I'm still working on my organization and even the type of cleaners that I use regularly. I also very much wish to purge much of the "cleaners and cleansers" stuff that I have. I still have 3 packed boxes from my move (U-Haul smalls) with everything from sifter refills to cat deoderizers in them. Much of this stuff I don't use anymore. For instance I don't have the swifter anymore, but I have refills for it :( I find that my "main stuff" is: 1) a bottle of Green Apple Lysol spray cleaner. I use this almost everywhere. 2) a bottle of no-drip Windex. Windows, mirrors, glass. 3) dishwasher detergent 4) hardwood floor cleaner in a spray bottle. I had hardwood floors installed in my new home and this is essential. Don't know what the stuff really is. Probably something "common", but I got it since it was recommended my floorer. I use the microfiber pads that attach to a mop thingee and have several of them. I've gone thru a few and have to put all of this stuff into a "rags" load of laundry. Haven't yet. I also use just clean whites rags and often just paper towels with this stuff too for wiping up spills that happen on the hardwood floors. 5) a sprayer bottle that I keep a mixture of water and clear dish soap. I use this for most spills and spot treatments on my carpets or rugs. For most things this is all I need. Anything more complicated I wick up the spill with clean cotton rags and use the soap mixture and then call Coit for same day service. Okay I'm lame, but I don't like messing up my carpet. A whole cup of full strength espresso got spilled on my carpet at my old condo and while I got a lot out, Coit (a professional carpet cleaner) got most out and if I had them in right away I think it would have all gotten out. 6) clorox wipes. I know lazy perhaps. But I find them way too conveinent. I have containers of them all over the house, even one in my car.. 7) Orange-glo "wood cleaner". This is the slimy stuff. I use a clean rag and then desiginate the rag for only this stuff. I use this to dust and shine up all my wood furniture which is just about everything: dining room table, night stand, chest of drawers, telephone stand, end tables, TV tables, etc, etc. And then other stuff that doesn't get used as often, but has gotten used since I've been in my new house: 1) orange soft scrub (has bleach). use this on the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, the bathtub and its tiled walls. 2) stainless steel cleaner that came with my new frig. only used there. works like a charm. I'm too afraid to use anything else on the SS frig. I follow the "directions" on this. Is this a sham to sell this stuff? Would good ole Lysol spray cleaner do the trick? 3) disposable toliet cleaner doohickies. I used to just use jonny mops (oh and when I had multiple baths, one in each) and toliet bowl cleaner. but now I use the wand thing and the disposable thing. I think I have the Scrubbing Bubbles kind right now. That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure there's more. But truely if this is all I really seem to be using, when I get around to emptying those 3 boxes, it means I can just purge them. I guess time to freecycle, or something? I guess these could just be tossed? Or I guess put out on the curb when we have our Annual Cleanup done by the City. But I get the impression that these, some of the stuff at least, is considered "haz waste"? Thanks for any advice :) Cheers, --jans

We do not have a proper laundry room either (oh how I wish we did!), but i do have the planning desk in the kitchen like Treasuretheday, where we stash the 'not too unattractive', large food bin. Also the water bowl. We have two large Boxers and I agree with Outsideplaying... it helps to elevate the bowls for large dogs. I purchased a feeding station from Amazon, it looked like wood, but was not. After a few months, with water slopping down inside it started to smell, so out it went! Then I was on the hunt for tall metal or wrought iron stands, but boy are they expensive, and hard to find! I took a friends advice and bought metal plant stands, at Garden Ridge. They are just the right height, and the base for the flower pot is just the right diameter to fit a glass mixing bowl. They don't look bad in the kitchen, and after the dogs eat, I scoot the stands under the desk behind their big water bowl. The plant stands was a great idea, and really inexpensive.

We also have much more recycles than trash. So I need a larger bin for recycle, and a small one for trash. I like the idea of keeping the trash smaller because it will get emptied more often too. I want to keep the pull out narrow so not to give up much cabinet space. So the trick is to find 2 trash can that are narrow, and together take up about 24" depth. The double bins I saw on Rev-a-shelf were all at least 12 - 15" wide, and much less than 24" deep. Also they are much shorter than under counter height, so not an efficient use of space. The photo from Judydel looks closest to what I want. What other brands should I look at? We also started composting recently. Right now I just use an old bread bag to collect stuff during the day, and then dump it in the compost bin after dinner clean-up. My BFF was composting years before it was fashionable. She didn't even have a disposal. She keep a small pretty ceramic pot w/lid on her counter next to the sink. She lined it with a bread bag, and collected her veggie scraps there. Every other day she would dump the contents into the compost pile. So I plan on getting a "compost pot" for my counter too.

Well, I have that continuous age old battle within myself. Evil: STAY OUT of my kitchen Good: I need to teach them how to cook so that when they go out into the world their potential spouses won't think that I raised a total kitchen imbecile. Self-serving: What in the world makes you think that I am your servant who needs to serve you every single morsel of food that you need to put in your mouth? But really, I have been known to get them out of bed at night when I discover that they've made a mess that they walked away from. Really. My saying is "I am Mom, not Maid, not Mule" (I don't make it a habit to carry their items to them, either, hence, not Mule). Every since they were old enough, we've taught them to be self-sufficient and clean up after themselves. However, somehow it just doesn't happen and I come out in the morning to bowls and cups and peanut and sunflower seed shells. And I know they know how, because when they stay at someone elses house, the parents tell me how courteous they are and they pick up after themselves, yadda yadda. One thing that has been effective: they get a monthly allowance -- not to do jobs around the house, but mainly to learn to budget. If their chores don't get done, or if they leave messes, or I have to bug them too many times to get stuff done, they have to give me moneyy at the end of the month. They hate giving me money. Rant over.