34 Weeks of Clean! Week 34- The Finale!

When we started 34 Weeks of Clean 34 weeks ago, it was truly not a challenge just for you.  It was was for me as well.  I knew that the timing was perfect for cleaning and organizing while my husband was away for the year.  It would give me something to do to pass the time productively, it would allow us time to get prepared for our upcoming move in December, and it would give me a community to connect with.  I'm happy to say that it did accomplish all three of those things!  And while the clean and organized house makes me want to cheer, it is the community of friends I have made along the way that have blessed me the most!  You all have made this journey fun and have encouraged me in some pretty dark days and I THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

In addition to the simple art of cleaning and organizing, I hope these are some takeaways you also got from this journey-

Our stuff does not make us who we are!
Memories are best held in our hearts, not in our things!
Everything has a home!  If not, get rid of it!
Before you buy something, ask yourself, is it useful and do I really need it?
If you love it, use it, and would buy it again, keep it.  If not, out it goes!
One person's trash is another person's treasure!  Be willing to share!
Five minutes of pick up a day will keep your house cleaner than you think!
The less you have, the easier it is to be organized.  Declutter!
Buying more containers does not amount to less stuff!

So where do we go from here?  Now that you should have a relatively clean and organized house, I am going to let you in on a little secret.

 It will not stay that way without a little effort!

So what's a girl to do?  Rinse and repeat!

Maybe you do not need to start again tomorrow, but you will probably need to start again at some point, sooner than later.  I already know several areas in my own home that need some attention!

To help you get ready to begin again, Kemi from Homemaking Organized has graciously put together a 34 Weeks of Clean ebook for you to follow.  This ebook is FREE to subscribers of Family, Faith, and Fridays Blog as well as anyone who actively participated in our 34 Weeks of Clean Series.  Just shoot me an email, and I will be happy to provide the link for you!

A BIG thank you to all who participated!  It has been so much fun to interact with you and to see your successes.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

From Kemi-

As we end the 34 Weeks of Clean Challenge with Michele I'm actually sad to see it go. Even though some weeks I didn't get to the challenge or I would get really behind on the current challenge what this project served to do in my home was to get me back on track to regular deep cleaning. Not just daily cleaning. 

In the past several years a couple of moves have upset my neatly orchestrated deep cleaning schedule and and left me floundering to keep up. I always meant to get it together and adjust but never seemed to. 

After tackling each room in our home these past 34 Weeks we have made several updates and completed quite a few home projects. Sure there is still much to be done but progress is made.

Another thing that came out of this challenge was the idea of a simple of ebook so that you (and I) can reboot our homes in 34 weeks. Now what about the other 18 weeks in the year? Well since this challenge ends right before the new school year happens my tip is to focus on back to school and the holiday season and then get ready to dive back in come next January. Hopefully we can talk Michele into hosting it again ;)

Kemi

The winner of our 34 Weeks of Clean Prize Basket will be announced on the blog on Monday!
Until then, you have the weekend off of cleaning! ;)

Blessings,