We kind of feel like our lives have been turned upside down, shaken, and haphazardly placed right side up again. The dust and lumps of asbestos beginning to settle like the glitter in one of those plastic, kitschy snow domes one grabs on their fifth grade school trip to Washington DC as one big crazy metaphor of life. JK. No asbestos here. That’s one thing our home doesn’t have. But definitely dust. So it’s exciting, but can also be intimidating with all the mess and looming to-dos. If you’ve ever moved, or taken on a rehab or both… you get it.
We tend to be neat freaks when it comes to the home {at least, as much as realistically possible with three offspring and two crazy dogs} And it made us realize how gross we really are. That’s life. From rolling up rugs in the old house {Have you taken a peek under those things lately? How much dust can people produce? -EW}. To taking possession of the new house, {quadruple EW because there was no prepping on the other end – we were on our own} it can feel kind of overwhelming… with all of the things. And work. And mess with getting both homes up to par.
The process of moving is just a big mess.
Really.
Side note: Rigy + Fitz are just hoping to catch the mutant frog who now resides in the pool who is now as long as my arm. Probably my body. Frogs and critters don’t usually scare me. But this one does. Wish us luck.
When things are feeling a little stressful, I tend to clean… it brings a sense of calm into the picture. It’s what I do. Maybe that means I’m a textbook control freak. See: The stomach virus we encountered last week turned me into a cleaning psycho all the way. But either way, these boxes showing up at our house kind of made my sanity and totally not losing it. No, I’m not being dramatic. It seriously made me feel better. Like the unmanageable was suddenly doable. And one day, things will actually smell right again.
Swiffer and Mr. Clean help movers celebrate their fresh starts – there’s something exciting about the new… even if it’s a little uncertain.
Because while we’re waiting on the demo to start, we’re taking on a few little things on the upper level to make things more manageable with all the impending projects.
Waiting on inspections and inspectors and all things codes is not for the weak of heart. So we’re doing all we can in the meantime to prep the house. There are some smaller projects we didn’t think we’d be doing right away, and even cleaning the potties so the kiddos can use them in the meantime when we’re working on the house. Okay who am I kidding? Cleaner potties are also for me. It’s all about those little things that make us all feel better.
We love their products, especially after all the new is installed. Before ever moving in. They’re kind of our go-to for all things sanitation… and sanity. We even use them for prepping our projects {hello Swiffer Sweeper for the walls}, and when all of that is whipped back into shape, we’ll also be using all of the Swiffer and Mr. Clean amazingness to regularly maintain it. We’re kind of in love with their hardwood cleaner a-la the Wet Jet to keep things up to par, and manageable. We love the all in one system of Swiffer to control our floors, especially with the two puppies. We’ve used them for years…
And will continue to do so. {Don’t blink – Malone is 6 now… Emerson 8-they were having a lot of fun prepping those walls}.
When things get crazy, I close my eyes and think of this house and all our changes. Sparkling and clean. Some people think of Tahiti. I think of our clean home.
So we were thrilled to share a little about the new Swiffer and Mr. Clean Clean Slate program. They’ve teamed up with Jonathan Scott to share a little bit about making a house a home. Because I think before we ever even begin making it our home… the first step in one way or another, is to clean. To make it feel right.
There’s just something about a fresh start. {Refresh if the handy video isn’t loading!}
What’s your favorite cleaning process before ever moving in to your new abode? Or before taking on some projects for prep? Any tips for keeping it livable while you move? You can find us up to our eyeballs in all things projects and cleaning… so we’d love to hear!
:: This post was brought to you in partnership with Mr Clean. All opinions are 100% ours. Please read our full disclosure pertaining to partnerships here ::
It kind of blows my mind the state in which others will leave a house. I love that you guys are giving it more love