Hosting Overnight Guests
November 6, 2009 by Kathy Zengolewicz
Filed under Bedroom, General Housekeeping and Homemaking, family
It’s that time of year when some of us have family and close friends visit for the holidays. Most of my family lives within an hours drive, but we do have a few relatives who live out of state and spend the night when they do visit.
Don’t be stressed out at the thought of hosting family or friends overnight. I have a few tips to help you make your guests feel right at home.
Make sure to air out your guestroom a few days before. When I say air out I mean just that. Open the windows slightly to let the …read more
Dealing with Household Odors
November 5, 2009 by Kathy Zengolewicz
Filed under Cleaning, General Housekeeping and Homemaking, Home Making
When someone visits your home the first thing they will notice is how it smells. Like I said before I am a sniffer. I sniff everything from a glass, before I drink from it, to the family room to make sure there are no unflattering, lingering scents. There are times when my house picks up the scents of my cooking and I don’t readily notice. So I make it a point to deodorize after cleaning.
There are plenty of commercial product on the market to extinguish offensive smells, but I would rather use ordinary everyday solutions.
If you have an offensive smell …read more
Time Saving Tips
November 4, 2009 by Kathy Zengolewicz
Filed under Cleaning, General Housekeeping and Homemaking, family
There never seems to be enough time in a day for me and I’m sure it is the same for you. I came to the conclusion recently that I needed to set up a time schedule for myself and it really helps. We all need to make the most of our available time in a way that is constructive.
Here are a few tips to help you spend your time wisely.
Create a schedule and stick to it. It will be hard to do at first, but will become easier; make it a habit.
Prioritize chores and activities daily. Do the …read more
Organize Your Work Space
November 2, 2009 by Kathy Zengolewicz
Filed under General Housekeeping and Homemaking, Organizing and Clutter Control, simple living
Keeping your work space organized will help you to keep your work flowing. It doesn’t have to be a work space, it can be the place you go to do sewing, crafting or any hobby. If you have a blank wall in your laundry room you can use a pegboard. It will keep all of your supplies intact.
Place a small table under the pegboard to hold a couple of baskets. I save any gift bags or bows that I receive, that look nice, and re-use them for gifts that I give to others. You can use the baskets to …read more
Kitchen Sink Sparkle
November 1, 2009 by Kathy Zengolewicz
Filed under Cleaning, General Housekeeping and Homemaking, simple living
If there is one thing that really bothers me its a smell, dingy looking sink. I can always tell when my garbage disposal needs to be cleaned, the nasty smell kits me right between the eyes. I am what is known as a sniffer. I sniff everything and can detect even the slightest odors. If it doesn’t smell clean then, in my opinion, it is not clean. I have tried a lot of things to clean and deodorize my garbage disposal, but I wasn’t satisfied. I could always detect a slight odor even after cleaning.
I just found what …read more
October Highlights at Keeping the Castle
October 31, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under Castle News and Chit Chat, General Housekeeping and Homemaking
It’s the end of another month and so once again I have put together a list of this month’s articles for easy access. I tried putting them into categories, but some of the categories overlapped a little. I hope this helps to find what you need or missed this month.
Food, Cooking, and Holidays:
Cooking with a Little This and That
10 Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Your Last Minute Stop for Halloween Ideas
17 Halloween Cupcake Ideas
20 Pumpkin Inspired Recipes
Tips for Hosting Thanksgiving Dinner
30 Fall Inspired Desserts and Treats
Organization and Declutering:
Do You Have an All or Nothing Attitude
Tips to Get Your Organization …read more
Tips to Get Your Organization Started
October 29, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under General Housekeeping and Homemaking, Organizing and Clutter Control
Some people have an all or nothing attitude. They feel that if their house can’t be perfectly clean and organized, then there’s no sense in trying. Rather than taking the clutter one pile at a time, they let it pile up and overwhelm them. As promised, here are some tips for tackling the clutter.
1. Commit to 15 minutes. Set the timer for 15 minutes and commit to work for that amount of time. Give yourself permission to stop working when the timer buzzes. This will help get you started and the time you’re working doesn’t seem so overwhelming. This way …read more
Tips for Completing Dreaded Chores
October 20, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under Cleaning, General Housekeeping and Homemaking
There is a pile of ironing sitting in my laundry room. It’s getting bigger and it feels like a huge weight each time I see it seeing there. The problem is, I absolutely cannot stand to iron. I think I would rather clean all of the bathrooms than iron.
Each of us has a certain chore that we just don’t like to do. This has me thinking of some tips to help us accomplish these dreaded chores. Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll get to put these tips to use.
1) Reward yourself. Tell yourself that after your chore is completed, you’ll do something nice …read more
How to Keep Your Carpet Smelling Fresh
October 17, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under Cleaning, General Housekeeping and Homemaking
If you have carpet in your home, it will take a little work to keep it clean. Here are some tips for keeping your carpet smelling fresh.
1) Take off your shoes when you come into the house. Your shoes have dirt, leaves, and germs from other places you have been.
2) Have your carpets cleaned a few times each year. You can do this yourself if you have a steam cleaner or you can rent a machine for about $30-40 per day. If you’re able to, you can hire a professional to clean the carpets.
3) Keep a rug over high traffic …read more
September Highlights at Keeping the Castle
September 30, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under Castle News and Chit Chat, General Housekeeping and Homemaking
Each month, I try to make a list of articles from the month. I don’t include articles with tips that have expired, such as giveaways. My hope is that this will provide you with an easy list/table of contents to the articles from the month and it will help you to see if there’s anything you missed that you would like to read.
Switching Over to Cloth Napkins
Finding a Closet Organization System
10 Ways to Decorate with Gourds & Pumpkins
30 Creative Cake and Cupcake Ideas
5 Tips for Organizing Your Kitchen
My Ongoing Yard Sale Pile
Recipes from Quaker Maid
Crock Pot Shredded Mexican Beef Recipe
Fantastic …read more





