100 Days to A Cleaner, Happier Home

I love the 50's! At least I think I love the 50's... I love the ideas and images that one thinks of when they think of that era gone by. Some folks think I'm nuts... and that's ok... I probably am! I've been a stay at home mom housewife for 17 years... only I don't think I'm very good at it. Oh true, the house is fairly tidy (that is on days I can manage to keep my 4 kids at bay doing something other than being at home!), and true, they are very well behaved (something I'm truly grateful for!) but should a 1950's housewife cross my threshold, I think she may very well faint!

So, I've decided to take on a challenge! For the next 100 days I'm going to explore incorporating a 1950's lifestyle into our modern lifestyle. My family has decided to follow along with my hair brain scheme and already are enjoying watching re-runs of Leave it to Beaver on Netflix! (A perfect example of how we'll be blending 'vintage' and 'modern' lifestyles!) There are many reasons that I want to do this project some of which include:

* I'd like to know if the 50's housewife ever felt resentful having to "do it all". Was it a job she enjoyed doing or did she despise it? I have a feeling the answer is very similar to today's woman... some love staying at home, and other's not so much.

* Could the 1950's mom really do it all? 3 home cooked meals a day, a spotless house, adorable clean children, bridge parties, volunteering at the church, shopping done, hair done, make up on... and vacuuming in heals... all by noon? Wow, I mean that's very impressive! (I barely got my daughter out the door to catch the bus this morning and gave her some high-fructose sugary something or other to tide her over til she got to eat her slop school lunch.) I feel horrible.

* Was the 1950's home a closer, more loving place to be then today's high energy, fast paced...go-go-go family? I'm thinking the answer to this is probably a resounding yes. At least I envision it to be.

* Can one successfully blend together the benefits of both the past and the present? I'd like to find out!

I've planned on tackling a lot of various areas of the homemaker... cooking, cleaning, raising children, and volunteering. I also plan to fight the SAHM Disease.... you can tell those who are affected by it because they are wearing those sweatpants YOGA pants, t-shirts, tennis shoes (can you even DO yoga with tennis shoes? I think NOT!), the ever present ponytail and everyday is optional makeup day. NO MORE I SAY! I will be 'put together' everyday... ok I'm going to try really, really, reallllllllly hard to be.

I've gotten a few old housekeeping books and cookbooks. (Trust me, my family is really looking forward to eating a molded jello-y shape of something!) I'm going to be tackling my 50's style cleaning with the "America's Housekeeping Book" (1941) as well as "The Good Housekeeping Housekeeping Book" (1947). As far as cookbooks go, my main go-to will be "Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook". I've already spent hours reading it and will be sharing recipes and photo's of my creations along the way.

I hope you'll keep following me along in my journey!


Day #1: Cleaning Supplies

Blending the:
PAST:   I'll be using old housekeeping manuals to suggest cleaning methods.
PRESENT: I decided for this project that I will be using 'green' cleaners. Some of the cleaning solutions in the housekeeping manual called for 'green' cleaners such as baking soda!

One thing that I found very strange in the old housekeeping manuals was that they suggested cleaning with known POISONS! That seems very strange to me, and I have to wonder if the average homemaker used them? Then I happened to look in my own cleaning closet.....

Most of these cleaners contain toxins which hurt the environment... not to mention ourselves! These labels read everything from "EYE IRRITANT", for sensitive skin wear rubber gloves, inhaling contents can be fatal, and contains ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS (aka meth!) So, in my effort to bring in positive changes to my lifestyle, I've decided to use official 'green' cleaners!

I found these out from another blogger and I just couldn't be more thrilled! Method makes some pretty awesome cleaners and while being green should be the coolest, for me it's the scents! Using my old 'toxic' cleaners made my house smell just that.... toxic! I kept trying to buy the most scented lemony-fresh bleach I could find, but ultimately they just had a chemical smell. Method's cleaners use essential oils and smell truly of almonds, pink grapefruit, mint, clementine & more.... and they work just as well as any of those other guys! So glad I stumbled across them!

So to start my cleaning off today, I tackled THE CLEANING CLOSET! I figured it would be best to start here and make sure that all of my cleaning supplies were in order and together. Here are my before and after pictures:

It still looks a bit crowded, but once I use my green cleaners for a bit, and make sure I can come up with alternative options for things like drain cleaners, I'll donate my ever so slightly used (wait, that doesn't sound right!) cleaners to Freecycle. Freecycle is a pretty awesome place where you can get rid of (or get!) free things that people no longer want in an effort to keep these items out of our landfills. So, yep, I'll still be green! =)

One of the best organizational tips I've gotten is to put all of your daily cleaning supplies in a dishpan. Then as you go around the house you can carry the pan with you and have everything right there instead of walking back and forth. I've found it very useful! Another tip I use is instead of buying fancy storage hangers, a simple nail in the wall works great. My brooms and dust pans are hanging along the wall, you just can't see them in the photo. Overall.... I think I'm ready to start tackling the kitchen! =)

Til tomorrow....

~Angela~