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The Domestic Goddess Project

Written by on April 16, 2009 – 11:16 pm

Martha Stewart I’m not - and I don’t want to be. My expectations are pretty simple. I want to live in a decluttered, well decorated environment. I wouldn’t want to try to be someone else anyway. I’m too set in my ways - too accustomed to my own personal style. I simply want my home environment to be a reflection of my personal asthetic.

Besides, I love cooking and my kitchen is currently a disorganized fiasco. The result of this is that I don’t want to cook - I warm up cartons of Lean Cuisines and serve scrambled eggs for dinner - all because I need to sort out my cupboards and cull the containers in the fridge.

So I decided to add another self improvement project to my reperatoire. I call it “The Domestic Goddess Project”. I want to be one of those chicks who cooks, cleans, makes her own bread, and has enough oomph to have a career. These next few weeks are going to be rigorous - but I promise you that it will be worth it.

I’ve read my share of organization books. So I developed a strategy - a simplified approach - that sort of melts all the different methods together. Each room will get the same treatment - and I want move on to the next room until all the steps have been complete.

Before I begin, I am going to panic clean so that the place will be pleasant while undergoing the transformation.

Panic Cleaning Steps

clear surface clutter and tidy up
scrub important surfaces like the toilet
sweep/vacuum floors
mop, or just spot clean with a wet rag
make beds

The process should take only a few hours to complete. It will give you peace of mind as you complete the more comprehensive and rigorous domestic goddess program.

The Domestic Goddess Project Steps

Choose a room to start. Complete all the steps for that one room and then move on.

Cull. Get rid of anything you don’t use or don’t want. Have a separate bin for things that are out of place and need to be moved to another room.
Clean. After you give everything away, clean the room thoroughly. You may need to clear the surfaces.
Organize. When everything is clean, this is when you start organizing. If you need to, you can buy organizational elements like bins and shelving in this step.
Decorate. This is where I make things look pretty. I may even use some of my art supplies to make pretty wall hangings.

And that’s it. The process is highly simplified and is easy to follow. I may wish to consult design books once I get to steps three and four but it doesn’t matter. As I clear the clutter, I should start to have a solid idea of what I want to do.