spring GREEN cleaning

Spring is here and it's time for some *spring* cleaning! It all started as the Jewish tradition of removing all the leavened bread & food from the house in preparation for Passover (the quick version anyway). So maybe it is some innate strive from deep within, nature, or nurture? But either way..time to clean house! 

First off I started with a small update/refreshing in the kitchen with a 1 hour DIY project:

The Before: Sorry it's so dark, I fixed it in iPhoto, but not showing up so great here.

You can see the BORING green curtain that came with the house above the window that is the exact same color as the paint color in our kitchen. it's been driving me nuts since we moved in...so to JoAnn Fabrics I went! 

The Process: Moose working very hard to help me
I picked up some hemming tape and....

The Result: We also added a black "faith" word above the window that continues to tie in our black appliances with our country while glazed cabinets. 

Not a big change, but by adding some more black accessories around the kitchen, and switching out the beige carpet with a black and orange Pier 1 woven rug, it's coming together. Now I just need some more pops of bright orange here and there and it will be even better...
But I am needing to do the less fun part of spring cleaning too, and trying to be a bit green about it. Here is how I do some "cleaning" around here.

First off, mostly an everyday thing but I love these sponges. They are made from recycled materials..yah! When I'm done doing the dishes I place the wet/moist sponge on a small piece of paper towel and pop it in the microwave for 60 sec. this "disinfects" the sponge for later use. (I can't remember where I read this, but I remember thinking it was believable). Plus once that wet sponge cooks in makes the inside of the microwave nice and moist and steamy, so I take that little piece of paper towel and use this prime opportunity to wipe down the inside of the microwave, while everything is steamy and easily wiped off. 
I also have a basket full of re-usable cleaning "sponges." For the life of me I can't remember who they are made by (but you can use anything really) my mom picked them up off of QVC at some point. But I use these for dusting, cleaning mirrors, and other random things and then I just throw them in the wash when I wash my other towels. Don't get me wrong we go through our run of disposable paper towels, but this cuts down on some waste.

Cleaning products..I typically go to Method Products from counter top cleaners, tub scrub, multipurpose cleaners, dish and hand soap etc. I also LOVE their hard floor and hard wood cleaners, which make my rarely clean floors a bit safer for my pooch & baby girl :) I do also use their "o-mop" which has a re-usable/washable microfiber pad. 
Other ways that I love to spring up the house are by letting in lots of sunlight and bringing in some real plants (if I can keep them alive). 


We also have a garage FULL of items that we hope to recycle by having a yard sale soon! So we're clearing the clutter...less is more! Whatever we don't sell, we'll craigslist the bigger items and donate the rest. Hoping to not add to the landfill in the process. 


We're making real progress in our bedroom transitions. The "master" (by master I mean the room that is the same size as the other bedroom but just happens to be where we sleep) bedroom is just about done, as we're adding our finishing touches. So we'll get some pics and such up about how how we semi-DIY'd some stuff in there. 


TANGENT ALERT: I'm getting lots of ideas from my new obsession pinterest. it's an AMAZING site, which I'm still awaiting my "invite" to start pinning up all the ideas I love!, but I can still browse in the mean time. 

Then we'll be moving onto making the now guest room Noel's new 'big' girl room...so many ideas I think my head it going to explode before I can make it all happen, and that on top of new nursery ideas..yikes!! here's a sneak peek on some ideas I have for the nursery. excuse me as I wipe the drool off my keys...ahh..so excited!!!


Hope you all are enjoying the sun when it peeks out and HaPpY SpRiNg!