Working Mother's Survival Guide: Week 3 in review

The 20 Day Challenge marches on, gaining momentum everyday in our house. Everyday I am excited to check my email to see what is happening next. It has however been a very busy week, and blogging has taken a back seat. So here is week three in review:

DAY 12 Clean the Dishwasher, De-clutter & Organise the bathroom cupboard. I often reflect on how lucky we are as modern women to have all of these appliances to make our daily lives so much easier. Even cleaning the dishwasher is as easy as adding the cleaning products and leaving it on a cycle. See TOH instructions here.

Dishwasher {Before}

Having trouble getting an after photo of the dishwaher as it is always in use!

Bathroom Cupboard {Before}

It doesn't look so bad, does it? But when we have a closer look inside the baskets and boxes:

I had a bit of a makeup cull, throwing anything that was broken or icky looking. Then time to wash the makeup brushes. Just a little warm water and shampoo in a plastic container, wash rinse and allow to dry. Good as new :)

I have organised the make up into lips and eyes in the top tray, base (foundations, concealers etc) in the little balack zip up bag and larger "colour" items in the bottom of the case.

Much easier to find everything now in the mornings.

And how about this for a handy spot for the hairdryer? No more scrabbling about in the bottom of the cupboard. I found the hook when cleaning out the linen cupboard!

DAY 13 - Clean the cornices, de-clutter the kids artwork, organise the kids artwork. I have nothing to share here as I really don't have an issue with the kids artwork. They tend to keep their special pieces on display in their rooms, and we go through it regularly. They are pretty good at decluttering: "Do you want his?" "No" etc.

DAY 14 - Clean the office, de-clutter the office desk, organise the office desk. I had been looking forwad to getting stuck into this room and here's why:

Our office is one of the most used rooms in the house, and as such it takes a bit of a bit of a beating.

We recently replaced our old corner style desk (that was breaking apart) with this more streamlined option from Officeworks. I wanted to go for a high gloss white to blend in with the little bar fridge we also recently acquired. But this left nowhere to store all the bits and pieces associated with a home office.

So we purchased this matching credenza from Officeworks too (even though I swore I would never buy flat packed furniture again!)

I still need to wash the walls down and put up a vinyl wall sticker that I have been hanging on to for, well for ever. Such a relief to have this room tidy :) Stay tuned for a mini-makeover.

DAY 15 - Clean the patio/outdoor area, de-clutter weeds & organise the kids wardrobes.

Hmmm, seem to have completely forgotton about the kids wardrobes, so I guess that's a catch up job. But the outdoor area, well I went a little crazy! The weather has been seriously ordinary for a number of weeks now with rain, storms, strong winds etc so this area has been really neglceted.

Alfresco {Before}

Having said that, I had not long ago got stuck into the scary, horror movie-esque cobwebs we has been cultivating :P

This job posed a bit of a "chicken or the egg" dilemma. I wanted to move the bikes off the alfresco, but the garden shed and garage were so cluttered that there was nowhere to store the bikes. So in order to clean the alfresco, I first had to organise the shed and garage. No before photo, but I am feeling slightly triumphant that the bikes actually fit in the garden shed now!

Shed {After}

So then on to the alfresco. Really just a matter of washing the barbecue, table and chairs. Cleaning the windows and sweeping.

In the absence of an outdoor broom I will admit to vacuuming the pavers. Not something that is recommended for the health of your vacuum cleaner, but I did get an indecent amount of pleasure sucking up all those old bits of grass clippings that get in around the base of the windows.

Alfresco {After}

A quick dash down to the local hardware store provided some colour for the table, but I would still like a bright table runner, and possibly an update of the chair pads to really brighten it up out there.