I'm going to go buy that slipcovering e-book now. Somebody hold me.

Where did all this sudden momentum come from?  Well, around Christmas time my friend Lisa, told me about a blog she'd been reading, and the concept of reasonably clean.   I started reading.  First about laundry, and then about cleaning, and then about everything else.    I got taken away and gobbled up the words of Leila on Like Mother, Like Daughter.  It seemed common sense really, but, honestly, I've just been living in a snowball of house disaster.  It came slowly, a bit at a time, like a frog being boiled or something like that,  so I didn't even see it happening until one day I looked around and didn't know how to get out of it.

I've talked a little about the perfectionism problem, which I CLEARLY don't have...since nothing here is even remotely close to perfect :)  right?    hmmmmm.....

I've started and given up on so many "get your house in order" challenges that I can't even remember them anymore.    There seems little point in putting a timeline on any of this anymore, because it turns out, timelines just make me feel like a big gigantic FAILURE.   I do much better with a list of tasks, with no specific dates or times attached.  I will work through the list and cross things off as time allows, and feel accomplished.   Life at home with 3 little children, does not make timelines and schedules for anything other than the essential very practical.   People get sick, sleep is lost, days or weeks go by with nary a thought of what that plan was.  I need to be able to pick up where I left off, and not feel bad about it.

So, yeah, I'm slowly cleaning and tidying.  

So here I go.   I'm going to buy that e-book on making slipcovers.    We have a good sofa.  It's a hand me down, but it's a good sofa.  It's a Sklar Peplar or something like that.  It's in great shape,...but...it's flowered.  It's actually really pretty, but all those flowers just make for a busy, busy, look inside my busy, busy house.

Here is the link to the e-book from Pink and Polka:  http://pinkandpolkadot.net/ebooks

I tried to use the Nester's affiliate link, but it didn't work.  Sorry, Nester, I do love ya. 

So, here's my before:

This is the couch, as is.   It's nice and curvy, too!  I'm sure that will make it much easier to slipcover!

...and here is a preview of my hopeful after:

Aren't my iPad pictures FABULOUS!   errrrrrr..... that's what I have time for.  See the kids, yep.  They're fabulous, but they also make it tough to grab my camera, then transfer photos, and then send photos to my iPad, and well....we're just going with old iPad photos.  

So yeah, that's my couch with a couple of white Ikea sheets thrown over it.  I did that for a preview a few weeks ago, and liked it so much that they've been there ever since.    

I think it's time to finally buy the ebook.   I hope I can actually manage to sew a nice slipcover.    Yes, white.  Yes, children.   Yes,  it's OK.   It's a white slipcover, not a white couch.  :D