“Kim-mando” Decorating

What in the world is “Kim-mando” Decorating?

What is “Kim-mando” Decorating?  When is it used?

According to Webster’s Dictionary, a commando is a member of an elite team trained to raid enemy territory.

“Kim-mando” Decorating is a verb referring to tactics used to rapidly clean, straighten and decorate one’s home.  While I don’t consider my home to be enemy territory, sometimes extreme measures need to be taken in order to tackle the chaos!  These tactics are normally employed when company is coming and I have run out of thyme to get everything done.  When we lived at the farmhouse, I often employed these tactics at the holidays.  The dining room table often looked like this just hours before the family was to arrive for Christmas lunch.

Using a variety of totes and other hiding techniques, the table would soon look like this:

Of course, when we lived in the farmhouse, it usually wasn’t just the dining room table that needed attention before the quests arrived.  I just don’t have before and after pictures of the other areas!

After we moved to Florida, I told myself I was going to be much more organized so that I wouldn’t have to employ my “Kim-Mando” techniques.  Of course, once Covid hit, we didn’t have any company anyway!  So, I may have let my resolve slip a bit.

Our First Guest Since Covid!

Other than a few short visits from my cousin and his wife and the guys working on putting in the pool, we haven’t had any visitors for almost a year.  This past Saturday, Gracie and I were fortunate enough to receive a visitor from Illinois.  I managed to procrastinate to the point where I needed to get up extra early last Saturday and whip the house into shape!  Sort of like when I was in college and hadn’t studied for a test so I would need to get up early and cram!

I had a folding table up in the living room covered with decorating items.  There were empty boxes in the gathering room from who knows what.  The hall still had a Valentine’s Day display.  You get the idea,  I had a mess on my hands.

Remember the back bedroom that I worked so hard to straighten up before Christmas?  If not, you can read about it here:

Well, it wasn’t long before the room looked like this again.  Actually, it didn’t look quite this bad but a lot did get lovingly placed in there to get it out of the main living areas .

Rapid Cleaning is Deployed

Once the boxes and tables and assorted miscellaneous items were dealt with, it was time to rapidly clean the house.  I quickly dusted the furniture.  The pavers for the pool had been laid earlier in the week and that kicked up quite a bit of dust.  I cleaned the kitchen counters, scoured the sink and removed all the junk from the island.  Next up was cleaning the bathrooms and sweeping the floors.

A Tiny Bit of Seasonal Decorating

I did manage to get the entryway display changed over to St Patrick’s Day.  I need to make another St Patrick’s day display using my spindles but I didn’t have thyme to get that done last week.  I still struggle with trying to photograph this area of the house.  It was a bit easier this time because I finally moved the stack of Christmas totes out into the garage!

Speaking of the garage, I had to be careful where I placed things in the garage.  The electricians were rescheduled to come the following Tuesday to do the electrical work for the pool.  I had already cleaned the area where they needed to work once in preparation of their visit and I didn’t want to have to move things again.

I really love this oak framed mirror and there is the cutest story behind how I came to own it.  The story behind the mirror is outlined here:

The two books in the St Patrick’s Day display are books about Irish Cottages.  They were given to my Mom by one of the students she and my Dad hosted.  In fact, one of the books was co-authored by him.  I will take a better picture of the display and post it in another article before St Patrick’s Day!

The Front Entryway

Fortunately, I didn’t have to do too much to the outside of the house.  Just a tiny bit of dead heading and a quick sweep of the concrete in the actual entryway and I was done with that part!

Gracie Was So Excited to Have Company

My friend, Laurie was in the area visiting her cousin.  She came over to spend the day with Gracie and me.  Since we are both originally from the same small Illinois village that has Irish roots, we went to the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda for lunch.  It was great to have a visit with a friend from “home”!