before and after pictures Archives

31 Days to Clean: Day #7

May 7, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

31 Days to Clean Having a Martha House the Mary way

Day 7- The Curse (What We're Up Against)

Mary Challenge: Read Romans 8:20-21. What is the hope in the Curse?

My hope is that because I'm a bond-servant of Christ I have been released from my burden to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of being a child of God.

Martha Challenge: Kitchen – clean out and organize your pantry.

Like I've said before: We LOVE hosting all kinds of things in our home! We make up excuses people over. We have been blessed with an amazing accommodating kitchen all necessary and unnecessary items for just such occasions. Our pantry is no exception. We could store food for an army in there! I am kind of what some may call OCD and love keeping things organized so this task wasn't dreaded but it was kind of time-consuming given the size of the God-given pantry. My girls were so excited to "help". They moved items from one shelf to the next so I could wash each shelf and then help group things (great lesson on sorting/matching). Although, I may be creating OCD babies. My (almost) 3-year-old had a hard time when I decided to relocate things from the previous areas she'd become acustom...oops!

Here are the befores:

and afters:

Filed Under: Cleaning Tagged With: 31daystoclean, before and after pictures, clean, julie rothacher, organize, pantry, sarah mae, wash

31 Days to Clean: Day #6

May 6, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

31 Days to Clean Having a Martha House the Mary way

Day 6 – The Six List- The $25,000 Piece of Advice

Mary Challenge: Print out the attached Six list and use it for six days in a row.

I really enjoyed this advice but have yet to put into practice. If you have and would share with me a practical/example of how you are using it I would totally benefit from that.

Martha Challenge: Kitchen – Clean out and organize all your cabinets.

I'm a weirdo who like organizing to this was kinda fun! I'm also all about living minimalistic in an attempt to not get caught up in materialism although HOME items are my weakness!

Cup Cabinet

Plate and Bowl Cabinet

Mixing, Casserole Dishes, and Above Stove Cookbook Cabinet

Before Seasoning, Above Fridge, and Medicine Cabinets

After Seasoning, Above Fridge, and Medicine Cabinets

Office Stuff and Serving Dishes Cabinets

Under Sink Supplies and Storage Container Cabinets

Pan and Lid Cabinets

Baking Pans Cabinet

Small Appliance Cabinet

Lenin and More Serving or Baking Dishes Cabinet

We LOVE hosting...well, anything in our home! We make up excuses to have individuals or large groups of people in our home. We have been blessed with an amazing accommodating kitchen that is able to store both dishes, supplies, tools, and food to easily adapt if a dinner date with another family turns in to a dinner party of 20+ (true story!). As a family we intend on using our home for God's glory and if at any time that stops happening my prayer is that He takes this blessing and gives it to someone who will.

This side note is leading me to write a post on the story of our HOME! Coming SOON!

Filed Under: Cleaning Tagged With: 31daystoclean, before and after pictures, cabnets, clean, julie rothacher, organize, sarah mae, the 6 things list, wash

31 Days to Clean: Day #5

May 5, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

31 Days to Clean Having a Martha House the Mary way

Day 5 - Priorities

Mary Challenge: Come up with list of our priorities, in order of importance (I suggest rating them, 1-5, to evaluate how you’re doing).

Martha Challenge: Kitchen – Wash your window treatments and/or clean your blinds. Wash the inside of your windows.

I am soooo glad we still don't have "window treatment" anywhere in our house a year after moving in- Thank You Dave Ramsey, FPU. My beautiful, (almost) 3-year-old, big helper was Super Excited about being able to help with one of the tasks! These windows were just the right height, with a step, rather than the ones up high, behind the kitchen sink. She actually was a good helper!!!

Praying you have an adorable little helper during your 31 Days to Clean challenge! PLEASE, share your journey through this book or cleaning challenges in general!

Filed Under: Cleaning Tagged With: 31daystoclean, before and after pictures, clean, curtains, julie rothacher, kitchen, little helper, organize, priorities, sarah mae, wash, windows

31 Days to Clean: Day #4

May 4, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

31 Days to Clean Having a Martha House the Mary way

Day 4 - A Place to Put Your Feet Up

Mary Challenge: Invite over a friend and allow them to “put their feet up.” Don’t worry about making everything just right, instead, enjoy their company.

I haven't had the privilege of doing this yet but hope to get to have someone or a group of people over SOON! This is already a custom in our home so I feel I'll fair well, even with a drop in!

Martha Challenge: Kitchen - Clean your oven and microwave.

Filed Under: Cleaning Tagged With: 31daystoclean, before and after pictures, clean, crums, fellowship, hosting, julie rothacher, nasty, organize, oven, sarah mae, stove, wash

31 Days to Clean: Day #3

May 3, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

31 Days to Clean Having a Martha House the Mary way

Day 3 - 10 Ways to Give Life to Your Home

Mary Challenge: Ask your family what makes them feel the most loved when it comes to you caring for your home – ask them to be specific so that you can begin (or continue) to give life to your domain.

My 3 babes under 3 just stared at me... hehe

My sweet, amazing, encouraging hubby told me it makes him comfortable, (and I guess) feel loved when he comes home every afternoon and the house (mainly the living room) is picked up. He also said that this makes him more aware of cleaning/keeping things picked up daily and when he's watching the kiddos for me. *Bonus! He also appreciates it when he comes down stairs, from his nightly routine of putting the girls to bed, to find I've done the nightly load of laundry and dishes as well as picked up any stragglers from the girl's game of "clean up" for bed. YAY!

Martha Challenge: Kitchen - Dust tops of refrigerator, cabinets, and shelves. Clean and shine the outsides of drawers and cabinets.

Well, that's my excuse anyway ;o) Not cleaning them well a year ago when we moved in was a real contributing factor but hey, I was prego and exhausted...yeah, I know, another excuse ;o)