Project Clean House slash Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

As I've written in my previous post here, I took the opportunity last long weekend for some serious spring cleaning. Thanks to my two very efficient helpers, medyo umayos na ung bahay namin.

Short kwento, before kasi, my mom's interior design shop was in our garage. Our house literally became a storage unit for furnitures, textiles and their other supplies. So when they finally moved out last week, we did some general cleaning. Please note, I qualified na "medyo" umayos lang, kasi it would really take more than a weekend to fix all the clutter accumulated in four years and some pictures below would show that. Plus, when this bungalow was purchased, it wasn't brand new. Before Daddy A and I moved-in back in 2009, all we could afford was some painting and fixing of the roof/ceiling. The bathrooms needed new tiles, but we just had to make do with re-grouting and a lot of Zonrox/muriatic acid hehe. For furnitures naman, we were fortunate to have hand downs from my father's ancestral home. We just had them re-upholstered/painted. Papa was in-charge of the renovations back then.

Oh how I miss him terribly, lalo pa now na hawak na namin ni Daddy A ung titulo ng bahay. He would have been so happy. He would also be happy to see na maayos na ung bahay namin.

So to proceed with house cleaning, ung living room na dating tambakan ng tela at furnitures ng mga client, eto na:

Ung dining table na dati sa dami ng nakapatong, kalahati nalang ng space ang nakakainan, eto na:

Ung kitchen, medyo may clutter pa, but working on it. Dami kasi stuff ng mga bata (bottle holder, sterilizer, baunan etc.)

Pinaka favorite ko ang bedroom namin. Loving our shabby chic bed! Actually kung may budget lang, I would change our dining set into a shabby chic type (light beige paint with sweet floral upholstery).

Here's where I blog, may clutter parin hehe. And I have to do something about those exposed wires:

JD's corner:

Here's R's room slash playroom. Eto ung mahirap solusyonan, kakaayos mo palang, magkakalat nanaman si R. Tinatambak ko nalang tuloy ung ibang toys sa loob nung playhouse/tent sa gilid. Pag nagka budget din, I'll make this room neutral for sharing, siguro with double-deck beds and lots of storage space. Dami kasi stuff ng kids, lalo't different genders pa.

Here's our bathroom. Nakaka shala talaga ang new curtains, rugs at towels. Also placed a glass shelf below the round vanity mirror. Budget nalang talaga for re-tiling ang kailangan.

Here's the common bathroom naman. Same here, needs re-tiling and perhaps a new sink:

After all these sabi ko kay Daddy A:
Me: Ang sarap umuwi sa maayos at malinis na bahay noh? Paano kaya natin mapapanatiling walang kalat toh?
Daddy A: Madali lang, wag tayo tumira dito.
Ayus!

Seriously, here are some tips to maintain a clean/clutter-free house:

1. Simple lang - magligpit kagad and teach your kids to do the same. Don't procrastinate dahil tatambak yan.
2. When buying something, think first. Do I really need this? Do I have space for this?
3. Post a list/schedule of cleaning chores for you or if you have househelp (e.g. dusting/sweeping - daily, clean CR - weekly, wash curtains - once a month)
4. Wag mag sentimyento. Tiny keepsakes are ok to keep, pero kung pati ung first piece of appliance or furniture na binili niyong mag asawa na hindi na gumagana (e.g. TV), wag na please. Same goes with documents, files, and pictures, try to keep softcopies nalang.

I thank God for blessing us with our starter home. I trust He will continue helping us with our next project, to have a second floor. Like I said in my previous post, ang sarap ng feeling pag pinag hirapan mo ang isang bagay. You get to appreciate and treasure it more, specially pag labor of love ng buong pamilya.