I generally wash the dishes right before bed; I like to wake up to a counter full of dry, clean dishes that I can put away in the morning! :)

Because of my dish-washing method, I usually end up with a small amount of fresh, hot water after I've rinsed my last few dishes.

I add a little soap to the water, and use my dish cloth to do a quick-mop in the kitchen. You know, the spots like under the baby's high chair, or by the 2-year-old's seat... just a little section or a few dirty spots. If I'm really energetic, I might end up mopping half the floor, rinsing my rag in the sink as needed.

Then, I let out the water, wring out the dish rag, and put the rag in the dirty laundry basket. I get out a clean dish cloth for the next day. ;)

I use my hand-held vacuum for crumbs after meal times, and doing this quick-mop before bed results in a fairly clean floor for the next day. I usually dread mopping the "whole kitchen" but doing a quick-mop works for me! :)

All right, dear readers: here's a question for you. When you visit someone else's house, do you mind taking off your shoes?

I've been thinking about this one for a while now. As I mentioned in this post about simplifying my cleaning tasks, we don't wear shoes in our house. This keeps the floors much cleaner, especially when it's wet outside. Since I have a crawling baby who likes to eat everything he finds on the floor, I try to keep my floors really clean.

A lot of times when people come over to visit, they will notice that we aren't wearing our shoes inside, and they ask if they should remove their shoes. If their visit is to be a short one (e.g. a few hours or a day and not days or weeks!) I always say, "If you want to. Either way if fine." I feel like part of being a good hostess is making my guests as comfortable as possible.

On the other hand, I really would prefer that people remove their shoes when they come inside for a visit. I just can't bear to "make" them do it, just in case they don't want to.

Personally, I don't mind removing my shoes at someone else's house. If their floors were filthy, I would mind. But people with filthy floors usually don't care if I walk on them with my shoes.

So, what's your preference? Do you like to keep your shoes on at other people's houses, or doesn't it matter?

Shorty asked,

"I can declutter with the best of them but I have a hard time keeping a 'clean' house. Please give me some helpful tips!! ...I have tried so many things but in the end I always go back to my old ways. Help would be great...especially with a growing family! When do you find time to clean with two little ones?"

I'm going to write about this in three different posts. First, I want to talk about some of the things I do to simplify my cleaning tasks in general. I like having a clean house, and I'm willing to invest the time each week to keep it clean.

However, I also want to be efficient and not spend needless hours cleaning. Read more...

I've been working on getting the kitchen tidied... and keeping it that way! A week or two ago, I shared the photos of our re-arranged, de-cluttered, and organized living room and children's room and said I'd have kitchen photos to post once I got things finished up in there.

It took longer than I anticipated... somehow, piles of various papers that never got filed away make organizing a very tedious task! Add to that the fact that my kitchen seems to get "filled up" daily with things like dirty dishes and trash, it's a constant job even without "build-up"!

But, I finally was able to square away all the loose ends, getting some over-due thank you notes written, paying the last of the bills, and filing away recipes and such. Here are some photos...

I function best in an uncluttered environment. My brain already has enough things to think about without constantly looking for missing items or moving things from here to there to here in an effort to have some free counter space or a little bit of dressertop to use for a moment.

I wasn't always like this. I should scan some photos of what my bedroom looked like when I was 17 and living with my parents. Yikes!

Thankfully, I realised that sometimes, less is more. More room to work on projects. More space for hospitality.

I also realized that sometimes, less is less. Less work to clean around. Less bother to organize. Less effort to move.

The passing of time, the adding of children, and the blessing of a not-so-tiny home all tend to boost my possessions, and I find myself running out of counter space again, or filling up every single cupboard.

New things come into use, and other things are rarely touched. Some things that seem like a good idea to have just never really get used. And even though "my" personal items are at an all-time minimum, there's just so many things when you have a household... and a family!

Being frugal adds a whole new dimension to de-cluttering. I love to give away things I don't need. But I really don't want to give away things we do need, or may have to purchase later if I don't store them.

My friend Sheri recently told me that when she is de-cluttering, she prays,

"Lord, help me to get rid of the stuff we don't need and keep the things we will need."

What a novel idea! I am not an organizing pro. I desperately need wisdom when it comes to what to keep! I also need constant motivation and energy to keep on top of things like dirt and clutter.

I've been organizing in a big way in our home recently. I don't have before-pictures (although here are some 2-year-old photos of our living room and Yehoshua's bedroom--trust me, we have a lot more childrens' clothes and toys now!!!) but today I took some after-pictures of two rooms. (The kitchen photos are coming... once I get on top of the dishes and counters -- uhg!)

(Read more for photos from today and more organizing jabber...)