Drowning In My House

A few weeks ago I mentioned that we were moving, and here we are settling in. The new house is amazing and I am totally in love with it, truly our dream home. There is a small issue though: I'm not used to this space. We went from living in a 800 square foot 1 bedroom plus den condo, to a 2400 square foot 4 bedroom house. Yes, it is truly awesome and I feel like we can all breathe... but I feel lost sometimes. I quickly realized that I don't know how to maintain a house this large. Keeping it tidy and clean is a full time job! It doesn't help that I am pretty obsessive about my space being clean and tidy. Do you know how painful that was with a 1.5 year old and a shedding pug in that condo? It was horrendous and I was miserable.

Well now I have a whole new challenge: How do I keep on top of this massive house without spending all of my free time cleaning? I have never had to do this with such a large space. Please don't roll your eyes at me, it's driving me nuts. Do I make a cleaning 'schedule', divvying up all the larger weekly chores, and listing the daily things? I like lists, I need lists. Real, handwritten lists, not some iPhone app. Seeing what I have to do written out makes me feel more in control and organized.
I realize there are a lot of things that will be done on a daily basis, like keeping my floors Oscar hair free and my kitchen clean, but when it comes to larger things I really have no idea how often things should be done. I feel like a bit of a Stay At Home Mom failure. Shouldn't I know these kind of things?

I have not always been like this, I can be a total slob when I want to be and there are some chores that I despise (hello folding and putting away laundry), but as I have settled into being a mom and wife I find that I crave cleanliness and organization even more. The sight of cluttered kitchen counters and dining room tables make me cringe, and piles of dog hair give me the shakes. My newest favourite items in my house: My Dyson vacuum and my Shark steam mop. I spent the entire first night in the new house on my hands and knees scrubbing baseboards, "Don't people clean these anymore?!". It's odd, I fully understand this, but I have to find a balance. Spending Marley's entire nap time cleaning and scrubbing is not fun and takes away my "me" time. I need a schedule, or a list, SOMETHING to make me feel more organized.

And now, a picture overload of my new place. There is still some organizing and decorating to be done, and the whole place is being painted within the next week, but you get the idea. There is a whole finished basement, but its currently ripped apart because a home theatre is being installed (can we say "Man Cave"?) and I am holding out on Marley's new room because that is for another post :D

Front entrance:

 View from the front door, living room

The dining room from the front door

One set of stairs. Up to bedroom, and part of the basement and powder room

Living room

My favorite room in the house, my kitchen :)

Eat-in kitchen

Living room from the back patio doors

Kitchen from the patio doors

Part of the back yeard and deck

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Upstairs laundry room (I LOVE my washer/dryer)

Marley's bathroom