Nesting

I'm not sure if this is nesting, or just me being my normal, neurotic, OCD self. Remember back in September when I posted this about my fall cleaning list? Well, not all of it got done. Work got busy, then I got pregnant and it all went out the window. A few months ago, I decided to make the "Hardy List." Everything to get done before his birth. Some of it is stuff that is just for baby (i.e. get the nursery ready, pack hospital bag, find childcare, etc.), but the majority of it is stuff I've been wanting to get done and know that if I don't do it before his arrival it won't happen after. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, while Christopher painted the nursery (he's much better at painting than me, he can free hand trim and never gets paint on himself!) I decided to work on some list items. One of these items (probably the biggest one) was clean the grout. I did this almost 2 years ago and was amazed by how the grout was actually not supposed to be that color. Gross, right? Last time, I used a Clorox bleach pen. This time I found a hint on Pinterest that said to use Clorox toilet bowl cleaner. It was genius! Worked just as well as the pen, but easier since it was a bigger bottle. 

My weapons of choice:

I didn't have a mask (you'd think I would since I'm in hospitals all the time), so I resorted to using a bandana like a guy about to rob a stage coach.

I lined the grout with the cleaner and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then I scrubbed it with a toothbrush and let sit for another 5.

After that, I mopped it up with an old, wet wash cloth. Then ran a dry paper towel over it. Once I got all the cleaner off the floor, I mopped it with the wet cloth on my Swiffer. Then, I actually Swiffered it. Lastly, I mopped it with a combo of white vinegar and warm water. 

The top is a section after cleaning (you have to do it in sections) and the bottom is the before. I know it looks disgusting, but that was the grout color when I moved in. I thought it was SUPPOSED to look like that. 

Completely done:

I did this on the powder room floor and in our shower. Our bathroom floor will have to wait as I couldn't spend any more time on my hands and knees. Let's just say me and my heating lad have become REALLY close lately.

I also organized my magazines. This entailed going through all my old Southern Livings and ripping out the recipes I plan to try (this may help answer "What's for dinner?"), organized the kitchen cabinets, and downstairs bathroom cabinet (aka medicine cabinet).


I forgot to take a before picture, but here is the Tupperware cabinet after. All the dishes have their coordinating lids with them and I got rid of the stuff we don't use.

Another project we did on Saturday was moving the stuff from the guest room (now nursery) closet to the downstairs closet and the stuff from the downstairs closet to the attic. We have this AMAZING coat closet that runs under our stairs. It has shelved that go under the stairs that can hold 4 Rubbermaid bins on each shelf. This is where I have kept all my holiday decorations. It has been really convenient. The guestroom closet has had my sewing machine, craft supplies, material, etc in it. So, we moved all the Christmas stuff to the attic. I kept the fall décor down since there isn't that much of it. It won't be too much of a pain to get the Christmas out of the attic (isn't that what most people do anyway?) All the craft supplies went downstairs and the nursery closet is officially empty. I never thought I'd see that day. I should've taken pics of that, but I forgot.

Here is the coat closet after:

I know it's hard to tell, but trust me it looks awesome. I also went through all our coats and donated the old ones to Goodwill.