Project of the Day

Today's project was a deep clean of my sister's bedroom. She said it's not that she needed help really, it's just more pleasant and easier if you have someone there with you while you're doing it. I was moral support more than anything. I put away laundry, helped her organize papers and in attacking the project overall. Then I spent a little time reading a few magazines I came across. Then I swept all the floorboards and vacuumed the floor, including under the furniture, thoroughly. It looks fantastic.

I think all the projects I helped with this week were more about having someone to attack the job with than being a huge help. It's so much more fun working together and getting things done more quickly.

We started tossing around the idea of doing a quarterly family work weekend where each household would get the services of all the family for a Saturday and each household would get the family crew once each year. It would be a great way to tackle a garage cleaning and reorganization, a decent-size yard project, repaint a big room or to complete a collection of small odd jobs. I think it's a great idea.

We have a nice variety of talents in the family. One sister is a structural engineer who can do simple electrical work and advise on anything to do with structure stability. After working on upscale homes for years, she brings a lot of homekeeping talents to the table. Sister Two has done some amazing fix-up work in her awesome house - she owns a chainsaw, fixed her own swamp cooler, and isn't afraid to try a new project.

Dad knows everything about roofs and many other things. Mom is a talented seamstress, gardener and all around creative, who has unbelievable energy for work and I bring a variety of little abilities like painting, making curtains and bedding, refurbishing furniture and cleaning and organization. We always get a lot done when we put our energies together. I'm looking forward to organizing for a project sometime soon.

The bedroom looks fantastic and I'm happy to see another project completed that will be meaningful to someone. It's amazing how much more enjoyable work is when you have someone to conquer it with. Find a project partner to trade time with and help you get through your big projects around the house. It's a great way to accomplish more and build fun relationships.