4 Ways I Measure Success in Managing My Home
My friend Jen is a designer and creative branding genius, and I once overheard her say that having a plant in your featured photos really enhances the overall impression. I don’t think this is what she meant, but I’m going with it because that’s the best we’ll get of “live” plants in my house.
Speaking of my house…let’s talk about home management. I believe there are two kinds of homemakers (whether you work inside or outside the home, you make your home):
The woman who has everything neat and clean all the time. Her floors are always vacuumed, she follows a strict cleaning schedule, and her couches aren’t for sitting on. When you compliment her home she offers a house tour and every room is show-quality, pristine (when you come over to MY house for a party, I try to make you THINK that it’s that clean all the time, but don’t fall for it. A story for another day.) Ladies, I want to BE you. When I ask all of my friends who fall under this couchless-sitting category how they manage to keep their homes so clean they always tell me, “It’s a sickness, really. I can’t stand for it not to be clean.”
Okay, can that be contagious, please? Seriously – share that “sickness” with the rest of us! I must have been vaccinated for that particular infection, because then there are women like me (I hope). They say:
“What’s that smell? I really don’t know what that sticky stuff on the kitchen floor is. We’ll just shut the door to that room when people come over. Seriously, what’s that smell?!”
I do have furniture that isn’t really for sitting on, but only because its sole purpose is for throwing laundry on top of. Clean laundry, dirty laundry, new clothes that haven’t come out of their bag until I need it laundry, it doesn’t matter.
There is NEVER one moment when my whole house is clean at the same time. My bed is almost never made and I always have dirty dishes in the sink, but at least my clothes smell like mildew from leaving them in the washer for too long. In fact, we are to the point where if my kids see me doing anything more than scraping yesterday’s leftovers off of today’s load of dishes they ask, “Who’s coming over?” See previous comment about making people think I have it together.
It would be easy to blame it all on being a mom, but if I’m being honest with myself I was even messier BEFORE I had kids.
I agree with experts who tell us that having a made bed and a clean room on a regular basis makes our lives – and our homes – much more peaceful and enjoyable, and I absolutely love and appreciate a clean house where I can leave all the doors open for my company’s viewing pleasure. I try to do those things as often as possible … Possible being a term that is relative to how I feel, which of my friends wants to grab a cup of coffee, and if there’s anything interesting on the Today Show.
Okay seriously, though. There are 4 things that really matter to me when it comes to trying to keep my house under control:
- My dresser drawers have to be able to close. You know what I’m talking about! Neatly folded is nice but as long as all the drawers can close without getting caught on shirts or underwear sticking out, I’m happy.
- The kitchen table has to be clear (or realistically, almost clear). It’s a tough one, since it’s one of the hubs of the entire house. Mail gets sorted here, homework gets done here. We have two office spaces in our house and often times we still end up working at the kitchen table. But it has to be clear at the end of the day. If it’s not, I feel like the whole house is going to fall down. I’ve taken to keeping fresh flowers on the table most of the time. It gives me a good excuse to give it a wipe down and make me feel like I have the “model home” look in one little corner of the house.
- We have to be able to shut the laundry room door. I’m not saying the laundry has to be folded or even clean. But if we have so much laundry that we can’t fit it all in baskets in our laundry room, we have a problem.
- Lastly, the house has to smell good. To me, there’s nothing more inviting than a good smelling house! I love plugging in my Scentsy warmer or lighting a candle and feeling like the world is a better place…even though there’s a sink full of dishes, a dog pee-stained carpet upstairs, and that sticky stuff still on the kitchen floor……
Low standards? Yep. Do I wish I did better and acted more disciplined? Absolutely, and I’m trying every day. Okay every week. Sometimes once a month……And apparently, when I invite people over.
What are the tasks that you feel are non-negotiable to keep your sanity at home? I can’t wait to hear your feedback!
I have about 200 pins on my “Get It Clean!” Pinterest board. Maybe some of you can get use out of them and let me know what it’s like.
Seriously this is c the BEST!!!! Thank you <3
Thank you! Tell your friends!