About a year after moving in, I took a good look at my house and was nothing short of horrified. Stuff was piled up in every corner, covered every horizontal surface, and made it nearly impossible to walk in a straight line from one point to another. How did this happen? I asked myself. Maybe it was the steady influx of my boyfriend's things as we prepared to get married and merge two households into one. Maybe it was his 18-year-old son's presence - a man-child who grew up in a very messy home and was accustomed to throwing candy wrappers and soda bottles on the floor even when sitting within arm's reach of trash and recycling cans. Whatever the reason, it was time for a change. I knew that I had never intended for my house to get this messy, and I never wanted it to get this way again. I didn't want to clean up then forget how bad it used to be. Maybe that was why I decided to walk around and take some pictures.
Mark's "Drawing Table" - You can guess how much drawing he is getting done!
Here's a hint: It's about as much piano playing as I'm getting done!
This makes cooking a bit of a challenge.
Especially considering there is NO counter space!
Help!!!
Dining area: I'm not sure how we are supposed to dine here!
Is this really what I want to greet my eyes when I wake up each morning?
After taking the pictures, I started to work on cleaning. I was so embarrassed by the state of my house that I couldn't even bring myself to download and look at the pictures until almost six months later!
Things have gotten a bit better since then, but there is still a lot of work to do. I recently stumbled upon FlyLady.net (following a link on Facebook that one of my friend's friends posted in a comment on my friend's status). The things I am reading and the new habits I am forming have made a world of difference in my attitude towards and feelings about keeping my house clean. I realize now that the reason things got so out of control was not the fact that my boyfriend was bringing in too much stuff or that his son was leaving a trail of debris everywhere he went. These things didn't help of course, but the real reason my house became such a disaster was that I allowed it to. An orderly house is something that requires constant vigilance. I can't expect to clean a room once then sit back and have it stay that way. It's a lot of work, but I've also realized something else important. Work can be fun! For that I must credit FlyLady.net. Seriously, check it out. You can thank me later! :-)
For years this sign has hung in my Grandma's kitchen:
At eighty-six years old, she is still struggling to bring order to her home. This is a woman who has raised seven children and still works as an architectural designer of beautiful homes and other buildings. Putting one's house in order is no small task!
Which brings me to my reason for starting this blog. We all know how very motivated we feel to clean up when company is expected. We want guests to see our home at its best (without knowing that it doesn't always look this way of course)! After posting a few pictures of my cleaning endeavors on Facebook, I learned that one can feel a similar motivation by opening one's home to friends and family over the Internet. When I post a picture of my messy kitchen with a promise that a clean kitchen picture will be forthcoming, you can bet I want to get that kitchen clean so I can "wow" everyone with the improvement. I also found that it's very satisfying to be able to click through the pictures and watch order emerge out of chaos. Finally, I wanted to show people that no matter how bad the mess gets, there is always hope. If I can reclaim my house from disorder, yours is surely not a lost cause!
2010 is the year... let's get going!
No comments:
Post a Comment