Five Steps to Work Full Time and Still Keep Your House Looking Great

There is no doubt that working full time and trying to manage a house is a constant struggle.

Many women feel completely overwhelmed when trying to do both, but there are five simple steps or strategies that working women can use to keep the house clean and still have free time even after a full time job.

These strategies require a bit of thought and planning, but once they are started you will be amazed at how effectively they can work to save you time and stress.

1. Prioritize cleaning or what really needs to stay clean?

There are many different rooms in the house, some which are used multiple times a day and some that may be only used infrequently.

It only stands to reason that rooms with more use will require more cleaning, whereas rooms that are used less frequently should require less time.

Make a list of the rooms in your house - then rate them as to how much use they get.

It is also important to consider rooms that are of particular importance.

For example, most women want the bathrooms and kitchen to be clean, but may be more flexible on the family room or the kid's bedrooms. Once you know the top rooms for use, you can move on to next step.

2. Develop and write a cleaning schedule.

From the list of rooms, look at how often you should reasonably have to clean the rooms, and what actually needs to be done.

For example, in a high use rooms such as the bathroom, the tub, sink and toilet may need daily cleaning or alternate daily cleaning, but the floor may only need washing once a week.

List the room, list the chores, and list the cleaning frequency. Take the time to actually write out the list, without a written blueprint it will be hard to decide what actually needs to be done, plus it will be harder to explain it to others.

3. Delegate.

The cleaning schedule can now be divided among the residents of the house.

This may be a new activity for some husbands, partners, kids and roommates, but it is essential.

Start by discussing the written cleaning schedule and asking the other members of the house what they would feel comfortable doing.

With kids an allowance or payment system often works wonders, but it is important to keep it positive, not negative, you don't need to have to start nagging family to get them to help if they just have a select few chores.

4. Evaluate.

After the first week take a look at the house and at your written cleaning plan. If there are changes needed make them, but avoid taking on more chores yourself.

You need to be realistic in your cleaning expectations and avoid cleaning areas that don't need to be cleaned while neglecting areas that have lots of use or high visibility.

Also remember that you do work full time and people are understanding of a little mess and clutter in busy homes.

5. Stick with the plan.

Avoid deciding to just scrap the plan and clean the whole house one evening after work. Not only does this undermine what you are trying to do, but it also may send a message to your family that you don't think they can do the job.

Remember that rewards and praise for a house that looks great is positive for the whole family, plus it is an event that you can look forward too.

Finally there are house cleaning services in most communities that can come in on a weekly basis and give your house that deep cleaning that you really want. Consider one of these services if you simply just don't have the time or energy to work full time and keep the house, you will be glad that you did!

Want to know How To Transform Your Home Into One That Is Quick And Easy To Clean And Organize? To find out - go to: http://www.house-cleaning-tips-guide.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fayola_Peters

House Decorating Ideas - How House Decorating Professionals Think

House decorating is in itself a great and enjoyable activity. It gives you an opportunity to express and practice your imagination to the fullest extent. Many people think that decorating a house needs loads of cash and creativity. But that is not true at all.

Decorating a house is doing things that you like the most. if you like embroidery, you can create a wall hanging out of it and use it in your teenagers bedroom. The real success with decorating is in "detailing", the small things that make a big difference.

By small things I mean every aspect of your home interiors that is directly visible when someone enters your house. This can include pillow covers, upholstery, indoor plants, statues, showcases and objects in the, picture frames on walls wall hangings, wall clocks, and many more.

Any house decorating has got two main aspects attached to it. The first is the actual design of the house, which you obviously cannot change because it is a built structure. This includes the size and shape of the rooms, their height, flooring materials and patterns, roof shapes and materials and the actual construction technology used for building the house building.

Another part of the house decorating is the accessories you can use to elevate the creative perception of the built space. As mentioned above accessories can be anything you can think of that will add a creative touch to your house interiors.

There any many points to consider while decorating a house. But I am going to give a small example here to show you how house decorating professionals think when they decorate a house interior.

While decorating your house keep one thing in mind that when the house gets occupied furniture faces cover the walls of the house and this face becomes the most visible one. That is why while selecting the furniture finishes see that the wall color scheme and the colors furniture faces create a balance. Now whether to create a merging effect or a contrast entirely depends upon the size of the space.

However if you are going to purchase the furniture from a store then you only have the choice of changing the wall paint to match the furniture faces. Some furniture stores allow to change the furniture faces at no extra cost. If that is possible you can order the one that suits bests with your house interiors.

This was just a small example of how to approach house decorating and generate ideas. Each individual house building is different and different persons perceive the same house interior different. So what really matters is what exactly you want the end result to be. With little creativity you can easily transform a poor looking house into decorating masterpiece.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

Want to decorate like a pro? Visit http://www.HomeDecoratingSuccess.info and download your step-by-step guide to create stunning interior masterpieces even if your time and budget are limited...100% guaranteed.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shrinivas_Vaidya

Kill Some Plants - Become a House Plant Care Expert

While working on information for a our eBook on Dracaenas a
request was made for people who had been growing their Dracaena
indoors for more than three years. I wanted to see what all the
replies had in common.

In general, most have been enjoying their Dracaena(s) for 4-7
years. In fact, their Dracaena has almost become a "welcomed"
family member. Several people have had their plants for 15-25
years, longer then the kids stayed at home.

Most started new plants or acquired others and continued to
grown them on and enjoy them for themselves or past on to others.
One mother was even teaching one of her kids how to care for the
plant(s), and started one for her to take to college. She is
passing on a family plant heirloom.

A few people hit on a theme bringing the "science" of growing and
understanding plants right home to me. The theme was:

Where do you learn about growing plants? They learned by trial
and error or plant care experimentation. However, the way they
approached becoming their own in-house plant expert was
interesting.

First of all they did not run down to the local garden center and
begin buying up every Dracaena they could find. They did not pour
all kinds of fertilizers or chemicals on them or start cutting
plants up into small pieces to grow more. They started with a
"has been" house plant.

These soon to be Dracaena plant experts took houseplants someone
else decided to throw away or accepted a plant from a friend moving
and did not want to take their plants with them or because someone thought
the plants did not look good.

Do you ever find plants like that? Have you ever known someone
who gave away their plants when they moved?

These new adopted plants may not be a picture of house plant
health. But over time these plant experts slowly nurtured them
back to become vibrant thriving indoor plants. Bringing these
plant destined for the compost pile did not happen over night.
What did houseplant doctors do?

* Cut off leaves

* Cut off stems

* Slowly watered the plant and returned moisture to the dry soil

* Repotted (Possibly)

* Gave the plant(s) good light

Not all of these plants survived. But some did and these “has
been” houseplants currently decorate the home of someone else and not fill the compost
pile.

All they did was take the time to experiment at no cost, on
plants they never purchased. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
What they did gain was knowledge. Knowledge of a particular plant
type – Dracaena - that now allows them to enjoy their plants for
years and even decades. This knowledge has let them move to new
homes (one person 6 times) and take their plants with them.

With the right care, most of the indoor tropical house plants you
purchase today at the local garden center can be enjoyed in your
home for years. This care comes only from experience, yours or
getting it from someone else that has "been there - done that".

Caring for plants is simply cause and effect. Plants have
problems indoors and outdoors because the laws of nature have
been broken. You can not change the laws but must know how to work
within them.

Ground Rules

Here are a few ground rules to follow with experimental plants.

* Keep the plant separated from your other plants. It may carry
some pest that could enjoy finding better places to live – your
healthy plants! Under a tree in the back yard could work well.

* Find the best place to start reviving the plant. Your
environment will help you determine that

* Examine the soil, leaves, and stems.

* Take things slowly

* Take action and observe what works and what does not

* Try something new for testing - Self-Watering planters for
example.

* If the plant dies, do not get upset, you’ve increased your
knowledge.

So, the next time you see a plant someone is getting rid of or
throwing away... Stop and think about doing some plant care
experimentation like our other faithful readers. Their
experiments have turned them into excellent indoor Dracaena
growers.

House plant care is a game of figuring out the rules and a little
experimenting.

Visit Thomas Fryd at http://www.plant-care.com where you’ll find a wealth of information on topics like self-watering planters which can improve your house plant care.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Fyrd