Keeping the refrigerator clean and smelling good is important to me. At times it gets forgotten for longer periods than I would like, and I find myself asking my family members if they know what something is, and how long it’s been in there. My favorite way to keep the refrigerator smelling fresh and clean is to keep a container of baking soda in the door and add essential oils to the baking soda every few days. My favorite right now is eucalyptus and peppermint. Every time I open the door it reminds me of mint chip ice cream (homemade of course).

When I clean out the refrigerator, the little ones are always willing to help, and quickly get to work taking everything out and putting it on our large farm table. I take a bucket with hot water and a little vinegar with essential oils and scrub the outside and then the inside from top to bottom. Then I wipe it dry. If there’s milk or something spilled, I will use my bar soap on a green scrub pad, and then rinse it with my hot water and rag. At meal time we always make plenty of food so there are often leftovers that get put into the refrigerator, so it gets pretty full. One thing that we have learned about eating real food is that leftovers actually taste great, instead of like plastic when we used to eat processed foods. I’m so thankful for refrigeration, but sometimes have to wonder if we aren’t missing a lot of the benefits that natural preservation methods have to offer. More on this another time.

When Cory and I moved to our new farm about six years ago and started planning and working on the house, our most important goals were ease of cleaning and efficiency in getting all of the day to day work done. We also wanted to invest in good quality materials. I didn’t even consider what the latest styles were, because I knew I would be behind the times soon enough.  I have learned that taking plenty of time to plan is critical, because it’s hard and costly to make changes after it’s done. I also learned that if you are working with a contractor and want to make a small change, make sure to ask how much it will cost. A slight bend in some duct work in order to save a closet cost us an extra $1000. Yikes!

Here are some things we considered when planning our house.

1. We planned our laundry room close to the kitchen (so it’s close to where I spend the most time) and added a door to go outside to hang the clothes on the line. I wanted my washing machine on the main floor because if it’s out of sight, I would have a hard time remembering to get the clothes out of the washer before they got stinky.
2. We only have bathrooms on the main floor. I was the only one that wanted this, but it makes cleaning the bathroom every day really efficient.
3. We put stone around our main entrance outside, so it wouldn’t show dirt and bug poop like siding does.
4. I didn’t want any carpet in the house for allergy reasons as well as ease of cleaning. After pulling up carpet in the past, I realized how unclean it is even with vacuuming and carpet cleaning. I also don’t want people to feel like they have to take their shoes off when they come to visit. My husband was not sure about this, but he’s glad now that we did it that way.
5. We kept the screened in porch to do most of our cooking in the summer so the house doesn’t get heated up. Most people would be surprised how much heat cooking in the kitchen will put off. We know this because we choose not to use air conditioning. This also works well to keep muck boots.
6. Our kitchen, dinning room, living room and school room are all open for easier cleaning (less walls to clean and the floors get done all at once). It’s also nice to have more room to gather when we have people over.
7. I learned recently that it’s important to have the ceilings painted (some ceilings are just dry wall mud) so you can clean them. Semi-gloss paint makes the walls easier to clean.
8. All toys are kept on the main floor so they all get picked up and not forgotten.
9. We put linoleum in the entrance, kitchen, pantry, school room and laundry room. There is higher traffic and more spills. It’s so easy to keep clean and doesn’t show everything. I suffered for several months after we put this in, but I think it was worth it.
10. We kept the real wood floors everywhere we could and saved and reused all the old flooring we pulled up. We didn’t have enough to do our bedroom so we purchased oak. I’m so thankful we used real wood, because it is more durable, and it doesn’t show everything like our laminate floor in the past.
11. We planned so that our younger kids would be on the main floor, and close to our bedroom, and the older kids go upstairs once they can take care of their own needs.
12. We planned to always keep the basement unfinished. I’m not a huge fan of being in the basement, and it allows plenty of space for freezers, root vegetables, wood for the stove, and plant starting areas.
13. I planned a large pantry so I could fit a lot of my bulk items like wheat, oatmeal, beans, organic spices, canning jars, and herbs. I also have my loud Bosch mixer and wheat grinder in the there so I can shut the door and not have to listen to the loud noise of grinding wheat or making butter.

Our family has learned to slow down, make careful observations of what heals/damages, get rid of the distractions, take a little more time preparing our food, and most importantly to seek the Lord’s wisdom. It’s a daily struggle and it never goes perfectly, but we just keep trying to do the best we can. If you are working toward a more traditional, clean, whole foods diet, and would like to take small steps to get there, then you are at the right place. Week one was get your salt right, week 2 was get your sleep right, weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were get your fats right, we had several weeks about seasonings and herbs, some important discussion about natural sweeteners, talked about Forgiveness, hopefully we got our eggs right, learned about the benefits of pastured, clean meats, considered getting mercury removed, we got the toxins out of our mouth, skin, and hair, and this week we will continue to focus on our house. Join us next Tuesday for Get Your . . . Right.