I like to set myself tasks, sometimes they are tiny things and sometimes very large tasks. The Summer Holidays are great as there is no rushing around on the school runs. This usually means I can get more done, as I am around the home a bit more than term time. With that in mind, I have a mini bucket list of things to do in the Summer Holidays around our family home. Some of these tasks would be a fun thing to do with the kiddies too.
My top family home improvements to do in the Summer Holidays
Bathroom
The bathroom often gets neglected in my house, it is the place we use every day and frequently too with little ones around. It can quickly become tired looking and dirty. I am going to focus on doing a deep clean once a week, starting with the bathroom. Dust behind the doors, sparkle up the towel rails and make sure behind the toilet is spotless too. I am also going to replace the vanity unit and toilet seat, as something so small can make a big difference to a room. The Big Bathroom Shop has a lot of choice, so I will start my search there for new white furniture that will look clean.
Living room
This is the place that I wish was toy free, but with our play room still out of bounds there are a lot that creep in. Car parks, LEGO and dolls for example. I really want to get a big toy chest that will house all of these toys, so that at night I can use it as my retreat. Like it should be. I also need to tidy up the cables under the TV as that has always bugged me, it looks untidy! I am going to see if I can get it covered and then paint it to match the wall, so it hides it. I am going to do a deep clean, vacuum under the sofa and around the walls. The kiddies will be able to help me with this as I could get one scrubbing the edges of the room with a wet toothbrush (it pulls up all the pet fur), whilst the other one vacuums under the sofa and I will of course hold the sofa edge up. Wonder woman!
Kitchen
I made a start on this earlier in the week, scrubbing all of the areas and I used a lemon on the stainless steel sink – it made it nice and shiny. This room needs painting. I am going to get a big tub of white paint, cover the tiles up with sheets and get the kiddies painting the walls with me. The walls are looking orangey as they have not been decorated in over 7 years! Shocking I know. I think the children will find this fun, we can take the day together and have fun with it. I bet the kitchen looks really different and clean once we have finished. The oven needs fixing, this is Daddy’s job, but nevertheless something else to do.
Garden
We have a circular patch of grass that has turned into moss, where the trampoline has been living. We have moved the trampoline to a new location and the grass needs to be revived. So I will be raking up the moss, planting grass seed and hoping all this rain makes it nice and green again by Autumn. I am going to take the children to the garden centre to choose some flowers too and get them to plant the flowers they have chosen. A small tray of colour can add such a difference to the garden. This will mean I can do the grass whilst they are planting their flowers too. Method in the madness. Isla loves collecting the fruit that is growing on the trees, and the fruit that has fallen too. So this will definitely be a task they can help with and then make a nice pie.
Children’s toys!
This is the final item on my list, because it will probably take me the longest. I need to sort through the toys. Throw away the toys that are broken or have pieces missing (that is so annoying). Give toys that are no longer played with to charity, so that some other children can benefit from them. I also need to have a big tidy up of toys, so that pieces can be relocated with their boxes. There is stuff everywhere. I am hoping the kids would help me with this: a pile of stuff to give to other children and a pile of stuff they really want to keep. Then we can take it to the charity shop and they can give it away. So they feel a sense of achievement and feel helpful. They are very good at understanding other children are not as lucky as them.
So, this is my wish list of things to achieve this Summer. I will let you know how I get on. Do you have any home improvements to do over the Summer Holidays, are you involving the kiddies?
