I am coming clean here–no pun intended (okay maybe a little). I am HORRIBLE housekeeper. Horrible might even be an understatement. I am pretty sure that it is. It isn’t that I like a messy house–because I hate it–I just don’t seem to be able to organize my house in a way that makes it easy for me to keep it clean. It not just this house but every place I have lived. I love it when my house is clean and organized–but that doesn’t last long. I just can’t seem to keep it up. I won’t make excuses–like I have two active kids, work 3 jobs, etc. because this was not always the case. I look at photos of other peoples houses or visit other peoples houses and I am often so jealous that their houses are so organized and clean. Then depressed I return to mine and it seems to overwhelming that I don’t know what to do.
I am a pack rat. I have a hard time throwing things away and this in turn makes keeping an organized house. But I am at a point now of being almost 40 that I am sick and tired of having a messy house. A house that isn’t one I’d like to have people over to. A house that is a little embarrassing. But I don’t know where to start. It’s pathetic and hard to admit.
I want to set a good example for my kids and teach them how to be organized and clean. I just don’t know how to start. How to begin to organize. How to start throwing stuff out.
How do you keep your house clean and organized? Help me out.
Embracing Imperfection 
Don’t beat yourself up about it first…there are more of us out there than you might imagine. I often joke that one of the reasons I choose to live a bit outside of town on acreage is that the chance of drop in visitors is seriously reduced which thereby reduces my stress level (and when your property is fenced & locked, well you can always just pretend you aren’t there/don’t hear the dogs barking, lol). Really the only time I’ve lived in a house that was always relatively neat & organized (as in all the way down to the inside of closets, cabinets, under beds. clean windows & baseboards,…not just the predominately viewed places) is when its up for sale (this was the case in our last home & this current one now). I will tell you that if you can get it to a point where you reduce clutter, have a place for everything (aka organized), and clean it, then it really takes a lot less time & stress to maintain because you aren’t constantly living in a state of feeling overwhelmed & distracted which makes you wonder how/where to start. Once its tidy & organized, you can spend less than 30 minutes every evening to maintain it by just wiping down some surfaces & putting things away that have a place to go & just didn’t end up back there yet…setting a timer works really well for this too so you stay focused & get it done…also a great way to get the kids involved, setting the timer & making a game/race out of cleaning up before it rings.
So, my tip for you is to pretend you are going to sell your house. Go room by room & have 4 piles going (keep handy, store for the things you aren’t ready to let go of but don’t need immediate access to, giveaway, throwaway). If you need organizing tips for individual spaces, email me w/your issues & I will give you some ideas/solutions since I was a custom closet & professional organizer in my former career life and I LOVE to come up w/creative ways to store crap! Once you get organized a huge factor in remaining so is the one in one out rule because otherwise we all have a tendency to overfill our spaces.
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i’ll be back on here looking for tips!!
.-= laura´s last blog ..Cleaning the Closet =-.
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I know this blog entry speaks to many, MANY moms out there — including me! I, too, will be back to see what gems pop up in this comments section and try to put them into practice.
For me, my #1 problem is not enough space! We live in a very small townhouse and storage is virtually non-existent. Makes it hard to keep an uncluttered appearance when you don’t have enough places to hide your stuff! 😉
Good luck to you.
Aloha,
Donna
.-= Donna, champuru.net´s last blog ..Lefty =-.
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I thin k we all could use help on this one.
I know I could.
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Ok, yea really glad you posted this, I am exactly the same way! I generally can’t get motivated to clean, especially after a long day of work, but I hate that our house is a huge mess. Laundry is my biggest enemy, it seems impossible to keep up with 3 kids under the age of 5. I wish I had some answers for you, but like the rest of my fellow commentors,I am also a clutter bug & am hoping to hear some answers 🙂
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