A Home for the Holidays: Day 22

Whatever day you decide to do the final assignment for this week is fine.

Clean your light fixtures inside and out. Replace any burnt bulbs. Be careful!! It is worth it to take a little extra time to be safe (safe things to stand on, turning off breakers, and handling glass carefully).

If you have extra time, work on cleaning mirrors and windows.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 21

Thanksgiving is near whether Day 21 falls on Tuesday or Wednesday for you, so let's spend today doing basic cleaning and maintenance and not dive into anything we might not be able to finish. ;)

We only will have one more assignment this week. What day you decide to do it is up to you. I will post it tomorrow for the early birds.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 20

It's been a while since we made our Christmas lists. Let's pull them out and see how things are going.

What do you still need to buy? If you are making things, do you have all your supplies? Are your time estimates reasonable, or do you need to simplify (remember, you need to account for time ripping seams, picking up dropped stitches, etc.)?

A Home for the Holidays: Day 19

Thanksgiving is this week!

Take today to work on whatever preparations you need to get ready for the big day! This might include cleaning, shopping, meal planning, or packing your bags!

A Home for the Holidays: Day 18

Today, spend your hour revisiting the areas you've worked on so far. It's impossible to keep things 100% pristine after you finish cleaning because we're all living life. Take today as a chance to do a little maintenance on the areas you've already improved. For me at least, it seems almost harder to keep my house clean than it is to clean it in the first place.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 17

I'm sure you feel like I do that you are always doing laundry, but today we are going to do a little catch-up in that department. Do you have anything sitting on the sidelines that needs:

* Ironing
* Mending or altering
* Special stain treatment/ bleaching
* Starching (I admit, I have never done this!)
* Bluing (Okay, I've done this once.)
* Dry cleaning
* Quarterly, semi-annual or annual cleaning (sleeping bags, duvet covers)
* Lint removal

Let's spend our hour or so today getting really caught up on laundry.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 15

You've been working hard! Today is a day where you get to do the fun things on your to-do list, even though they're not the most important. I'm talking about things like:

* Shopping for Christmas gifts
* Taking care of yourself
* Working on your hobby
* Writing thank-you cards, or something else you'd like to do to add some niceness to your life
* Doing some cooking or baking
* Decorating
* Copying pictures onto your computer from your memory card
* Reconstructing/upcycling/altering clothes

What did you do today? Tell us in the comments!

A Home for the Holidays Directory

Here is a directory for all the daily posts for the A Home for the Holidays challenge:

What this is all about & Pre-assignment 1
Pre-assignment 2
Pre-assignment 3
Pre-assignment 4

Grab our button
Add your blog to our roll
Inspiration
Flickr Pool

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Feel free to start at the beginning or jump right in on the current day!

A Home for the Holidays is all about doing what you can. Don't be discouraged if the lists seem a little ambitious - the idea is to work on them, not finish them. A good rule of thumb is that if you average about an hour on average on the daily assignment, you have completed the challenge for the day. More is always welcome, but be proud if you spend even 15-20 minutes on the daily assignment. This is more about consistently doing a little extra than going gung-ho. At the end, you will have completed the challenge if you stick with us even if you completely miss daily assignments here and there. If your house is a nicer place to be, you've won!

Don't worry! You still have:

A Home for the Holidays: Day 14

Do you have a craft or hobby area or a workbench or garden shed? Spend an hour organizing and cleaning.

If you don't or you want to spend more time today, go down the things on this list:

* Work on your bedroom more, or spruce it up if you completed it

* Do the same for your bathrooms

* Do the same for other bedrooms in your house

A Home for the Holidays: Day 13

Spend an hour de-junking, throwing away trash, and cleaning the interior of your car.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 12

Thanks for all your feedback!

It sounds like most of us can use some more work in the kitchen. Go back to the Day 1 list, and if you finish that, you can clean the oven, microwave, baseboards, walls, and windows or go through the cupboards.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 11

We're getting far enough along in the challenge that it's hard to do something specific that applies to everyone. Today, pick one or two of the following areas and spend an hour cleaning, organizing, and decluttering:

* Kids' room(s)
* Outdoors/garage/carport/shed/porch
* Home office/computer area
* Entertainment area
* Laundry room/laundry piles
* Linens
* Pantry
* Pet areas
* Hobby areas
* Coat closet
* Game cupboard

Also, why don't you post a comment and let everyone know how you're coming? Do you have any suggestions for future assignments? I'd like to get some feedback so I know what people are done with and what they need to work on more. Any days you would like to repeat or work further on?

A Home for the Holidays: Day 10

Day 10:

Where do you receive visitors to your home? Most likely a living room or family room. Let's spend an hour sprucing this up. I'd like you to:

* declutter
* dust
* vacuum
* reconsider decorations and maybe rearrange things for a fresh feel
* polish wood/clean glass, other maintenance

A Home for the Holidays: Day 9

Day 9:

Plan your Thanksgiving meal if you are having one. Create a meal plan and a shopping list. Make sure all invitations are made and DELEGATE side dishes and desserts to attendees! Think of decorations.

If you have time left or are not hosting a Thanksgiving meal, work on one of the areas we've already started (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom).

A Home for the Holidays: Day 8

Today, we are going to give some extra attention to the financial aspect of our lives. I know it's probably not something you like to think about, but clearing some of the clutter (both tangible and intangible) can definitely make it less stressful.

Here is a list of suggestions to spend your hour or so on:

* Pay any outstanding or upcoming bills
* Gather all paper piles around the house, sort, purge, and file. Purge your files, too.
* Set financial goals, create or evaluate your budget (you should have some Christmas help from Day 3 ;) ) One of your financial goals might be a plan of attack if you are bad at impulse buying like me - something like "I must consult my husband for purchasing items over $25" or "I have to wait a week to see if I still want to buy it" or "I can have it, but I have to wait until I have enough money in my personal spending account"
* Gather up loose change and cash and take it to your bank so you can earn interest and it won't take up space in your house. You could even use this money to pay toward the principal of your highest-interest debt.
* Set up online bill pay or automatic withdrawls to reduce your monthly bill-paying time (if you know you are good at keeping money in the account to avoid overdrafts. Or, see if your bank or credit union or another you can join offers overdraft protection.)

Any other ideas? Post them in the comments!

A Home for the Holidays: Day 7

For those of you who don't take Sunday off, I'm sorry I missed posting this! I was still down with the flu today, but I think tomorrow I will be back to normal. I am finally feeling better now (Sunday evening).

Here is the Day 7 assignment. If you want, you can put 1/2 of your Monday time toward this assignment and 1/2 toward the Day 8 assignment. Since I've been down for several days, I'm going to start on Day 7 and work backward if I have extra time. It's fine to mix up the days, jump in anywhere, or skip days. The point is to make a difference beyond your usual cleaning routine (and to work toward establishing one if you're bad at being consistent like me). We started out kind of fast and furious, but since most people don't have 50+ rooms, expect to spend several days on each one until it is up to par. We will come back before Christmas arrives.

Go through the cupboards/shelves in your bathroom. Throw away all old toiletries or things that you don't use/want (including stuff that didn't work as advertised). Wipe down the shelves and put everything back in an organized manner. If you have extra time, wipe down and disinfect bathroom surfaces, then deep clean toilet and bath/shower.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 6

There will not be an assignment for Day 6; I have come down with the flu. Sorry!

EDIT: This is Kathy's sister, Audrey, filling in for today.

If you feel the need for an assignment today, you are welcome to dust the blinds. You know they need it. I have only lived in my house for four months and they need it!

Also, think of other places that don't get dusted very often: the top of the fridge, your dresser, bookcases, shelves, etc. See how many you can get to in an hour. If you don't have anything you need to dust, work on some of the other assignments for the week.

Have a great weekend! Kathy hopes to be back in the next couple of days.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 5

Day 5:

Only one work day left this week!

Today we are going to do a decluttering binge. The best declutterer will be getting a prize (that takes up very little space), mailed to you by yours truly! (It also comes with absolution of guilt if you decide to re-gift it or get rid of it at any point.)

So, here is what I want you to do:
* Get rid of at least 30 donatable items and get them out of your house! It is best if you can drive it to your favorite charity, but at least get it out of your house and into your car.
* Throw out any trash you find
* Find at least one item you think would be worth your time to sell and list it online or take it to a consignment shop (or at least in the car ready to go to the shop). Resolve to donate it if you are unable to sell it.

When you are done for the day (and before you take the stuff away!), take a picture and post it to the Flickr group. Please only include stuff you marked for "deletion" today - stuff already in your to-donate pile doesn't count. If you can't take a picture, post a list in the comments. I'll pick who did the best job (based on both volume and quality - i.e. getting rid of a room full of styrofoam won't necessarily be an automatic win), and if there's not a clear winner, I will enlist some judges or award multiple prizes.

The decluttering contest will accept entries through November 13th.

A Home for the Holidays: Day 4

How have you all been doing? I'd love to hear about it in a post or see your pictures in the Flickr pool.

Take a deep breath and breathe out. Today we're going to have another low-key assignment. There are three parts to today's assignment:

#1:
Do something to take care of yourself. We've been working so hard on our houses, let's do a little self-maintenance. Take 20 minutes or so (don't set a timer on this one unless you pick something that is a time warp!), turn off your phone, close IM/email/Facebook and do something that will help you feel more relaxed in your own skin. THIS STEP IS REQUIRED, NO SKIPPING! We still have 42 assignment days until Christmas, the rest will get done. Here are some ideas:

* Take a warm bath
* Do some eyebrow maintenance
* Shave your legs
* Shower (this one is for you, new moms!)
* Smooth your heel calluses and put some nice lotion and socks on
* Give yourself a manicure or pedicure
* Give yourself a facial
* Read a book
* Play a video game
* Watch an episode of your favorite show on Hulu.com
* Take a nap

#2:
Are you feeling more refreshed? I bet you'll like the next step!

What is that one thing you would LOVE to get done, but it is never the most important thing on your list? Give yourself a "get out of guilt free" pass and take 20 minutes or so and work on it! You can set a timer if you like, but if you're having a good time, feel free to run with it!

I'm talking about something like:
* Organizing photos
* Your hobby - knitting, scrapbooking, sewing, beading, taxidermy, whatever!
* Cleaning your hobby space so working on it isn't stressful
* Writing a card for somebody
* Making a gift for somebody
* Doing some fun research - i.e. what camera model is best for your needs
* Calling someone you love to check on them/get in touch
* Creative writing
* Home decorating
* Practicing a musical instrument
* Taking some time to play with your kids and give them 100% of your attention
* Sorting your books, magazines, or something else you have fun looking at (for me it would be craft supplies). Something that energizes you and makes you feel creative.

#3:
To round out this day's assignment (we're shooting for spending around an hour), get your timer and set it for 20 minutes. We are going to do a maintenance blitz where we do as much of the following list as we can:

* Thwart any pending disasters (i.e. pot of spaghetti sauce in baby's reach)
* Clean any spills or messes that could get worse soon (another one that mostly applies to parents)
* Clear out one side of the kitchen sink (disposal side if you have one)
* Pick up any trash that might be laying around
* Take out any trash that is filling its can
* Clear any pathways that are strewn with items
* Gather up dirty laundry and take it to the laundry room (or get it ready to go to the laundromat)
* Replenish toilet paper, soap, diapers, wipes, paper towels as needed
* Change out towels and washcloths/dishcloths as needed (kitchen, hand towels, bath towels)
* Wipe down kitchen and bathroom counters and kitchen table if needed (Don't work on any clutter piles during this blitz, just do what you can get to. The idea is to get the best visual/spatial returns for your time. My kitchen table is still condemned.).

If you want to do more, or you didn't need to do anything in the blitz list, spend 20-30 minutes at a time on the following things (any less than 20 minutes and it seems like too much time is spent switching gears, but you may prefer a different interval. I think 30 minutes is best for me.). Set your timer and change rooms when it goes off.

* Vacuum
* Put away clean laundry
* Start laundry loads/start dryer loads
* Put away clean dishes/wash dirty dishes or load dishwasher
* Sweep and mop hard floors
* Clean bathroom fixtures
* Wash windows
* Dust

We are doing basic home maintenance for phase 3, not decluttering. If you can't get to anything because of clutter (I've been there!), focus on decluttering your kitchen sink and countertops and your bathroom sink and countertops, and then hallways and main walkways. On the other hand, if you are pretty on top of maintenance and none of these things need to be done, work on the lists from Day 1 and Day 2 or spend more time on Phase 2 from today.

Do you feel a little lighter?

A Home for the Holidays Flickr Pool

We have a Flickr pool!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ahfth/

Please post pictures of your accomplishments (and before shots too, if you dare)! Flickr is free to join and you don't even have to sign up if you already have a Yahoo account.