Homemaking Series-Clean Home

Welcome to the most toughest part of the homemaking series. We all go through a phase where we come home from a hard day's work only to see a messy living room or a kitchen full of unwashed dishes or bedroom which reminds us of a museum with all our things displayed on bed. It doesn't matter whether you are a stay at home wife or a working woman. What matters is whether or not you have a pleasant and welcoming home at the end of the day. Just like a famous saying"face is the index of mind", our home reflects our state of mind. 
Even before getting into the solution I want to agree that we do face challenges like living in a joint family where cooperation of every member becomes impossible or guests/relatives drop in frequently or children do not help in  domestic chores or husband being very busy with career. But let me tell you, inspite of all these challenges it is still possible for us to have a clean and well maintained home. Remember this is a process which demands time and patience. Let's get started...

• De clutter: the crucial step to a clean home is decluttering. Go through each and every room in your house to find out the areas where most clutter gets accumulated. Raid your kitchen to see if you have any expired groceries and throw them away. Check your closet to discard any torn or faded pieces of clothing, go through your living room to see if you can get rid of piled newspapers and magazines. These are just a few examples and clutter may be in any form. So go to every nook and corner of your house and see that it is clutter free.
• Organize: however small or big your house is, you find a lot of space to utilize once all the clutter is thrown away. Now comes the time to use your creativity to organize things so that it becomes easy to maintain a clean house. Everything should have a place. If you remember and follow this strictly there will not be any scope for your house getting messy all the time. My next post will focus more on this topic so stay tuned.
• Assign: many of us try to become a superwoman by doing every task on our own. It leads to more stress and thus reduces productivity. So let us try to become a smart woman by learning to assign tasks to people around us. Unlike the Western countries we are lucky to have a domestic maid who helps us in washing dishes, mopping the floor etc,. You can pay a little more and ask her to help you in other chores. If you have kids, get them involved in keeping their books and clothes in place. Make it a point to see that they also help you in running small errands. Also you can take your husband's help in the areas where you feel he can do better. Thus assigning tasks help in maintaining a clean home without getting stressed out.
• Routine: just like we have a routine to eat and sleep, our home should also have a routine. I just cannot stress enough on this and once you create a cleaning schedule, it becomes a child's play to have a clean home. I have read many blogs and watched videos on YouTube regarding this and even took printouts on what to do on which day of the week. But I utterly failed in keeping up with the schedule because it was not practical and was not working for me. For example if I think every Monday will be for kitchen cleaning, Tuesday for laundry, Wednesday for washrooms and so on, then what if I fall sick for a week, what if I go on a vacation, so there are chances that we may not follow a schedule if it is too rigid. Hence it is much better if we do certain things almost everyday leaving weekends for family. Now I have a routine where on a daily basis I do clean kitchen, do a load of laundry, see that my washrooms does not stink, find and put away things in their respective places, etc,. I do not say that you should follow the same way but think of a routine which is practical and follow it religiously.

So friends I hope this post helps you and any queries or suggestions are welcome.

Love Yourself

Yes...you read it right. The first and perhaps the most important step towards making your house a home is loving yourself. Being busy with chores and responsibilities we often tend to neglect ourselves and not care for our personal grooming and appearance. This results in a monotonous lifestyle and we end up getting frustrated at times.

Looking good makes you feel confident. People start taking interest in greeting and meeting you because they know that you are someone who cares for yourself and has some seriousness towards life. This does not mean that you have to be photo ready all the time. It just means that whether you are a career woman or a housewife, you should look presentable and show people that you take pride in whatever your role is.

Ladies, trust me and try to implement at least a few of the following things in your lives which will help you in discovering a new you...

•  Skin care: How many of us do actually have or follow a routine scheduled for skin care? Well very few of us. But having a routine to groom yourself is as important as a routine for other things. Include a skin care regimen to avoid running behind fancy night creams and age defying products even before you hit your thirties. Proper cleansing, toning and moisturizing helps to have a radiant skin. You might have read and heard it a thousand times but you have to do it to believe it. Experiment a little and see what products work for you and what not. It is not necessary that products with attractive labels and higher price tags only work well. It takes patience and dedication to follow a routine. Once you adapt it, people start noticing the visible changes and compliment you for looking fresh and glowing.
• Beauty basics: Eyebrows can make or break the whole look. Hence see that your eyebrows are shaped regularly. Include threading and waxing sessions whenever required. Also pay attention to your hands and feet. Manicures and pedicures are the best way to treat your cracked feet and chapped nails, so learn to do it yourself or seek a professional help. Trim your hair and keep it frizz free by using a good shampoo and conditioner. Applying oil once or twice a week brings in a lustrous look to a dull, damaged hair. 
• Dress to impress: Of course true. Whether we agree or not we all dress to impress. Try to identify a style which reflects your personality. It is very important to dress your age and just do not wear something simply because your favorite actress is wearing it or it is in trend. Your dressing speaks volumes about who you are and what you are. Staying at home or working from home does not mean that you can put on any shabby piece of clothing for the rest of the day. Show some interest in life and wear some comfy yet elegant clothes and convey others that you are having some purpose in life. You can always play with your look by adding accessories such as bangles, bracelets, scarves, etc.
• Magic of makeup: No, i am not asking you to wear tons of makeup and have all the colors painted on your face. Makeup is all about enhancing your best features and hiding the not so good ones. This helps in looking good and feeling better through out the day. It just takes less than five minutes and you will be surprised to see the transformation. After regular cleansing, toning and moisturizing apply some tinted moisturizer or you can skip that by simply putting on some sunscreen. Next use an eyebrow pencil to fill any gaps in between. Then use a liner to line your eyes and dab on some clear or tinted lip balm and you are good to go! 

      The above mentioned tips changed the way i look at life and hope they will be useful to you too. Please leave your valuable comments and help me in better blogging.

The journey is on..

Hi my dear readers

                     First of all thank you for stopping by and visiting my blog. This blog is dedicated to the contemporary woman who wants to reflect sophistication in all areas of her life. The focus will be on doing things in a much better way to become more efficient thus bringing peace to our chaotic lives. Although i am a homemaker by chance, now i feel blessed to be able to contribute in making my house a home.Whatever I share on this blog will be my learning and experiences from my life. There will be tips on how to run a house smoothly, how to look presentable, what products work for us and what not, relationship advice, and much more. So my blogging journey is on and I hope I will be able to help you all in discovering a new you and also in making your homes a better place to live in. 

Stay tuned for more..