I am a homebody - I love being home, I love curating a cozy home, I love investing time to create a home (and lifestyle) I love.
So now that we may be looking at some upcoming time doing social distancing for a hot minute, I thought - in an effort to keep things in a positive light about the uncertainty we’re facing - I’d create a list of things that I do, I’ve done, or I’m planning to do at home. AKA if you’d like to know what you can do around the house, Haley Wynn style.
It’s safe to assume I’ll be in these joggers and these slippers for a hot minute.
And know that I’ve ordered a bag of Hershey’s kisses the size of a toddler from Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Since we’re home a little more than usual, it’s the perfect time to create a morning and evening routine. Tweak it until it works perfectly and realistically for you!
Here’s a complete list of my morning and evening routines, if you want inspiration.
Up that water intake! I fill three 32-ounce tumblers every morning with ice water, with the intent to finish all by bedtime. See if this routine works for you!
Make a daily smoothie. See my “smoothie” highlight on my Instagram for everything I know + how I make smoothie packs ahead of time.
Fill diffusers each morning with a yummy, uplifting scent. (Or an immunity-boosting one. Whatever your heart desires!). I can’t say I’m here for all the benefits of oils, but I love going with orange simply because the smell makes me so happy.
Make your bed. Pick up your home. Make your space neat and cozy.
I linked my favorite bedding - and showed how I make my layered, comfy, colorful bed - in this post of all my Favorite Things and in my “master bedroom” highlight on my Instagram.
Pick a designated day(s) for laundry. Same goes for meal planning and groceries. This removes so much stress and drama you didn’t even know was there.
Try a daily walk. Our daily walk is my favorite - it tires the dogs out, it ends our day on such a positive note, and it’s when our best conversations happen. I used to also do morning one on my own - it was easily the most effective way to clear my head, gain perspective, and brainstorm new ideas.
What are things you’d like to do (or it would be helpful to do) weekly, monthly, and or yearly? Write them out and let’s make them into routines! Now could be a good time to start.
This post here talks about how I create routines (and simple tools like Google Keep that help me stay consistent).
This post lists out allllll our routines if you’re wanting ideas.
Check out my “routines” highlight (there are two), as well as my “monthly routines” highlight and my highlights for each day of the week (for weekly routines + dinner themes) on my Instagram, if you’re more of a visual person!
Let’s make three lists (I love Google Keep, but you do you, boo!)
“Weekly To Do Template”
“Monthly To Do Template”
“Yearly Tasks and Expenses”
these explained in fullllll detail in this post - or on my “google keep” highlight on my Instagram
Make a Pinterest board just for inspiration, if you haven’t done so already. Here’s mine - I have sections for books that look good, green cleaning ideas, holiday ideas, things that remind me of Brett, outfit ideas, travel ideas, etc.
What are some annual traditions you’d like to start and implement? Write them all down! I keep a “Yearly Tasks and Expenses” list on my Google keep where I include the traditions I’d like to remember (and budget for).
see my full list of annual traditions here if you want ideas
I also love searching “traditions” on Pinterest for inspiration
read my blogpost here if you’d like to know more about my “Yearly Tasks and Expenses” list, or how I use Google Keep in general to stay organized
also check out my “google keep” and “traditions” highlight on my Instagram if you’re more of a visual person
If you’re pregnant like me, I’m working through my baby prep list - 99% of the list can be done at home! (Also linked in there are things I did wayyy before getting pregnant that were SO helpful. So that section may be of interest to you!)
also linked there alllllll the little house projects I did during the second trimester. everything was ordered online, so that could be a good thing to read - regardless of whether you’re pregnant - if you’re looking for some small house project inspiration
edited to add: here’s my postpartum favorites - all the things that helped us absolutely LOVE the newborn stage - blog post!
Read my two favorite money books (linked below) - I try to reread them every year to keep me on track and because they always teach me something new I didn’t catch before.
This book is perfect for getting started. It explains everything that we do! But I also reread it annually for motivation as we move through the chronological steps.
And this book is perfect for getting in the right mindset and thinking about big picture.
I love that neither book is daunting - they both are set up to encourage you wherever you are today.
Create a budget. We use and love Every Dollar Plus, but use whatever works best for you!
the gist of how we create our budget is this: 1) what are the things we have to pay every month? and 2) with what is leftover, what are our priorities?
where do we want to prioritize our money, and where do we want to cut back? what are things we’d like to do once a year, and how much should we put away each month to do these things? what are things that are worth our time and money to outsource?
read more about our priorities here. your budget, your home, and your schedule should reflect your priorities. hoping to do a more in-depth budget post soon since so many of y’all were curious about our budget categories.
see my “budget” highlight on my instagram for more on ours + a peek into our different categories.
We also have a Google Keep with a running list of, “If Brett got a raise tomorrow, what would we add to our budget? If we were given an unexpected sum of money (even if it’s $40), how would we use it? What are things we’d like to save for?” Once we started this, it was much easier to use our money towards our goals/dreams, instead of blowing it on a Target run, or whatever.
Peruse Pinterest. Pin any and all food inspiration. Follow my food boards if you want a place to start!
Learn more about meal planning. Here’s my Meal Planning 101 post to get you started! I also love diving into the depths of The Kitchn for inspiration.
Pick nightly dinner themes. I talk more about this here.
by having designated nights for Snack Dinner Saturday, Leftover Night, Grill and Chill, etc, our food stretches muuuuuuch farther. plus it makes it a BREEZE to menu plan. and that consistent sense of structure and routine is what we all need right now.
edited to add: how dinner happens these days, now that baby KK is here:
I wear KK in this carrier or I set her in our bouncer while I prep dinner (or, or! I do what I can during her naptimes), we set KK in the tripp trap high chair with the newborn insert while we eat, and we answer questions from this book (like we used to do when we were dating). And grocery delivery. Weekly grocery delivery.
See my Instagram stories for peeks at my daily life + this week's dinners.
I vote you start a Snack Dinner Saturday. Or Pizza Thursday. Or F it Friday (leftovers). Or whatever day. 2020 is the time to try new at-home traditions, and it’s the time to not reinvent the wheel every single week for dinner.
Peek at my weekly menu plan. I’ve been posting every week since 2015, so you can definitely kill some time there. Make your own menu plan!
clean out your fridge, pantry, and fridge. wipe them down.
what are some recipes or simple meals you could make with what you have on hand? we want to be super intentional and stretch that food budget. let’s write out a basic menu plan for the next few days if you haven’t done so already. don’t you feel better already?
I may or may not have made a weekly menu plan for the next few weeks based on what I already have on hand + recipes I’ve always wanted to try + things I want to freeze for postpartum. Menu planning let’s me feel a littttttle bit in control during this weird time, so it was so soothing for me. (Plus, it helped me by knowing what to add to my order for the next available grocery delivery time slow TWELVE days from now. (I will never again take for granted the quick turnaround time of normal grocery delivery.)
Lots of bloggers are making posts of recipe ideas with freezer/pantry staples, so these are super inspiring for me to read right now.
speaking of bloggers, now’s a good time to subscribe to newsletters of any of your favorite bloggers. easiest way to get new recipe inspiration! I love The Kitchn, Weelicious, Two Peas and their Pod, Baker Mama, Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, Thriving Home, to name a few.
similarly, follow them on Instagram. fill your feed with FOOD.
Research the benefits of chia seeds, flaxseeds, and hemp seeds.
If you’ve been around for longer than a hot second, you know I love adding these where I can to my smoothies, yogurt parfaits, and cooking.
I also love collagen and fiber powder.
Make homemade popcorn.
We keep kernels in our pantry, we use this special bowl in the microwave, and we love to add melted butter and white cheddar powder to the popped kernels. SO GOOD.
I’ll be reading through all the AllRecipes (and Parents) magazine issues I haven’t gotten through lately.
edited to add: thinking of subscribing to Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country. Because newborn + pandemic means I’m bored at home. So let’s learn some new cooking things.
One of our traditions is to renew our Cheese of the Month subscription to celebrate our wedding all year round.
It’s also our favorite way to support an amazing small business, which is especially good to do at this time when businesses are seeing less foot traffic and more cancelled events - is there a small business you love that you can support?
see our list of annual traditions and click here for our list of all yearly routines we do in certain months of the year
we also love our tea subscription - more on that in the next section!
Planning to place a huge online order of my favorite olive oil to support my favorite local Olive Ranch. Their oils are the best, and since they had to temporarily close their event facility (aka a large portion of their revenue) due to Covid regulations, I want to support them in anyway that I can. Plus, we’re cooking at home a lot in the coming weeks - olive oil is needed!
to support my other favorite small businesses, I ordered a big batch of my favorite cookies and my favorite tamales
what can you do to support your favorite small businesses?
note: these tamales are the ones that we order to be shipped to our door (they ship nationwide!) as a tradition for every Halloween! read all about this tradition here
Grab your foot cream and rehome it to in or near your sock drawer. Since doing this small location change, my thoughts of, “Oh hey, I should put on some thickkkk moisturizing cream and some socks!” have increased tenfold.
This is my all-time favorite dry-skin cream that I slather on my heels…or anywhere else. And this $11 amazon find for the rest of my body.
Do a Yoga With Adriene video. She’s my absolute favorite. (I linked my favorite basic at-home yoga props in my pregnancy/postpartum board of my Amazon store.)
Here are my home gym + yoga favorites.
Edited to add: my friend introduced me to the Down Dog yoga app. And now I’m smitten with that.
Try the Peloton App for the strength videos. Or Youtube a strength video. (Here are the weights I use.)
Peloton published a list of their best ten minute classes through their app here.
We also have a spin bike to use with the Peloton App, but I haven’t been on it since getting pregnant. That may change, depending on how the next few weeks play out, but more likely I’ll be reading on my recumbent bike, if need be.
Here is the running list of alllll my favorite books.
Here are my home gym favorites.
If you’re curious about our non-Peloton bike set-up with the Peloton app, I explain it in detail in my Routines post!
Take the “Find my [Skincare] Routine” quiz - this is my absolute favorite skincare line. #notsponsored #butIwish
right now I’m so loving their cleansing oil and thickkkk moisturizer
this is also the perfect time for me to finally be consistent about trying my new routine of Mask Monday
wanting to create your own new routine? read this post for what I’ve learned!
Dive into that book you’ve been meaning to read. (This also applies to audiobooks and podcasts.) Download the Libby app through your local library. Order used books from Amazon. Keep an eye out for Kindle book deals on Amazon. Support your local bookstore in whatever capacity right now.
Here’s my running list of favorite books. I also like to look through this longggg list for new titles to read.
Learn something new. While most our our learning will be baby/breastfeeding/childbirth related (OH BOY), I’m also hoping to take some online cooking classes. And figure out how to train these dang dogs to ring the bells by our back door.
I linked in my baby prep post the books I’m hoping to read and the online courses I’m hoping to watch in the coming weeks, for all you pregos.
for example, can’t wait to watch this childbirth course (love her instagram!!) - hoping it eases a lot of my fears!
Brett’s reading this book and I’m reading this one (but will probably watch the video instead!)
and I can’t wait to watch this course!!
Signing up for Joy The Baker’s classes. I LOVE HER SO MUCH SO THIS THRILLS ME.
My favorite cheese shop is doing - for the time being until things change - virtual cheese classes. Brett and I would go all the time when we were living nearby, so this is something I’m definitely hoping to do.
Some kids cooking subscriptions I love are offering free “cook with me” classes on Facebook. In particular, I’d love to join in on some of Radish Kids videos! America’s Test Kitchen Kids (have you noticed I love kid lessons? The recipes are so yummy!) have some cool ideas, too.
Edited to add: we don’t have cable, so I downloaded the Food Network App (free for 30 days, then $4.99 a month at the time I wrote this) with the hopes of rewatching alllll Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman. Might as well learn a few things! And hi, they’re both so soothing + comforting. Oldddd Pioneer Woman recipes are how I learned to cook!
also decided I wanted to learn how to make a cheese plate. to prioritize this (and to create some at home fun), we created Snack Dinner Saturday.
my favorite place to learn cheese plates is this instagram account or her book
see my snack dinner highlight on my Instagram page for more
peek at my "snack dinner" pinterest board where I find inspiration
aaaand this article in favor of snack dinner (+ ideas)
Puzzle. Let’s bring that back.
We got this puzzle board as apart of our Christmas Eve Box tradition.
Whenever we go somewhere new, we grab an ornament, a travel book, and - when possible - a puzzle. Read about all our traditions here.
Enjoy hot tea.
We love this tea subscription. We also order from this and this tea shop.
Brett loves to drink tea straight, I love teas that I can add some cream or half and half to. Maybe a sugar cube.
We also love our electric kettle and this tea infuser.
We keep our alllll our tea in one of our beloved door racks over the pantry door. Because the tea is in our face and quick to access, it makes our tea habit that much easier.
If I had to pick, my three favorite teas are this, this, and this. SO GOOD.
Get some epsom salts for your bath. (Research the benefits of epsom salt if you’re unfamiliar.) I keep our epsom salt in a jar with a measuring cup next to the tub.
Stream Sex and the City. If you have an Amazon Prime membership, it’s included for you. (Happy early birthday.) A dose of Samantha Jones will brighten any day. (Edited to add: SATC no longer included in Prime Membership. Cue the tears.)
If morale gets really low, I purchased Season 7 of Friends, both Sex and the City movies, and Bohemian Rhapsody (my favorite movie). This combo will get me through anything.
Linked all my favorite cozy clothes (perfect for TV watching and home lounging) about halfway through my pregnancy post - only a small percentage of the clothes are pregnancy-specific! Go nuts.
Plenty of water, daily smoothies, daily walks (when possible), and vitamins.
I love this prenatal and plenty of magnesium.
Google the benefits of magnesium if you are unfamiliar.
See my “routines” board in my Amazon store, and my “routines” highlights on my Instagram, for more inspiration.
Want more inspiration on habits and routines? I love two books.
It’s lengthy, but this book for wellness habits is good because it gives you a whole slew of ideas and you can pick and choose what you’d benefit from in this season of life.
And this book is amazing - it talks about little changes you can make now to improve your fertility health and to increase your chances of having a happy, healthy pregnancy now, or in years to come. (I read it two-ish years before getting pregnant, for reference.)
Lots and lots of rest.
See here for my evening routine. And click here for the pillows I swear by. (I’m sure your pillows are fine. But if you’re ever able to invest in good, quality pillows, I highly, highly recommend.)
I love my white noise machine. There are plenty of free apps out there too that people love!
Click my “master bedroom” highlight in my Instagram profile for all things bed related.
Those things that never get washed? Wash them now. Bedskirts, shower curtains, duvets, bedding, dog bed covers, pillow covers, blankets, towels, you name it.
I wash blankets and swim towels once a month, I wash towels, rags, and sheets on Fridays, I wash clothes on Mondays and Thursdays, and I wash everything else every March.
These routines (and everything else) listed out by frequency here. A good read for if you’re wanting to try a new routine or two!
Let’s de-funk those towels, too. Perfect time to refresh those grungy towels!
Whenever we don’t have housecleaners (like now), I rely heavily on this account for the least overwhelming housekeeping schedule ever. And because her lists soothe my SOUL. So I’ll be working through this weekly schedule (and whatever her monthly lists say, too!) for the time being while we shelter in place AND prepare for baby girl to arrive.
Let’s research non-toxic, greener laundry alternatives, if that’s something you’ve been meaning to do, but haven’t found the time.
Like, I love love love my dryer balls. I’m completely smitten with keeping baking soda in my laundry room now for smelly clothes,
Let’s start storing a stain remover spray near your laundry basket so that we can spray stained clothes before throwing them in the hamper. (I hook our spray directly onto the basket.)
Take your upholstery cleaner and clean all couches. Also any lingering pet vomit stains you find on the carpet. Hypothetically speaking.
Here’s our favorite upholstery cleaner, upholstery shampoo (and whitener for our white couch). We use ours once a month as a monthly routine.
Read this post to see our full list of everything we do once a month (mainly because we’d otherwise forget it, so onto the monthly list it goes!).
Clean your washing machine. Clean your dishwasher filter and clean your dishwasher. (Google if you’re unfamiliar.) We do these things monthly.
Order a set or two of rags. Lower (or eliminate!) that dependence on paper towels.
I talk here how I keep my rags white and clean under my weekly routines.
Let’s do some spring cleaning, while we’re at it.
I know particularly I’ll be wiping down the fridge, wiping down all cabinets, dusting ceiling fans, wiping down the pantry, washing windows, vacuuming under couches, and cleaning the oven.
Basically a lot of my third trimester nesting I list out in my baby prep post.
Purge your closet. Organize remaining clothes by type and color, if you’re into that (I am.)
One of our best wedding gifts was enough velvet hangers for our whole closet. I kid you not, I am obsessed.
Create a Google Calendar for you (and a shared calendar for you and your partner).
More on how Google Calendar keeps me sane here.
Create a Google Sheets - I use this to organize my taxes, to remind me of login info, etc.
More on how Google Sheets keep me sane here.
Clean out your purse and wallet. Anything need to be replenished or updated?
Right now I’m using this $27 organizing insert in a tote and I’m SMITTEN.
Create a spot in your home designated as the “drop-zone” for all keys, wallets, and purses.
Have cheapie robe hooks? Hang jewelry (like here is mine!), hang bibs, hang robes (here are ours!), hang dog walking supplies.
Have 3m hooks? Hang your caps on the back of a door, hang your kitchenaid attachments on the inside of a cabinet door.
Organize under your sinks. Wipe them down.
Is there anything we can set up a subscription with Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program? (Like, our dishwasher pods and dishwasher cleaner are automatically ordered through this.)
I love these huge lazy susans for under our sinks.
Create four seasonal boxes - winter, spring, summer, fall. (Here’s my Instagram post on this if you’d like to see!)
We store ours in our garage and keep seasonal specific stuff in each. (Christmas decor is separate and kept in the attic.) For example, our Winter box has a space heater, cloths for Brett to cover his plants, something for our Valentine’s Day tradition, etc.
Let’s purge, declutter, and sweep the garage, too.
Corral all reusable bags and coolers. Where can these be kept?
We have hooks in our garage for these.
See my “garage” highlight on my Instagram for a better visual.
Unsubscribe from unwanted emails. Clean up your inbox. Purge your phone and computer files.
Clean our your car. I just went through my console and updated it with a few things - I feel like a new woman.
Create binders for each of your cars, fill it with page protectors, then file away alllllll car documents and receipts.
Want to see a visual of this? See this post or click the “filing system” highlight on my Instagram.
Do the same for your pets. We have a “dogs” binder with all important papers.
I also have a binder for each year’s receipts for tax purposes.
While we’re on the subject, I have four of these filing boxes ($19 for a pack of four!): taxes, family, manuals, and home. Could be a good time to create your own paper organization system. Here is ours!
taxes: aforementioned tax binders
manuals: any and all manuals we want to keep
family: car binders, dog binder, health/finances/etc (here’s a peek at this box!)
home: anything home related: closing documents, HOA stuff, property taxes, etc (swipe this post to see this box!)
note: anything that we wouldn’t want to get into the wrong hands is NOT in these boxes.
This is a good time to evaluate your medicine + first aid kit.
What’s missing? What is expired? What do you need for babies/fur babies?
Again, I search Pinterest where people have in-depth posts about good things to have on hand.
I placed a large Amazon order to replenish our adult meds + dog stuff + first aid as part of my baby prep.
Read my list of all I’m doing to prep for baby here.
I organize my medicine/first aid with lazy susans.
Want to see the linen closet I converted into a place to store medicine, first aid, gift wrap, paper towels, and allllll our paper documents + filing folders? Check out my “closets” and “filing system” highlights on my Instagram.
also talked in my baby prep post what we ordered for baby first aid and medicine
I love love love these door racks. We have one on our pantry (for our tea stash) and one on our linen closet (for our gift wrap).
More of a visual person? Check out my “closets” and “pantry” highlights to see these door racks on Instagram.
Organize your photos - interpret that however. We have a drawer in our hallway dresser designated as the “dump photos in here” drawer. But this could totally mean some digital organization, too.
edited to add 8/9/20: as I stare at the thousands and thousands of photos on my phone of my baby, it got me thinking about how we want to preserve + display our memories. here’s what we’re trying (but see the “traditions” highlight on my instagram if you’d rather see a visual):
transfer photos out of our phone onto Google Photos - you do what works for you. we’re just already heavily invested in google products, so this was a natural choice for us.
make a routine of purging phone photos to keep our favorites - the favorites will get displayed on our Google Nest Hub thingy.
four times a year, I’ll create a Chatbooks of our favorite photos from the past season. for example, in September, I’ll make a Chatbooks from our favorite Summer (June/July/August) memories. we figured this was a routine that could easily continue as our family grows, and this way we could have a way to capture both big moments (new siblings, pregnancies, milestones, trips) and day to day small moments. this way our phones will be cleared up, and our precious memories will be out for us (and guests!) to enjoy in the years to come.
see this Instagram post for a visual and a peek into my Summer 2020 book, aka the summer we brought KK home
having the chatbooks app on my phone makes this suuuuper easy. (I also have the Google Photos app on my phone, too.)
Similarly, let’s display those photos. Could always create that gallery wall you’ve always wanted to do now, too. Or, update your frames with recent or treasured photos. I went a step further and did an ikea storage hack + gallery wall. And I started doing quarterly photo books, hung up some bulletin boards (more on this under #61), and created a spot in our breakfast room to display photos.
Similarly, I decided I wanted to start prioritizing yearly photos, so this is a great time to research photographers, add it to the budget, and Pinterest clothing color ideas. Anything you’ve always wanted to prioritize? Let’s look into it now!
Let’s bring back the bulletin board.
We have two big ones in our laundry room. See a photo here. We pin photos, travel momentos, and fun memories. It’s a fun, relaxing project - and we all need that now.
And jars. All the jars.
We have jars for epsom salt in the master bathroom, jars for our dry goods in the pantry, jars for coffee beans and coffee filters on the kitchen counter, jars for travel momentos in our foyer (labeled with the year to remember).
Shop some of my favorite jars in my Amazon store. Or peek through my Instagram highlights to see home photos.
Anywhere in your house would benefit from a new or longer phone charging cord?
We added ten-foot cords near all comfy seating as part of our baby prep.
I love these cord wranglers, while we’re on the subject.
In March we replace all smoke detector batteries and air/water/fridge filters. So I ordered these on amazon to do this.
again, peek at this post if you’re curious about what we do each month of the year to remember allllll the boring, non-glamorous adult things (and personal things. and dog things. and business things. and health things.)
If we get really antsy, I plan to knock out a few random house projects that I said we’d maybeeee do if we had time during the third trimester of this pregnancy:
get rocking chairs for the porch
we know people that would sit outside in the rocking chairs with their baby to get some fresh air and I’m like BRILLIANT
but if we do that, we’d need this gate to keep the dogs contained + a privacy screen from our nextdoor neighbor
three of these ikea units for our hallway (aka a lovely, concealed place for kid things to go at the end of the day - I’m mainly hoping to avoid baskets of kid toys in the main living spaces for as long as possible)
paint a bookshelf for baby girl to keep seasonal books of hers in our living area
turn our little hallway to our bedroom into a reading nook with sentimental books and floating picture ledges
see a better explanation of why the books are special to me (like the cookbook we used for our wedding guestbook! and our travel books!) + and a photo of the finished project here!
hang a big ol chalkboard
hang my turquoise jewelry, my robes
Work through this decluttering challenge - she’s one of my favorite accounts to follow on Instagram. Her, Lazy Genius, and Naptime Kitchen.
Speaking of Naptime Kitchen, her New Year Refresh posts would be awesome to work through now, too!
Come say hi on Instagram. Hoping to use it as a way to connect and stay positive over the coming weeks.
If this was helpful, comforting, or inspiring, would you mind sharing this post or any of my Instagram posts with your friends? I also love love love being tagged in y’alls posts - it all helps me SO much!
Photo Credit: Hannah Black Photography
