Taking A Minimalist Approach - clean and serene spaces

FREE IMAGES Sometimes I think we forget that simple can be just as beautiful as well decorated! With things so hectic in my life with the wedding right now, it's nice to see such simple, clean spaces.  Spring is also a great time to clear out clutter - so be a little more ruthless when you empty out those closets this season.

via BHG

This office space really inspires me to clear mine out a bit.  Less "stuff" means less distractions and therefore better focus.

via babble

I don't think minimal has to mean bare, just well edited and thought out.  It also calls more attention to the objects you do display, so they can take center stage.


via House of Fifty

Minimal also doesn't need to be white, light, or neutral. It's all about lines and your ratio of positive and negative space.

via House of Fifty

via pinterest

It makes me want to pick a room and see what I can do with it to make it as clean and uncluttered as the ones featured here.  Once we get back from our honeymoon - I think I will start with my office!

A Functional Office

FREE IMAGES Between tax season and spring cleaning, I've been trying to plan how I'm going to reorganize and clean out my office to make it a little bit more functional and pleasing to the eye. Here are some looks I've been loving

via livesimplybyannie

Loving this cabinet/bookshelf. Use matching decorative boxes or baskets to store receipts, paperwork and office supplies that you don't use on a daily basis.

via pinterest

Labeled drawers are a great way to keep your supplies and items organized. I love the simple look of the picture above and the labels are barely noticeable so they don't take away from the piece of furniture. The large drawers are great for keeping papers flat and not bent or rumpled.

via theglitterguide

A simple open shelving bookcase with a few baskets might do the trick for you! This can give you great places to add a little decor as well as store items. I actually have this same shelving unit in my office and love it.

via BHG
Keeping everything I need to get my task complete close by is key for me to stay productive.

I love a good inspiration board as long as it's kept somewhat tidy! Mine can get a bit cluttered and then I find them distracting...
via Sweet Home Style

Collections and archives are great as long as you are able to keep them grouped together and orderly.
via Sweet Home Style

Spring Cleaning on the Cheap with Allergies/Asthma AND a Giveaway!

FREE IMAGES

Hey there, friends!  Are you still spring cleaning or am I just really late?  It seems like I could spring clean all year long for all the jobs that need to be done.  I need a housekeeper to take care of my regular cleaning so I can get my spring cleaning done. :)

Part of the trouble with cleaning is all of the stinky chemicals.  We are a house of asthma and allergies and the stinky chemicals are really bothersome to most of my family.  I don't have much more than seasonal allergies but find that I am very bothered by the strong smell of some cleaners, the fumes give me a headache (as if cleaning isn't enough in itself to give me a headache, I don't need any help from my stinky cleaning products!)

I have to clear everybody out and open the windows while I'm cleaning and still the stink will linger for the rest of the day.  Even in the dead of winter I'm cracking a window to let some fresh air in when I use certain products.  Not exactly practical with the furnace or air blasting.

After we found out one of my boys had bad allergies/asthma I looked into some organic/natural based cleaning products found in stores.  Ummm... major sticker shock for the prices on most of that stuff.  I forked over the cash for a few and was unpleasantly surprised that they were really stinky too, only in a bad smelling herb type of way rather than a harsh chemical with fragrance added type of stink.  Plus, many of them didn't work very well so I paid double for equally stinky products that didn't work, awesome, right?

I didn't do my homework on any other products than what was available at my discount store.  I figured I'd be stuck opening the windows and banishing everyone else to the basement while I cleaned with Fan-stinky-tastic forever.

If you read enough blogs you'll see Shaklee all over the place.  I started looking into it and realized that this could be the solution to having a clean home without the fumes or the expense of natural cleaning products found in stores. I was so excited when Jennifer, a Shaklee independant distributor, contacted me to see if I'd like to test out some of their products.  Of course I said yes!

She sent me the Shaklee Get Clean line to honestly review and all opinions are 100% mine.  It came with a bottle of multi-purpose Basic H, 3 super cute spray bottles, a mircofiber cloth and a window cleaning cloth.

Aren't those the cutest spray bottles ever?

First, I filled my spray bottles, each cute bottle is conveniently labeled with directions.  The window cleaner takes 1 to 2 drops (that's right, DROPS) added to a full bottle of water.  According to Shaklee "1 bottle of Basic H² equals the cleaning uses of 5,824 bottles of 26 oz. Windex^®*"  


WOW.

Seriously, WOW.

One bottle of Basic H is going to last FOR-EV-ER and is around $12 bucks.

I'd call that a deal.

Basic H can be used to clean just about anything and it has absolutely NO SMELL.  I can't even believe how smell-less it is, I can spray it around my kids without worrying about stinky fumes and it actually works!

I first used the Basic H All-Purpose cleanser for my stainless steel appliances.  If you have any stainless steel appliances in your home you'll probably agree with me that they are a pain in the booty to keep clean, especially with kiddos running around touching them because those shiny surfaces are just screaming "please touch me all over with your sticky little fingers!!"

There also aren't a lot of good products that clean stainless, even the products specifically for stainless can smear it all up.

You can see below that my dishwasher is a little drippy/smeary/fingerprinty.

A few squirts of Basic H All Purpose and some swipes with the microfiber towel and it was shining like new!

I used it on all my stainless steel appliances and it worked great.  I did have some trouble with a few spots on my fridge that had been on there for months ahem, quite a while.  They were "set in" if you will.  However, it worked great on everyday smudges and fingerprints, perfect for a quick shine-up.

I tried out the window cleaner on my powder room mirror.  There were some splatters on it which are pointed out with arrows (it's hard to take a picture of the surface of a mirror!)  Plus some streaks from whenever I cleaned it last time with that blue stuff.

A few squirts of Basic H Windows and some swipes with the Shaklee window cloth and it was sparkly and streak free!  

When I use that blue window cleaner I wipe and wipe and wipe and can't get rid of all the streaks.  This was clean and streak free after just a few swipes!

You might remember that I love glass cloches (aka: glass domes).  I have  too many a nice collection and they are big time dust collectors. I used the Basic H Window Cleaner to shine them up.

This one had spots from the last time I washed it (without Basic H)

A squirt on the Shaklee mirror cloth and a quick cloche rub down and it's squeaky clean and spot free!

If you've never tried Shaklee products, now is the time!  Especially if you or anyone in your home suffers from allergy or asthma.  There are several specials for ordering this month...

Offer good through May 31, 2012

I'm so excited to try more of Shaklee's products I can hardly wait!  If you'd like to give it a try, click the link in the caption below and take advantage of the May special.

Click here to try some for yourself

Jennifer was generous enough to giveaway 5 Shaklee Basic H samples to my readers!

Here's how to win...

Leave one comment per entry:

• Go to Jennifer's Shaklee website and let me know which Shaklee product you would like to try. (mandatory)

Extra entries:

• Go to her Facebook page and Like it
• Follow her Blog, Blissfully Ever After
• Follow me through Google Friend Connect or Linky(Chic on a Shoestring Decorating)
• Like me on Facebook 

Winners will be chosen by Random.org on Saturday, May 19.

Spring Cleaning 2011: Jewelry Organization

FREE IMAGES Is it too late to start spring cleaning now that May is just days away? 

I don't think so... at least I hope not. 

After taking care of sick kiddos followed by a 10 day vacation followed by sick kiddos again, I am just now getting around to my spring cleaning, but hey, at least I'm doing it, right?

I started out with a small project that is a HAAUUUGGEEE mess... my jewelry drawer. 

I am so thankful to have a jewelry drawer as those little jewelry boxes just don't cut it for a jewelry lover like myself.

Unfortunately, my jewelry drawer had become a jewelry/junk drawer where random items get stuck when trying to do a quick clean up. 

Here is an embarassing before picture (my old frienenemy Perfection was not here for this picture ;)

As you can see, most of this drawer was not jewelry, it was junk... cake decorator tips, seriously?  My 6 year old stole them from the kitchen thinking they would be interesting bath toys, I took them back but they never made it back to the kitchen, ugh. 

I was fed up with this mess and I was so happy to find this cute little earring holder at TJ Maxx for under $10.  I had seen these around before but never thought they'd be big enough to hold all of my stuff.  I was pleasantly surprised.... I should've bought one of these pretty trays a looooong time ago.

To get started, take an embarassing picture of your messy jewery storage and post it on the web for all the world to see.  (ok, you can skip that part I guess). 

Step 2 (or 1 if you are too ashamed of your jewerly mess), take everything out of your drawer.  Then start 3 piles, sell, donate, keep.  I try to get rid of anything I haven't worn in a year and I stuck to it this year!

Get yourself a nice little tray like this (or something similiar)

After going through my jewelry drawer I was able to purge several items that I never wear anymore.  I filled an old shoebox with all kinds of earrings, bracelets and necklaces that I can sell in my garage sale. 

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating Tip:  Used jewelry sells great in garage sales (at least mine did).  Clean out your drawer and make $money$!

I found out last year at my garage sale that jewelry sells really well.  (When I say jewelry I'm refering to costume type stuff from the mall, not diamonds and gold... I would not recommend selling the real stuff in a garage sale. :)

Anywho, I am loving my new organized jewelry drawer!

After purging all the stuff I never wear I had plenty of room!  I was even able to put some bracelets in my earring holder. 

While I was at it I decided to clean my sterling silver jewelry.  I had previously just used one of those silver jewelry polishing cloths, they work ok but not on really tarnished stuff. 

I thought this old cuff bracelet was beyond help.

After one 10 second dip in Connoissuers Silver Jewelry Cleaner it came out like this...

It's like new, I couldn't believe it!

Am I the only one that just started my spring cleaning??  Come on, you can admit it if you haven't... make me feel better about starting so late. ;)

Happy Spring Cleaning! 

Linking I heart naptime, Under the Table & Dreaming, CraftOmaniac Monday, The Stories of AtoZ, The Lettered Cottage.