QUICK TIPS: 15 MINUTES TO A CLEAN KITCHEN

This morning I cleaned my kitchen for the 342nd time this quarantine. I’m sure you can relate: suddenly we’re cooking 3 meals a day, maybe even snacks too and the dishes are CONSTANT. However I learned something amazing about one week into staying at home: that I could get my kitchen satisfyingly clean in 15 minutes if I followed the these steps. I’m not saying this is “eat off the floor” clean - it’s more like “not lose your mind” clean. The key to this is to be completely focused on cleaning the kitchen, no distractions - and one caveat: your dishwasher has to be empty and ready to receive dirty dishes. You have to move with efficiency here people! OK, lets light a candle, set the kitchen timer (for 15 minutes) and get to cleaning!

Clean kitchen inspiration from Jenni Kayne

S T E P 1: DISHES
Make a sweep of the house and put all dirty dishes, silverware, cups, mugs etc in the dishwasher. If full, start the dishwasher.

S T E P 2: POT & PANS
Anything that needs to be hand-washed goes in or near the sink (in our house that is pots, cutting boards, chef’s knives and wine glasses). Pots that need to be soaked get filled with hot soapy water. While they fill move on to the next step. Keep moving!

S T E P 3: JUNK
Any item that doesn’t belong in the kitchen gets moved into a different room to be dealt with later: mail, shoes, car keys, books.

S T E P 4: TRASH + RECYCLE
Take a loop through the kitchen and throw out any trash/place items in the recycling: scraps, bits of paper, beer cans, wine bottles. Bonus points if you compost!

S T E P 5: PANTRY ITEMS
Anything that does have a home in the kitchen but is not in that home, quickly put them away. For me that always seems to be putting the salt, pepper and olive oil back onto their designated tray, stashing the toaster in his cabinet, and placing pot lids back in their drawers. And since about week two of quarantine: putting the bottle of tequila back in the liquor cabinet.

C L E A N K I T C H E N
E S S E N T I A L S

S T E P 6: WIPE DOWN HORIZONTAL SURFACES
At this point most of your counters and your stovetop should be clear. Spray them with an all purpose cleaner and wipe them thoroughly. During quarantine I’ve alternated between my Murchison-Hume counter spray and Clorox wipes.

S T E P 7: START THE HANDWASHING
There should be about 5-8 minutes left on your timer after all of that. Get out your drying mat/drying rack/lay out a dishtowel on the counter and get scrubbing. If you’re lucky enough to have someone to help have them dry and put away as you wash. Otherwise let then airdry.

You should without much trouble be able to get through to Step 6 every time. What happens if the timer goes off while you’re in the middle of hand washing? You have a choice: keep going, or just stop. That may seem like a cop out but you’ve done enough. Walk away and finish up before the next meal. I promise the kitchen is now in far better shape than when you started and you can feel accomplished.

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ON THE BOARDS: MY GUEST BEDROOM

My heart and prayers go out to everyone affected by this pandemic. I hope that my blog can provide a place of lighthearted respite from the sickness, the worry, the home schooling and the stress. I am deeply grateful for those on the frontlines and to those staying home in hopes that they can to lessen the impact of this virus on our community. As a small business myself, I am thankful that you’re here, reading, and hope that you find something in this that entertains your soul if only for a moment.

Lets call this “Designing: Quarantine edition”. Our guest room has been many things since we moved in two years ago, guest room not being one of them (see this post on our little first home). This room has stored boxes of childhood memorabilia, a shocking amount of unopened mail, off-season clothes from our small master closet, endless amounts of old paper work I haven’t had time to deal with, etc etc. Well at this point, 30 or so days into staying at home, it seems I have finally had enough.

When the pandemic looked like it was going to hit in full, I decided we better order a mattress topper in case one of us gets sick and needs to sleep comfortably in a separate room. What happened next I often refer to with design clients as “if you give a mouse a cookie” syndrome. Well… the topper meant the fitted sheet didn’t fit so I had to get new sheets, and new sheets led to new pillows, and suddenly I have a new side table and I’m throwing some plug in sconces in a shopping cart. Folks I’m now in deep.

We live in a fairly small home by modern standards. At just 1250 SF we don’t have a ton of storage, and while I’ve been using some of my downtime to sort and organize and purge all the things we have been storing, one can only pare down so much and we just need more storage. You’ll see in the plan below that by getting rid of the door to the sad little closet and adding two wardrobe units in its place we will double the original closed storage we had this this room and I will finally have the window seat of my dreams!

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I like the bed I have in there now, it’s a hand me down metal bed - but very modern with it’s soft grey powdercoated metal tubes. (This bed from Schoolhouse is the most similar I’ve found online). We will keep it for now but down the line I think I will want something a little warmer with a more defined headboard that can actually be seen over my obscene collection of throw pillows. Once my freestanding clothes rack is gone and all the clothes can be put away in the wardrobes I will have room for some seating at the end of the bed. Our house came with neutral berber wall-to-wall carpeting that isn’t the worst. If the right rug presented itself I wouldn’t be opposed to layering but for now I’m keeping it simple. The side table just arrived from Target (it was from Studio McGee’s Collection with Target) and it is even better looking in person, forewarning: the whitewash finish goes a little gray - I think it’s perfect but it does appear more warm in photos.

1 - My favorite ceiling fan | 2 - Offset Stripe Pillow | 3 - Batik Lumbar Pillow | 4 - 24x36 Oversized Birch Wood Frame | 5 - Coastline Print | 6 - Classic Gray by Benjamin Moore | 7 - My dream bedside sconces | 8 - The perfect minimal side table | 9 - End of bed benches | 10 - Water carafe | 11 - Plaid pillow | 12 - Cabinet Pulls | 13 - IKEA Pax Wardrobes

The guest room has been deemed our “quarantine project” and one of the two major things we want to accomplish inside our house this year, the second being our laundry room (remember this post, lol my priorities are constantly changing)- again to add more storage! Honestly I’m most excited about the little window bench seat. I’ll probably have the cushion made but I can’t wait to layer it with unique pillows and a pretty natural shade on the window.

SHOP GUEST BEDROOM ESSENTIALS

Have you felt the itch to tackle home projects since you’ve been stuck inside? I would love to know what spaces you’re struggling with and anytime you feel like it’s all too much for one person to handle (or that your newly minted position as full time cook/home school teacher/work from home worker is more than enough thank you very much) don’t hesitate to reach out, I would be happy to get the ball rolling for you!

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ROUND UP: STUDIO McGEE FOR TARGET

Title Image from Target.com

I don’t know about y’all but I have been spending SO LITTLE money during quarantine. We’re not going out to eat or for cocktails, we’re being super smart with our groceries, we’re not traveling, and I’m not taking trips to Target full of mindless…er necessary…shopping. Until now. Well ok, I’m going to be putting all this in a virtual cart because Studio McGee just launched a line for Threshold at Target TODAY Saturday April 4. I can’t think of better news.

Heres to hoping everything I want doesn’t sell out as soon as it hits those virtual shelves. Personally I’m going to need that limestone knot and that beautiful candle, and I think my airbnb project needs a couple of those sweet rattan and metal stools as a coffee table. And don’t get me started on the art!

1 - Burl Wood Boxes | 2 - Floral Print Pillows | 3 - Textured Plaid Lumbar | 4 - Gold & White Task Lamp | 5 - Faux Fern | 6 - Limestone Knot | 7 - Neutral Stripe Rug | 8 - Small Framed Landscape | 9 - Light Green Stripe PIllow | 10 - Cushioned Bench

M O R E F A V O R I T E S

1 - Large Candle | 2 - Large Square Landscape Painting | 3 - Basket with Leather Pull | 4 - Metal and Rattan Bench | 5 - Framed Botanical Art | 6 - Ceramic Base Lamp | 7 - Chambray Plaid Pillows | 8 - Windowpane Lumbar | 9 - Boxy Wooden Side Table | 10 - Small Black Planter | 11 - Large Ribbed Vase

M O R E F A V O R I T E S

I’d love to hear from you: what your favorite piece? Whats in your cart? Did something you love sell out super fast?

Please know that our hearts are with everyone affected by the current crisis. Everyone needs something different - internal reflection, constant news, and sometimes we’re just looking for a little escape. I hope this post can provide the latter for you while helping me with a fun and creative outlet that also supports my small business.

This post contains affiliate links. This means I may make a small commission if you end up purchasing, at no extra cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.