trimming, surely?

Time Saver #1: Safety pins for socks in the washing machine: Fed up of having to search high and low for a matching pair of socks? Then use a simple safety pin to keep them together when you throw them in the machine. No, it’s not going to buy you enough time for an episode of your latest binge-watch TV show, but it’s something!

Time Saver #2: Quick cleaning wherever possible: It may sound stupid, but one of the fastest ways to save time when cleaning is not to let things get dirty in the first place. Use foil every time you use an oven; choose quartz worktops for their stain-resistant properties. If you’re feeling slothful, go for as much cast iron cookware as you can – it’s actually better if you scrub that less!

Time Saver #3: Keep cleaning products in their used rooms: If you’re like most of the population, you keep your cleaning products in one particular area of your house. That means if you want to do a quick clean of the bedroom, you have to traipse into the kitchen for the polish. Instead, invest in multiple sets of cleaning items and store them in each room, so there’s always something within reach.

Time Saver #4: Iron more than one item at a time: Even if the modern trend of doing away with ironing altogether doesn’t appeal, you can still save time. Thin items of clothing can be pinned together (or just held, if you’re feeling lazy) and ironed at the same time, as the heat transfers. A shiny ironing board cover will magnify the effect.

Now, that’s four starting points: on your marks, get set, go!

What are some of your methods to cut down cleaning time? What is your least favorite chore? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Nov3

Is Your Home Really As Clean As You Think?

Posted on November 3, 2016 by lifewithlilred

Is Your Home Really As Clean As You Think?

We all know how important it is to ensure that our homes are as clean as possible. Cleaning gets rids of nasty germs and bacteria that can grow in problem areas such as the kitchen and bathroom. And once your home is free from bacteria and germs, you will find that your family won’t fall ill so often. Because of this, many families strive to keep their home as clean as possible. But are you really doing as good of a job as you think you might be? Here are some common parts of household cleanliness that many families overlook. Make sure you start focusing on these areas next time you clean the house.

Dust And Mites: In this modern age, many parents are working full-time and don’t have as much time as they would like to clean their houses. That means that dust has a lot longer to build up. Modern houses also have well-sealed windows, which are often closed when the central heating is on. This causes the air to turn stale in the rooms. Stale air alongside all that dust can encourage mites and other small bugs to gather in your rooms. The only way to prevent these insects from moving in is to keep on top of your dusting. It is also crucial to Get rid of the small bugs in your windowsill and air out your rooms as often as the weather will permit.

Clean Your Air: There are more reasons why you need to watch the quality of air in your rooms, as well. If someone in your family suffers from asthma or emphysema, then you will really need to make sure that the air in your home is as clean and pure as it can be. Otherwise, their symptoms could worsen. Stale air can also start to smell quite bad. So how do you clean air? It’s easy really; you just need to buy an air purifier. If you aren’t sure which one to get, you can take a look at review sites including Plenty Air.

Toilets And Toothbrushes: Now it’s time to take a look in your bathroom. Even though you may regularly clean your bathroom with lots of products, it could still be dirtier than you think. Especially the area around your toilet. Did you know that germs spread every time you flush your toilet? In fact, they can travel up to six feet in distance. I bet that’s more than what you thought! There is also another area in your bathroom that can be a breeding ground for germs. And that is your toothbrushes! To make sure they don’t get too dirty, you should keep them well away from your toilet. And make sure to replace them every three months.

Squeaky Clean!

Bed Bugs: When was the last time you inspected your mattress? Even if you change your bed linen regularly, your mattress could still be the perfect home for bedbugs. The only way you can prevent these little creepy crawlies from settling in your bed is to change your pillow every three years. Washing your bed linen in a boil wash every week will also help to prevent you from finding bed bugs in your bed. If you do notice a problem with these pests, it is so important to call in a bed bug exterminator immediately before the issue gets even worse. They will also provide you with the information to prevent the return of bed bugs so use it well.

*Lil Red Horror Story: A few years ago my BFF and I planned a trip to Niagara Falls. We were young and broke and was on the hunt for the cheapest motel humanly possible. We found one for a price that was too good to be true and about a day after booking our rooms my dad asked me if I read the reviews for the motel (No, I didn’t. Whoops!). Apparently, the reviews were consistently saying that the motel had bed bugs which explains their dirt cheap price! Long story short, the motel had a no refund policy and my mom had to call the place and claim that there was a “family emergency” to get said refund and not come home from Niagara Falls crawling with bed bugs! Yikes and yuck!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Oct20

Why Finding The Time To Clean Your Home Properly Isn’t Really That Hard

Posted on October 20, 2016 by lifewithlilred