My superpower is efficiency. I love problem-solving and figuring out systems to get work done. That’s why I get invited to all the parties.
Don’t you know 33 year-old moms who are pastor’s wives and don’t drink get invited out all the time?
Here are two systems I have been using:
The Franklin Method
Before there was Marie Kando, there was a turtle named “Franklin.” This was a show I watched over 25 years ago, but this made a big impact on me.
In one episode, Franklin’s room is so messy, he can’t find what he needs. His mom has them put everything out of place in a pile in his room. They label boxes and then sort the pile.
This is something I have implemented at home, the kids can help, and it is fast. We even make a game out of it and see how quickly we can gather clutter from around the house and put it in one giant pile.
I have a tote bag with a divider in it and sort Ollie and Harper’s stuff in there first (they are usually the ones with the most stuff) and make piles with the rest. We then take the piles to the appropriate rooms.
It takes an overwhelming task and breaks it into several small tasks.
Roll for Project
One of my favorite things to watch on Tiktok is from an account called “adventuresinaardia” where he does a video series called “rolled for sandwich.” He has a list of sandwich ingredients and then rolls dice to determine what he’s eating for lunch that day. There are a lot of “roll for…” type videos, but I’m pretty sure he is the original.
I have adapted it to my house projects. I went around the house and wrote down projects that needed to get done. I roll dice (I use an app with dice that can go up to 100) to decide which project to get done. I am not allowed to roll the dice until I have finished the project. I decided I’m going to give a blog update after every five projects I complete.
1. Paint entry table
We inherited a set of French Provincial furniture. This is a picture I got off eBay because I failed to get a “before” picture. I filled in some spots that a cat had marked up with wood filler and sanded and primed before deciding on a paint.
I thought about doing a funky design, but ultimately decided to go with white chalk paint because the hallway is dark and we wanted to brighten it up.
2. Island Bookcase
Once again, I have failed to get a “before” picture, so here is a very outdated picture of our kitchen.
Under our kitchen peninsula, there is about 10 inches of space. We had an old bookcase that I trimmed some of the height off to be a perfect fit. I used extra paneling and molding from our wardrobe closet project, and finally added wallpaper I found thrift shopping for $1.
So this whole project only cost $1 and I absolutely love the finished project.
3. Paint blanket bench
We got this bench whenever we adopted our cat from a teacher I worked with in Seagraves. The bench was designed to hide a litter box, but our cat doesn’t use a litter box, so we use it for blankets.
I painted the bench white and added antique wax to match it to the blanket cabinet. I then bought an outdoor seat cushion from Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and sewed a new cover for it with fabric that matched the colors of my living room.
I ended up having to hand-sew it because my sewing machine thinks it’s job is to break my needles in half.
4. Hang lanterns
I hung up around a dozen lanterns in our backyard trees and added solar lights. It’s a project I’ve been wanting to do, but probably never would’ve gotten around to it if it wasn’t for the dice.
5. Peel and stick tile over kid’s bathtub surround
While I gave it my best to add tile to the kids bathtub in a previous project, it had some flaws. Some of the paint was peeling, and the tile wasn’t completely laid evenly.
The peel and stick cost more than the real-deal subway tile, but not having to demo and re-tile… priceless.
I added molding, then tried grouting, then tried caulking, and finally painted the grout lines.
Let’s just say I added “paint the paint and tub with a proper kit” to the list, and really hope the dice doesn’t land on it next.
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