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by sara goldstein
Days to Serenity
HI EVERYONE! Baruch Hashem so many happy homemakers are organizing their homes. I received a few emails from people in the country asking me where Suzanne Lake is and if it pays to make a trip out here. Apparently, they read The Monsey View up there, but organize the fridge? Nah. That's for us Monseyers. I’m thinking we should clean the area by the lake before all the visitors show up. Any offers? And let’s start charging for attractions. Monsey is getting famous thanks to The Monsey View. Everyone can join in this house-cleaning/organizing challenge process! We’re keeping it simple and fun!
THURSDAY, JULY 13 VANITIES Let’s talk vanities, inside and out. • Wipe down your vanity, scrub your vanity, rinse and dry. Sounds simple? It is. Try to keep the area around the sink empty, as it attracts germs and grime. • Empty the insides. Wipe down. Throw out hairbrushes with missing bristles or rusted, outdated hairsprays, old bandages, expired creams. • Use clear containers that you already have in your kitchen to organize bobby pins, pony rubbers, bandages, creams, etc. • One toothbrush per child. • I love the two-drawer organizer for under the sink. Keeps pull-ups, wipes, tissues, or the large mouthwash that doesn’t fit into the drawers or over the sink mirror. • Ideally, cleaning products do not belong in the bathroom. FRIDAY, JULY 14 SPICE CABINETS There are about 200 (kid you not, okay maybe a tad) different organizers for your spices. Assuming at the mo-
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ment you don’t have anything, work with that. • You can use the 5x7 foil pans for now. One for the everyday spices, one for the everythird-day spices and one for the everyonce-in-a-while spices. The every-once-infive-year spice chuck out. • Thyme or fennel sound very sophisticated to own, but if you don’t use them, throwing out something that’s taking up space in your home sounds much more sophisticated. • Spices last a long time, yet the taste does dull after a while, so use your inborn chef judgment about what stays and what goes. • If you have double of one, combine the two. • Give it all a wipe down, and you’re good to go. CONTAINER DRAWER: Let’s make this even quicker than you think possible. Two questions, and you’re done! Do you really need 333 lids with 62 actual containers? Do you really need 333 containers and 62 lids? The answer to both of those questions, is of course, a resounding no. • Empty the drawer/cabinet, wipe down and pair your containers. As for the lonely rest, have them join the large white bag that’s waiting to be discarded. • If you don’t have any bins, use the 9x13 foil pans to keep the containers happy. SUNDAY, JULY 16 SHED No shed? This applies to your basement or attic or any storage area you have. This is a lengthy project, but that’s not our goal at the moment. No heavy organizing. • Get large clear containers. Everything that’s in the center of the room and blocking your path