I've been doing some major cleaning!
Everything came down off the shelves, everything was
wiped down...all the glass went through the dishwasher.
And then it all got put back in different places!
I call it a chain-reaction. I saw on another blog recently
where they called it the domino effect. lol....
But things are sparkly, dust free and they look much better!
My expanding shell collection went here to the family room....
That left the dining room shelves empty...so the contents of the
china cabinet ended up there!
And now the china cabinet, which is actually a wardrobe with glass
put into the doors, holds books, quilts and some of my blue canning jars.
I enjoy doing things like this!
It's things like steam cleaning the carpets that I
continue to scoot to the bottom of the list. ha.
I also have several things from my china cabinet going
into the shop and I have 4 bags of things to go to the
thrift store. The house is feeling lighter! :)
♥
Wow. Looks great. I wish I had some of your motivation.
ReplyDeleteHi, Lilith! :) Are you in winter right now? It seems like the angle of the afternoon sun hits my furniture and exposes the dust like no other time of year! ha. So, that's my motivation. Well, that and the fact that it's -9F degrees right now. Being inside motivates me, too. lol.... Thanks for stopping by! :)
DeleteI can only imagine what you'd do to my place! -- Silver Fox
ReplyDeleteOh, if only I could! haha. Maybe it would look like a museum when I was done! ;)
DeleteI enjoy reorganizing things, too. Unfortunately, work takes up most of my time.
ReplyDeleteAw, that's too bad. Work takes up a lot of my time, too...but since I work from home, I can squeeze in stuff like this.
DeleteI really need to do those carpets, though. ha.
My carpets are WORSE than gross! I don't want to do them in the winter, though, when everyone's tracking stuff in.
Deletehaha...you sound like me...but for the last two years I've thought of an excuse for every season. Winter almost seems the best. But I say...spring is coming...all the rain and mud! Then summer....we're outside tracking in all the time...then fall (I had a fall excuse but can't remember it now. I think I was just really busy) then winter again. lol..... I think I better just do them.
Deletelook beautiful I need a cabinet like this to my china Betsy lol
ReplyDeleteI've had my china in it for years...so this was a nice change!
DeleteGood for you! I was doing some cleaning today as well. I like that wardrobe!!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun! Some things were really dusty. ha.
DeleteIt's such a great feeling when you have a big clear out and tidy up isn't it! Everything is looking good!! xx
ReplyDeleteIt is a good feeling! And this was much overdo. I do great at keeping the furniture dusted...but the shelves? Not so much. ha.
DeleteWow everything looks great! I love the quilts in the armoire. It looks so homey and cozy.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I love the cabinet the best. My china was just stuffed in there and it was difficult to pull out what I needed.
DeleteSometimes you just have to think outside the box...which doesn't occur to me right away. ha! The quilts were auction finds...the top on was in the trash! It's not perfect, but pretty enough to rescue.
Great layout and organisation skills, Betsy.
ReplyDeleteCan I borrow you for about a year to get me organised? ROFL
Not that bad but I'm only a man and I have to get to grips with cleaning, dusting, ironing, washing, shopping . . . . . . . geepers . . . . . a man's work is never done!! . . . . . . or started!! LOL No I'm not doing too badly considering, although my culinary skills need improving!! .
Well, the Silver Fox asked me, too...and from what I know about his place, that will take me two years! So, mark me down for 2016, ok? hahaha...I've always wanted to visit England, anyway! :)
DeleteI'm sure you do quite well and probably helped out a great deal in the past few years. I bet you can even cook a dish or two! :)
Not exactly cordon bleu but I will never starve. I did help Maria quite a lot but she did not want me in the kitchen so my pre-requisite cooking skills were limited to boiling an egg whist serving baked beans on toast, and since have graduated to spaghetti hoops, sliced tomatoes and baked potatoes ROFL. My next project is to cook a chicken and I must remember to take the giblets out first. A good American publisher/writer wants me to write a humorous cook book of Brit fav recipes with an account of how it should be done versus Eddie's total disasters, plus the history of the recipes, like Alfred burning the cakes which Eddie can easily replicate ROFL. She thinks it would be a best seller LOL
DeleteBaked beans on toast..now that is something we do not have here. I'd never thing to put those two foods together! haha. Now they might up in New England...Boston, especially! :)
DeleteI think that book is a brilliant idea! Your wit along with the topic? Yes, it would sell! You should do it!
Well if you want the complete recipe. LOL. Shhh! Don't tell everyone LOL
DeleteToast under the grill with some cheese on top - then add baked beans - delicious!! . . . . flavour with ketchup or even better brown HP sauce. Optional extras: Sausages and Bacon. Want another helping?
Yes I will write that book one day - things like decapitating a hard boiled egg several different and interesting ways ways, like an Elizabethan Axeman. or more delicately like the swordsman who cut off Anne Boleyn's head, or just bashed like a Neanderthal caveman.
It actually sounds delicious. I wonder why that dish didn't make it over there to the Midwest! :)
Deletedecapitating an egg...oh yes, you must write it. How funny!
Probably the Official Secrets Act LOL
DeleteI think I know what your gonna do for breakfast tomorrow! LOL
Well I am turning in to 'dream up' some more recipes for you tomorrow!!
And sketch out an ancient Brit enthusiastically marinating a huge lump of steak prior to turning it on a spit LOL
ok....sweet dreams!
DeleteOh, pretty collections and displays, a blog I read said she was putting her house on a diet as she decluttered. Sounds like you are too
ReplyDeletehaha...oh I love that...a diet! So funny...but true!
DeleteReally getting rid of things one by one
ReplyDeleteAs you arrange and rearrange a ton
But so nice for my ocd
To see all sparkly
Cleaned my place top to bottom today
Had to make all germs go away lol
you cleaned, too? Great minds!
DeleteOh wait...if I say that you'll say something really mean. lol....
haha something mean?
DeleteIf you think like me then you'll say it first at your scene lol
I was referring to your blog post.
DeleteDon't you remember? You were the host. :)
Honestly – you should do this sort of thing for a living – restaging. You are great at it. I am sure you have enough dusting, cleaning, etc. of your own to not want to do it elsewhere, but the "staging" part would be fun. I think you have mentioned that you have done it before for a few folks?
ReplyDeleteLove how everything looks. One of my favourite things is to see linens in a glass cabinet. My only hesitation about putting the china out in the open is the constant dusting – not that I am nuts about cleaning/dusting – God no – but in a cabinet they stay relatively clean.
Having said that I have a large étagère that has five shelves that is totally open and totally filled with glassware, trinkets, candles/candlesticks, mirrors, etc. I love it but what a pain to dust! Ah well… it’s also nice to see things out in the open instead of hidden away. All about balance.
Where is my butler when I need him? :-)
Yes, I have hired myself out to do that and it is great fun! (unless the home owner is hovering over your shoulder. ha.)
DeleteI considered that with the open shelves. But I love the open shelves in the kitchen that are so popular right now. And honestly..the things in my china cabinet were just as dusty....and so were the shelves themselves. I tend to use the china enough that it stays clean...and I usually rinse things off just before using them just in case. I mean...we do have pets! ha.
Anything that can go in the dishwasher goes in there instead of dusting....it's just easier and does a better job, I think
It sure was fun! And looks better, too. Now, I suppose I'm going to have to get to those carpets! haha....
ha. your house is like a collectable shop betsy....smiles...
ReplyDeletei am rather fond of all the shells...they are cool...
oy you are like my wife in this...always moving stuff around...
smile.s
You've mentioned that several times, over the years.
DeleteI think Tara and I would get along splendidly. :)
Yes, I hadn't thought about the dishwasher for things. Except for my brass/pewter things ( like a sweet little bunny I bought in your shop!) I think that might work. Do you put them on a gentle cycle? Might be better than the constant lifting and wiping of the dusting process.
ReplyDeleteYes, I use the fine china/crystal setting. It just makes things sparkle better than you can do with just dusting. Then you have time to do the shelf and little brass bunnies while everything is in the shower. ha.
DeleteYour "Open" shelves are so attractive and inviting. I love what you've done, and your shell collection is the prettiest is the glass jars. Love it. It was fun reading all the comments and your responses. You are such a fun post to visit, and revisit, and revisit.....etc.
ReplyDeletewell, thanks Wanda. There are some funny commenters here....very entertaining. haha.
DeleteGreat job, Betsy!
ReplyDeleteI love doing this as well....finding forgotten pieces...put them into use....perfect!
I also have a lot of shelves...and they are dusty!
I agree with you, about this time of year, when the sun hits everything, and shows all the dust!
Will do some Spring cleaning in March.....for sure!
Furnace is on....warming nicely....man, it was cold in here!
Turned out to be the motor....new one installed...YAY!
Enjoy your evening....
Cheers!
Linda:o)
I find that when I move things around, I notice them again and love them. Kinda funny, but at least with me, when something is in the same place for years, you don't even notice it any more!
DeleteYes, no sense in you dusting until you get back...then you'll have spring fever and it will feel great to air out and clean up! ha.
So glad you have heat. Not good timing with the arctic air coming through! haha.
It looks wonderful! I've been doing the same. Feels good, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes, it does! And it's the perfect weather to be inside, anyway! ha.
DeleteI didn't know you had so many shelves! I love them. I can see it's a big job but also satisfying to clean the dishes up and rearrange everything with a fresh eye. I really love how the books and quilts look in the china cabinet.
ReplyDeleteI need to get that cleaning/organizing mojo going. It sputtered out after the holidays! lol!
XO,
Jane
We seem to have lots of shelves in every room! ha. But I'm not complaining...can't complain about good storage!
DeleteAnd I didn't do this all in one day....one set of shelves per day was what I did. Now I really should dust them more often instead of making it an annual chore! lol....
Your home is so beautiful, it makes me feel better just looking at your photos of it -- so thank you! I, too, enjoy organizing and purging. Cleaning itself, not so much ...
ReplyDeleteOh, isn't that true! The mundane cleaning isn't nearly as fun! :)
DeleteINSPIRING and so beautiful, Betsy! Wish I could borrow you for a few days down here! blessings ~ tanna
ReplyDeleteI need some inspiration to do the carpets! ha.
DeleteI left my ambition on a shelf somewhere or got it out, forgot what I was doing and walked away.
ReplyDeletelol....you crack me up! :)
DeleteOnce again I am so impressed how tidy your house is. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI do like a tidy house...it makes me feel like I have control of something. lol.... and messy makes me stressed! I'm sure there is some psycho-analysis that needs to be done there. ha.
DeleteCould be! I spent this morning cleaning the cooker. Such fun...
Deletewow, you got a lot of stuff, get rid of some of your stuff and cleaning would be a lot easier. Is very impressive though!!
ReplyDeletehaha...well, Marc, I use all of those dishes! If I got rid of them, what would my family of 7 eat off of? And you must have missed the last part of my post where I did "get rid" of quite a bit! :)
DeleteI particularly love the cabinet with glass doors and what you have displayed inside! Brilliant! And your shell collection is impressive. I've always loved shells. Each one has a story.
ReplyDeleteAdmiring you from afar!
Vincent. xo
I'm really enjoying how that cabinet looks, too! Nice, tidy and clean! :)
DeleteI want a clean house too, but the road to getting there is long, arduous, and futile. Between children and a wood burning stove, I fear my dream will never come true.
ReplyDeleteHowever...
Spring is on it's way, and kids go out to play,
So maybe there is hope for my lonely bucket of soap.
And that is my feeble attempt at poetry for this year.
:0)
Oh, I know what you mean! Boys and pets! I just do a little each day....slowly but surely!
DeleteI loved seeing all your beautiful dishes and home bits in this post! Nothing like a good clean and rearrange to rejuvenate the spirit!
ReplyDeleteSo much better! I was a little horrified at the cobwebs in some places! ha.
DeleteI love those two stained glass panel lamps on you sideboard, very Art Deco.
ReplyDeleteGood Grief! It worked.
DeleteDid you make the lamps? I looked for your initials on them. ha.
DeleteIf it says "Tiffany Studios" inside the rim of the shade, then you are sitting on a lot of money! But then I'm telling someone who knows more about that than I ever will.
DeleteOh, no...it says nothing...which means 'knock-off'. lol....
DeleteYour house looks lovely! isn't it just such a great feeling when everything is cleaned and shining!
ReplyDeleteMary x
thanks, mary....it sure is! Now I just need to keep going with the rest of the place! :)
DeleteSee you are still cleaning and shelf arranging and notice you have changed your profile piccie. You have a very cheeky look! LOL.
ReplyDeleteI have seen my reflection in the laptop and thought, "Gawd, better not take a photo!!" LOL. It is the day we call POETS day, meaning "Push Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday". I believe your equivalent is TGIF.
Yes, I have been known to be cheeky on occasion. haha. It is TGIF here! And it's today! :)
DeleteHey, beautiful lady! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving your sweet comment! ;) I have to say I love your beautiful shell collection! I have a collection of shells but right now they're tucked in a closet. I like your idea of displaying them in jars on open shelving, I think it's really neat! But when I think about the dusting part, I prefer to just keep them in the closet. That's just me. I'm kinda lazy for that kind of work! Haha Have a blessed Sunday! I'm following your blog, too. ;)
ReplyDeleteHey, Carmen! Thanks for stopping by! Your post about Grey and Blush caught my eye and I just had to browse a while on your beautiful blog!
Delete