• Buy your Weekly Flowers (and enjoy them!)• Clean Your Kitchen and Declutter/Organize as You GoTo help you organize your time and your tasks, here are some excerpts from Maxwell's kitchen cleaning plan from The Eight Step Home Cure:1. Clean all surfaces, inside and out, with a good earth-friendly surface cleaner.
a. Counters (and sink)
b. Cabinets
c. Refrigerator
d. Floor (if it needs it again)
e. Stove
f. Other appliancesRemove shelf liners and replace or wash and replace. Moving everything in order to do the washing will allow you to reach bottles, jars, and boxes that you may not have seen in a long time. The foods we keep in our kitchens should be fresh and replenished frequently.2. Remove all food:
a. past its expiration date
b. Unused for more than twelve months
c. In containers that are nearly emptyLook hard an your own kitchen. If a food item in old, throw it away; if it is unopened and you will never eat it, give it away. Aim to reduce the mass of your stored foods by at least 25 percent.3. Remove all cups, glasses, and dishes that are
a. Chipped, stained or unmatching - unless the unmatching is intentional :)
b. Extra or unusedSeriously edit down the odds and ends in your glasses, dishware and servingware. If you notice that you are short on certain items, add a note to replace them to your list of projects.4. Remove cookware you don't use.• Find a Recipe and Make Yourself a Simple, Enjoyable MealMaxwell notes that "using your kitchen regularly is the only way to keep it in good shape" and is central to the well-being of a home. Whether cooking at home is something you normally do daily OR rarely, be sure give it a go this weekend - you'll be more connected to your kitchen, more empowered to keep it clean and organized and you'll be well fed - not a bad deal!1. Find a simple-sounding, new, delicious-to-you recipe and give it a try. If you are looking for some inspiration, our sister site, The Kitchn, has a whole archive of them to choose from.2. Make a quick shopping list, and pick up any ingredients you need for the preparation (maybe at the same time as doing your flower shopping?).3. Relax and enjoy the preparation process and your meal4. Be sure to clean up after yourself
Having some artwork around the house that you've been meaning to frame and hang is a very common situation. It just seems to be one of those tasks that feels wonderful once its complete, but is very easy to put off. So, most of us probably can very easily think of some piece of artwork we have that needs framing - It can be a painting, a drawing, a photograph, a print, a poster, a card - big or small, expensive or free - made by you, a friend, a local artist, or even your kids - from a gallery, a secondhand shop, a craft fair or found online. Non-traditional things can be wonderful as decorative art, too - when framed and elevated to an object of honor - a menu, a silk scarf, tickets, a note from a loved one.Think about which item would truly make you happy to display in this way in your home. The origin and the artist is less important than how it makes you feel. The important part is that you should love it and really want to use it to add some warmth, beauty and individuality to your space.Now that you've given it some thought and made a choice it's time to get this taken care of - don't put it off any longer - let's get the process underway. (Lots of helpful links below!)If you are planning to DIY the framing, you'll want to measure, decide if you want a mat, and figure out what size frame you'll need. If the dimensions of the artwork allows for you to pick up a standard size mat and frame, great! Add that to your shopping list. If you need a custom size (and have DIY skills!) pick up or order your supplies. Either way, get busy and keep in mind that we'll behanging artwork on the 29th, so it should be ready by then.If you are going to go pro - drop it off today (or ASAP) and be sure to let them know you'll need it by 1/29.If you already have a piece of framed artwork set aside that you can hang on the 29th with the rest of us, consider today a free day to catch up or put some time in on working on your project that you got started on yesterday.
Review your list and and choose a project that fits the below criteria:- A project that can be completed this month, in a few hours. Remember, you'll be very busy with the rest of your Cure assignments, so don't get overly ambitious in your choice - stay practical on the time commitment required.- A project that will make a noticeable difference in either how you use your home (organizing, flow), how something works (repairs) or how things look (decluttering, decorating).- A project that you'll be proud to share with the rest of us!Once you've made your choice, do the following:- Take a few before photos. You'll want a record of how great a job you'll do AND we'd love it if you share it with us as a before and after down the road a bit.- Tell us exactly what single project you've decided to tackle in the comments below. It's a good idea to make a commitment to the whole group on what your goal project is - the more of us that participate fully, the more strength we all have as a group to really get the work done!- Do your basic prep work. Some examples on what you can get done on the project tonight, online: do some online research on how to do best do your project, ditto on the research for materials and items needed, create a shopping list for supplies, find inspiration photos.
