Clutter Free Home - Our Cars!

Its our Final Day on this Clutter Free adventure! Who is excited!!! Today we are going to tackle our cars! Is anyone crying???

I do not know about you guys, but my car is always gross. I absolutely love having it serviced at Hyundai because they detail it as well. That clean lasts about 24 hours! :( Live with 3 Children and a mom with no ability to say no to snacks in the car!!!!

In my car I already know there will be some interesting science experiments waiting for me from picking up Hannah after school and her getting into her lunch bag....... oh boy....i am so excited to do this, not.... but we are going to get it done!

OK, lets get motivated. On the end of this clean is a nice clutter free car. Remember, that drink cup the cute guy gave you at timmies DOES NOT need to stay!

Lets remember our questions for today...


1)  Have we used this in the past month?
2)  Will we use this in the next month?
3)  Do we have multiple of the same item and therefor I can either combine them or limit it down to one or two? (Ex: paperclip holders...we do not need 3 half full containers)
4)  Is any part of this item broken or defected?
5)  Are we only keeping this because I bought it and do not want to waste my money?
6)  Does this have sentimental value to us that we cannot live without?


Don't forget to grab those boxes or bags for these categories;

*   Donate
*   Garage sale or kijij
*   Put away in another room to be put away PROPERLY
*   Toss it


And of course, anything that would not fit in these categories would be the items that you put away properly in your Home!

OK everyone, I am going to get lost in this chaos of a car! See you guys tomorrow!

Day 12 with Helpful Tips by Grace - Clutter Free Home - Office

Welcome back everyone! How are we feeling today?? I hope great, refreshed, revived...

If I may say so myself, you’re doing an amazing job and what an improvement in your home! Can you believe we have made it this far?

Today we are going to focus on our Home office! Whether your home office is a command center in the hallway or an actual room, clutter where we work is a big no no! I am the worst at this! I like to joke and say my mess on my desks is a perfect mess because I know where everything is.....That is until someone asks me for something :0

Today, we are going to go through our files, our paper, our little gizmos meant to bring us back to life after pushing paper for hours... Remember to be honest when you are answering your questions today, which I have slightly changed to match an office space.

Here are our questions;


1)  Have we used this in the past 12 months?
2)  Will we use this in the next 12 months?
3)  Do we have multiple of the same item and therefor I can either combine them or limit it down to one or two? (Ex: paperclip holders...we do not need 3 half full containers)
4)  Is any part of this item broken or defected?
5)  Is this something I need for a client’s profile or account?
6)  Are we only keeping this because I bought it and do not want to waste my money?
7)  Does this have sentimental value to us that we cannot live without?


Don't forget to grab those boxes or bags for these categories;

*   Donate
*   Garage sale or kijij
*   Put away in another room to be put away PROPERLY
*   Toss it

Note: Today you may have paperwork to shred and recycle. If so, add this to your bag category.

And of course, anything that would not fit in these categories would be the items that you put away properly in your Office!

OK everyone, I am going to Dive into this mess at my office and hopefully be able to come up for air by the end of the day! Good luck everyone!!!

Day 11 with Helpful Tips by Grace - Clutter Free home - Rest Day

Happy Rest Day Everyone!

Remember, you rock! You have accomplished so much this week!!! Its been hard and frustrating and emotion and just ahhhhhh but you have done one hell of a job! Way to Go! So Today, we are taking a much needed rest day!!!

See you all tomorrow!!!

Day 10 with Helpful Tips by Grace - Clutter Free Home - The Kitchen

It is Kitchen work out Day! Woohoo!!!

First off, can we just take a quick second to romance over this picture of this stunning Ikea kitchen!!! I LOVE this kitchen, and truly believe that one day, it will be mine! lol.....

OK, back to reality, So this week has been intense for some of us! We have become masters of tackling the clutter in our Bathrooms, Bedrooms and living/family rooms! Today we will focus on the Kitchen/Pantry.

For me, my kitchen is up on the main floor, but my pantry is in our lower level, so I have a ton of stuff to go through. Today, do not only look at the food items that need to be tossed (such as the bowl of left overs at the back of your fridge, or the canned goods that have a best before date of three years ago), but also go through all of your appliances, dishes, cutting boards, etc.

Dealing with my kitchen is close to my heart. Its my favorite place to create things for my family and friends. I have so many great tools, that I use maybe once in every 5 years (you know that Christmas when you stayed up all night because you were determined to bake those darn cookies everyone loved, before your second and third child came along. lol). Needless to say, I have some letting go to do. This will be by far the hardest day for me!

Lets give each other strength to get through today's tasks and push forward! We CAN do this!!!

OK, let us recap those important questions we need to be asking while we work on the clutter today!

1)  Have we used this in the past 3 months?
2)  Will we use this in the next 3 months?
3)  Do we have multiple of the same item and therefor I can either combine them or limit it down to one or two?
4)  Is any part of this item broken or defected?
5)  Is this something we would actually end up buying (or buy again)?
6)  Are we only keeping this because I bought it and do not want to waste my money?
7)  Does this have sentimental value to us that we cannot live without?

Don't forget to grab those boxes or bags for these categories;

*   Donate
*   Garage sale or kijij
*   Can go to another room to be put away PROPERLY
*   Toss it

And of course, anything that would not fit in these categories would be the items that you put away properly in your Kitchen!

Remember we CAN do this! Kitchen and Pantry is often a large area to cover, so we will take both today and tomorrow to accomplish this. Let's Get it DONE!

Day 9 with Helpful Tips by Grace - Clutter Free home - The living and Family room

So we have mastered this whole clutter removal strategy by now right? You may be finding that going through your items is much easier now but you also may still be having trouble. There is no right or wrong here!! Everyone goes through this process their own way, so no stressing!  Today we are moving on to the Family/Living room! In my home, this particular area shows results of every human, pet and doll being in this area LOL! No matter how hard I fight with the children, their toys keep finding their way onto the floor in this room and thus, under my feet at the wee hours of the morning! OUCH!

Today we will have a larger scale of items to go through, at least at my home! I have a mixture of Movies, Books, Toys, figures, cards, pictures...pretty much you name it, and it is probably in here! So let’s remember our important questions to ask ourselves today!

Here is what you should ask yourself to help be as efficient as you can be while going through all of these items;

1)  Have they/I used this in the past 3 months?
2)  Will they/I use this in the next 3 months?
3)  Do they/I have multiple of the same item and therefor I can either combine them or limit it down to one or two?
4)  Is any part of this item broken or defected?
5)  Is this something they or I would actually end up buying (or buy again)?
6)  Are we only keeping this because I bought it and do not want to waste my money?
7)  Does this have sentimental value to them/myself that we cannot live without?

Don't forget to grab a few boxes or bags (or continue using the ones from yesterday) for these categories;

*   Donate
*   Garage sale or kijij
*   Can go to another room to be put away PROPERLY
*   Toss it

And of course, anything that would not fit in these categories would be the items that you put away properly in your Living room!

I cannot WAIT to have a nice clutter free family area! Let's get to work!!!!

Day 8 with Helpful Tips by Grace - Clutter Free Home - Children/Spare bedrooms

We made it to Day 3 of our clutter free adventure! How did yesterday go with your Master bedroom clutter work out? Now that we can see our floor again in our Master bedroom, let's go tackle the children's rooms while they are at school, or our spare room!

Toys in this house seem to be lurking in ever shadow! Every time I think we have thinned things out, Hannah, our middle daughter, finds a way to show us we were wrong! I love the idea of purging her room while she is not home to tell me "not that toy, I love it" to every single doll that has had its hair cut, clothes and body painted with nail polish and some times even a complete body re-configuration! Yes, my 6-year-old is gifted and creative....so they tell me....

While going through the toys and other items in these bedrooms remember to leave, to a point, their little tiny pleading voice behind. The reality is, you know what they are playing with and what has not been looked at for months, sometimes even years. You will know which stuff animals and dolls are a must to keep because you know your children! You got this!!!!

Let's recap the questions we are going to use for every room during this journey......

Here is what you should ask yourself to help be as efficient as you can be while going through all of these items;

1)  Have they used this in the past 3 months?
2)  Will they use this in the next 3 months?
3)  Do they have multiple of the same item and therefor I can either combine them or limit it down to one or two?
4)  Is any part of this item broken or defected?
5)  Is this something they or I would actually end up buying (or buy again)?
6)  Am I only keeping this because I bought it and do not want to waste my money?
7)  Does this have sentimental value to them that they can not live without?

Question number 7 may be a bit more difficult when purging someone else's things, no matter how young or old they are. Sentimental value on an item is not always because someone special gave it to you. It could have also been the teddy you clung onto when you were told your papa passes away, or the doll that was bought for you when you had your first big fall and needed stitches. So, in today's purge, if you can not absolutely say they 100 percent do not NEED to keep something, put it aside until they get home and ask them. I find the best way to ask is " honey, I am cleaning up our home because it has become overwhelming. While I was cleaning I found _____. Is it ok if we donate ______ to another girl or boy to play with?

Don't forget to grab a few boxes or bags (or continue using the ones from yesterday) for these categories;

*  Donate
*  Garage sale or kijij
*  Can go to another room to be put away PROPERLY
*  Toss it

And of course, anything that would not fit in these categories would be the items that you put away properly in your Bedroom!

Have fun today continuing on our clutter free home journey! See you all tomorrow!!!

Day 7 with Helpful Tips by Grace - clutter free - Master bedroom

Welcome back to our adventure day two! How did yesterday go with your bathroom clutter work out? I hope well and that you are feeling much less stress when you slip into your tub to relax! Let’s get started on Day two of our clutter free home journey! 

Today we are going to tackle out Master bedroom! For our house, my bedroom is always the last to get any attention. It is also the spot that everything accumulates and is left to be forgotten! So, we will focus on our Master bedroom alone today, however, if you have many bedrooms in your home, you may want to tackle the master bedroom and a bedroom or two...

Let's recap the questions we are going to use for every room during this journey......

Here is what you should ask yourself to help be as efficient as you can be while going through all of these items;

1)  Have I used this in the past 3 months?
2)  Will I use this in the next 3 months?
3)  Do I have multiple of the same item and therefor I can either combine them or limit it down to one or two?
4)  Is any part of this item broken or defected?
5)  Is this something I would actually end up buying (or buy again)?
6)  Am I only keeping this because I bought it and do not want to waste my money?
7)  Does this have sentimental value to me that I can not live without?

Don't forget to grab a few boxes or bags (or continue using the ones from yesterday) for these categories;

*  Donate
*  Garage sale or kijij
*  Can go to another room to be put away PROPERLY
*  Toss it

And of course, anything that would not fit in these categories would be the items that you put away properly in your Bedroom!

During today, you will want to get into all corners of your closet, the bins you forgot about under your bed, and the dreaded mess inside your end tables. Pull out the furniture you can from the wall (chances are things have fallen in behind and have been forgotten)!

Today may be a bit more emotional, so remember to stop and breathe when you start to feel overwhelmed. As you are going through all your things, remember those questions we have talked about... Do you really need to hold onto that bride’s maid dress from 20 years ago? 

I am so excited to continue our journey together and get through today! We CAN do this!!!

Day 6 with Helpful Tips by Grace - Clutter free - Bathroom

When you think of your Bathroom do you have happy or unsettled feelings? For me, there is nothing better then a nice hot bath, maybe a candle lit, a piping hot cup of tea and a good book to soothe my soul (when my kids are either not home or fast asleep of course!). When our bathroom was overtaken with a gazillion half used shampoo bottles (preteen daughter issues), or bathroom toys being hidden in every corner possible, my nightly retreat just became a stress inducer. Time to fix this!!

To get started we need out list of questions while we go through our items. 

Here is what you should ask yourself to help be as efficient as you can be while going through all of these items;

1)  Have I used this in the past 3 months?
2)  Will I use this in the next 3 months?
3)  Do I have multiple of the same item and therefor I can either combine them or limit it down to one or two?
4)  Is any part of this item broken or defected?
5)  Is this something I would actually end up buying (or buy again)?
6)  Am I only keeping this because I bought it and do not want to waste my money?
7)  Does this have sentimental value to me that I can not live without?

You will also need to have a few boxes or bags for these categories;

*  Donate
*  Garage sale or kijij
*  Can go to another room to be put away PROPERLY
*  Toss it

Obviously, anything that would not fit in these categories would be the items that you put away properly in your bathroom.

Now, lets get to it! Some items that I have to go through are face washes, body wash, creams that may be expired. Remember these items start to break down 12 months after you open them and expose them to air, so if you are clinging to that clinique cream you bought 3 years ago and used it twice, toss it! Things like body mitts, loofahs, or body scrub tools can collect bacteria and be harmful to your body! If you can not toss them in a sanitize load in the washer you should replace every 3 months PLUS ensure to spray it down with peroxide a few times a week to kill off any nasty that could be lurking in the fabrics. And of course, Candles that have no life left, meaning if you light them you risk an exploded glass or fire, its time to say good bye to them. Scents you lit and don't like, if pretty much brand new, post on a sale site or at a garage sale for a few dollars. It puts some of the money back in your pocket and gets the clutter out of your home!!! (note: most places that sell anything that has scent in them will do an exchange if you have only tied it once, in store!)

Good luck today with your bathroom's clutter purge! Wish me luck too!!!

Day 5 with Helpful Tips from Grace - January is clutter month!

For the month of January, I thought maybe we would take a journey together and become clutter free! We live in a relatively modest size townhouse and there are 5 of us in this home. To say the least, after Christmas and our December birthday children, our house becomes cluttered quickly. 

Did you know that more than half of Canadians are dealing with Anxiety and stress caused by over cluttered living spaces? When your home is cluttered and you feel shut in, you tend to either find that one spot on the couch "your safe zone" or end up not wanting to be in your home unless its bed time! We pay a ton for our homes, lets make it a place where we want to be!

Over the next week or so, we will purge together. One room per day will allow those of us with a lot of stuff in our houses to not get overwhelmed and give up! Remember we are doing this together SO if you need to chat or to have a quick "get me motivated" moment, shoot me a comment and Ill respond :)

OK, so for today! Let’s get our minds ready for this process. Some of us go through our homes regularly but there are others of us that have had the clutter building up for years! This is why we need to prepare ourselves. It can be very difficult to get rid of your things, even if you have not seen them or used them in a long time. For me, this is a problem when it comes to my baking tools.  They are expensive and I always tell myself ....one day....one day I will have time to do it again...... But let’s be totally honest, when that day comes, the way we bake will be completely different!

So, the first step to preparing yourself is to write down a list of anything you have been looking for in the last while that has specific meaning to you! Do not go crazy with this. I do not mean write down every single item you received from a relative that you simply must keep because it was given to you by them! My eldest daughter does this. Over Christmas break we redid her room. While doing so I found 4 boxes......just paper boxes.... empty.... they were used to hold a gift she was given over the last few years...... and do you know what she said when I put them in the recycling...... nana gave those to me.  You can make yourself ill from this type of thought process. You need to set boundaries for what is actually important and what is not. These "things" are not what keeps your family and friends’ intentions a priority to you, the memories do.

Next is create your room check list. On here we are going to start with bathrooms because it should be the easiest room to get our motivated juices flowing. Here is how our day-by-day clutter free work out will look like;

Day One: Bathrooms
Day Two and Three:  Bedrooms ( I have 4 so we will split this up into two days)

Day Four: Living room/Family room
Day Five: Kitchen
Day Six: Office
Day Seven: Our Cars!

Each post I will have a few simple questions you are to stop and think about when you get hung up on the "should I keep these" moments. 

I am so excited to start this adventure with you tomorrow! Let’s get motivated!!!

Day 4 with Helpful Tips by Grace - DIY grime buster for your Oven

If you’re like me, and the family visits and massive meals have come to a finish, your oven needs some extra love! Today I will share with you my go-to DIY grime buster oven cleaner that not only gets rid of the holiday spill build up, but also smells amazing!

Here is what you will need:

*  4 Drops of dish soap (Dawn is the best for grease removal)

*  5 Table spoons of Baking Soda
*  6  Table spoons of Vinegar (white vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
*  10 drops of essential oil ( I prefer orange or tangerine)

*  Bucket with warm water (you will do this twice)

*  A non abrasive cleaning scrubby
*  Paper towel

Let’s make some magic;

1)  Put your baking soda into a dish.
2)  Mix in your dish soap and vinegar to the baking soda.
3)  Add your essential oil to the mixture.
4)  Spread the mixture with a damn, not wet, cloth all over the inside of the oven.
5)  Leave for 1/2 hour.
6)  After a half hour, take your bucket with warm water and scrubby and give the inside of the oven a good scrub!

7)  Clean out your dirty water bucket and replace with new clean warm water.
8)  With a clean cloth and your clean bucket of warm water, rinse out the entire inside of the oven again to remove all debris from our cleaning solution.
9)  Take paper towel or a dry cloth and dry the inside of the oven. 

Voila, nice and clean and smells amazing!!!

Day 3 with Helpful Tips By Grace - Science to clean window and door tracks!

Today, I thought we would have a bit of fun and experiment! Who here hates having to clean those gross window track and sliding door tracks? Well now you can get your children involved and have an experiment with them!

The reaction that occurs when you combine baking soda with Vinegar is pretty neat. It foams up and breaks apart all the nasty baked on dirt and mildew, caused by condensation. The best part of this is you do not need to scrub other than the corners of the track, this solution pretty much takes care of everything else! All you need to do is give it a quick wipe after with a damp cloth.

Lets get started...

Here is what you need;

* 1/2 cup of baking soda
* 1/2 cup white vingar
* table spoon to spread the baking soda
* Some paper towel
* A cleaning cloth
* A small bucket of water
* Vacuum
* old toothbrush for cleaning

1) First, take the vacuum or broom to the track to get out any larger bits that may have been dropped in there.  If you have children, you know what I mean!

2)  Roll up two bits of paper towel and place inside the track on either end. This will trap the solution from going under the second door or window.

3)  Spread the baking soda over the tack. If you have sections that are worst than others, place a bit more baking soda on top of that area.

4)  Pour the vinegar on top of the baking soda and let the reaction do its thing. DO NOT inhale the reaction. It is not pleasant and I am sure, not the greatest to do for your lungs!

5)  Let the solution do its thing for 1/2 an hour.

6)  After a half hour, take warm water in your bucket with your cleaning cloth and wipe up the solution with your damp cloth. Sometimes the baked on yuck in the corners need a little final touch. If you have some yuck left in the corners, use an old tooth brush to give it a final scrub.

7)  Dry the track with a dry clean cloth or some paper towel, and ENJOY your nice clean tracks!

Day 2 with Helpful Tips by Grace - DIY All purpose cleaner

To continue the All Natural and Safe cleaning supply week, today I will share one of my FAVE DIY All Purpose cleaners.

Here's what you need;

* A glass spray bottle (i use empty perrier water bottles)
* 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
* 1/2 cup of warm water
* 2 TBSP of Castile Soap ( I use lavendar)
* 15-20 drops of your fave essential oil (I use lemon or tangerine)

How to make it?

1)  Mix the water and Apple Cider vinegar.2)  Add the castile soap and put spray nozzle on.
3)  Shake gently
4) open back up and add your essential oil.
5)  Put spray nozzle back on and shake gently.

Notes: You can use this all purpose cleaner on just about any surface. I reccomend NOT using it on stainless steel or certain finished wood items. Anything that tells you not to use acidic cleaners should avoid this all purpose cleaner.

Enjoy :)

Day 1 with Helpful Tips by Grace - DIY laundry soap

This week I am sharing our home made Laundry soap recipe. Enjoy!

What you will need:

* 1 gallon or 4 liter jug
* 1 gallon or 4 liter of hot water
* ¼ cup super washing soda (Canadian tire or amazon)
* ¼ Baking soda (pretty much anywhere)
* 6 tablespoons of Castile soap (I used Dr. Bronner’s Lavender) (Canadian tire or amazon)
* 15 drops of your favorite essential oil (I use tangerine by doterra)
* Large wooden spoon to stir
* 1 gallon or 4 liter glass container (amazon)

1) Fill jug up with 1 gallon/4 liters of warm-hot water.
2) Add in ¼ cup super washing soda, ¼ baking soda and stir with wooden spoon gently.
3) Add in your 6 tablespoons of Castile Soap, slowly stirring.
4) Add in your 15 drops of essential oil to the mixture and stir gently.
5) Pour carefully or ladle in the mixture to your glass container.
6) Use ¼ a cup per each full load of laundry.

Notes: I love my clothes to smell nice and fresh so I hold off on the essential oil until I pour my ¼ cup of mixture into the laundry soap spot. I add 2 drops of oil to the mixture and then pour it together into the washing machine.
If you find that your mixture has solid chunks after a while in the glass dish that is normal. It is just the soaps coming together because where you are storing the mixture is a bit cold. I wrap a towel around mine when storing because our laundry is in the basement and it is chilly down there lol. You can also add some hot water every once in a while, to help melt things down. I personally just scoop it and use it.