Question for people with clean houses :P

[CrazyHomemaker]

Thanks for the reference to FlyLady. I checked this out and started today! Woo Hoo! It only took me about an hour to clean the sink to remove limescale, clean counters; scrub the outside of my coffee maker and mini food processor (with a toothbrush); microwave, oven door and dishwasher door (with a toothbrush). I did a little more than clean the sink for the first day. It is worth it, though. I love to clean because it looks so nice when I'm done.

I've gotten a few cleaning tips from the British ladies when their show was on TV. I loved that show.

[Spirit Deer]

I'm the last person to give cleaning advice but I'm getting better.

One thing it took me years to figure out is I don't need more storage space, I need less stuff. That's helped me declutter and be hard-hearted enough to really get rid of things. (It only hurts for a little while.) There's no possible way to keep a house clean if ANYTHING in it does not have a designated place to be.

We've embraced the idea we don't need to own very many books. The library can store them for us, we don't need to.

Another thing that's really helped me is to ask myself before buying something where it will be stored at home. If it has no place and I can't get rid of something else to make room for it, I don't buy it. And I remind myself buying things I don't need is a waste of money, even if it's at a garage sale or thrift store.

Some of the challenges here on FV have been a big help to me. I've also banned computer use for myself until after supper every day. The internet is a huge time-sucker and if I log on in the morning, I waste too much time surfing and don't get as much done on the house.

Good luck. It's a never-ending, thankless job.

[IntlMom]

I'm simply a nicer mom and wife when my house is picked up/clean

I hate stuff and clutter - every one in the house knows it. If they don;t give it a home... I throw it away - period. end of story.

plus, moving every two years or so does a wonder for keeping the clutter down!!!

[frugrrl]

I agree with the flylady suggestion. I like that she says you are never behind, just jump in right where they are.

[dcompton]

Baskets, boxes and such can help. Shoes, magazines or whatever left around look like mess. If they are tossed in a basket, they look organized, even if they aren't really.

I finally found an easy way to put the clutter away. I have a rolling cart, but a basket or other container would do to. I start in the living room, put everything that belongs somewhere else on it; go to the next room, take off what belongs there, add things in that room that go somewhere else. Eventually everything is back in its own home. It's much quicker than randomly putting away one thing after another. I call it my PIBWIB [Put It Back Where It Belongs] Run.

Also I would suggest deciding what kind of storage is most appropriate for the use you make of the things in it. I used to have an unending battle with "official" paper, like bills, insurance stuff, etc. I would try to file it, but I hate filing and it would pile up. At the end of the year I would take it out of the files, without ever having looked at it or referred to it again, and put it away. I finally realized I was working too hard to organize something that didn't really need to be organized (in my situation). Now I have a nice open box on the bookshelf near my worktable. Any official paper just gets looked at and then tossed in the box. At the end of the year, I put the lid on it, date it, and stick it with the other year boxes in the closet. Now I almost never have papers lying around.

I am not a reformed slob, more a still hoping to be reformed someday slob. I would love a pristine house, but I have also come to realize that given the hours I work away from home and the health issues I have, often I just have to live with "good enough."

[frugalfranny]

Thanks for the link to flylady cab54...........I haven't read much of her stuff. Will check it out for sure...........

One thing I practice and I think it helps.........PUT THINGS BACK WHERE YOU GET THEM!!

If things are 'picked up and put up' it helps the house to look clean........even when the floors need a cleaning.

[ladykemma2]

How do you think you manage to keep your home clean?

Is it:
1) Having and Taking the time to do things right
2) Having organization systems set up to prevent messes
3) Having the right house - plenty of storage, the right set up, etc.
4) Something else I haven't even thought of

Also, is anyone a recovered slob? Like they used to be unable to manage the house and now have it in hand? (I'm in need of some inspirational stories on slob recovery!)

I've been back at work for about 4 months now, my husband works from home and does more of the cooking and household management, but I feel like every cabinet and closet is a mess and I can't seem to stay on top of the house and keep it clean - and my daughter is starting to crawl and clean floors are a priority! Granted, I have less time than some people, with a 7 month old DD and working 60+ hours a week, but the mess at home really adds to my stress levels and I am not sure how to tackle it.

i am a recovered slob.

i was abused around the issue of housekeeping when i was a kid. my role, among others, was "cinderella", complete with abuse, in the mansion where i grew up. to this day i do not know what my lah dee dah river oaks/buckhead SAH mom did all day. when i moved out at 18 they hired a professional live in housekeeper and cook. i don't know who had it worse, me, the family slave, or my little sister, my step father's sex outlet. a related issue was, in that house of horrors, money was never discussed so i never learned to manage money either. turns out i found out later they were embezzling funds from union carbide. if you mentioned money you got your face slapped.

anyway, sorry for the horror, but it is my truth. in my twenties i was in a "eff-you" approach to housekeeping. "eff-you" to my family, "eff you" to my mother, "eff you" to big houses and possessions. i lived like a alcoholic pig.

i got sober in AA when i was 28 and i began to take pride in myself, my appearance, and my surroundings. i got my first piece of grown up furniture - a william and mary "bun feet" chest of drawers. i got my own real dishes...etc. i listened in the AA meetings and began to pick up that self esteem also included housekeeping and responsible billl paying. I relearned etiquette and social skills, which my mother did a good job of teaching us.

got married, got our own house. turned it into a home. we had possessions but nothing to put them on or in. it took a while for it to dawn on us to get a storage unit for the ren faire/SCA STUFF, and custom bookshelves for the wasted space in the entry hall.

I ended up in professional therapy at this time to deal with my issues and two of the issues i dealt with was my role in the family and how to manage myself. the house during this time looked bad, like those hoarders shows, because i needed "crap" around me to feel safe while i dealt with my incest issues. this passed within a year.

for a few years we had a professional housekeeper.

now divorced, over time, as i grew more adult, my money management issues and my homemaking issues evolved. the first book i used was sandra felton's messies anonymous books. i read dan ashlett's books but found them very shaming, and triggered my mother housekeeping shaming abuse issues. i read everything i could get my hands on about taking pride in housekeeping , like 1950s home economics books.

i have a meditation book that really put it together for me, sarah ban breathnach's "simple abundance - a daybook of comfort and joy" that was instrumental and life changing in my learning to make my home a hobby. To take pride in "home-caring". to take joy in living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms. To embrace my material possessions - because certain people will shame you for supposed materialism. to not beat myself up that the house was not clean while working deadlines or 60 hour weeks.

my patriarchal blessing says i am to use and enjoy my beautiful things. so, straight from GOD, my materialism is ok. because sometimes that voice goes off in my head.

i had to work hard to overcome shame attacks while cleaning because i had to erase my mother's voice inside my head. Body memories: i used to fly into an unreasonable rage out of nowhere and have flashbacks while vacuuming. i used to cry, out of no where, while washing dishes. needless to say i don't do this anymore.

Today, i consider myself a chatelaine, a mistress of a house to be proud of. i find movies like gosford park, remains of the day, sense and sensibility (emma thompson), pride and prejudice (colin firth), and now downton abbey to be inspirational and guide my cleaning and decorating decisions.

i have a game. i try to get the house clean and presentable in one run though of pride and prejudice - about 5 hours on a saturday. i don't have time during the week to clean working 12 hour days.

to answer your question
Is it:
1) Having and Taking the time to do things right
2) Having organization systems set up to prevent messes
3) Having the right house - plenty of storage, the right set up, etc.
4) Something else I haven't even thought of

answer:
4) for me it was emotional, spiritual, and therapeutic, and honoring a need for beauty.

after the divorce, i am still enjoying a stage where i am getting this house furnished and repaired the way i want it.

i discovered the furniture salvation army and have found some true treasures there.

[hotprincesscm]

I think picking up after yourself and teaching the people in your home to do the same! Sounds simple....but for me...I'll read a magazine and just leave it sitting on the end table or on the couch cushion next to me....then before I know it...that magazine has grown to a pile of mail, newspapers etc. So I find that if I put away that magazine as soon as I'm done looking at it....then I dont' have a growing clutter pile. That's just an example...there is many other things that seem to grow in my house...the dishes in the kitchen sink....etc....If I keep on top of picking up after myself, I find that it's much easier to keep my house clean and looking nice!

[heartofmine]

Just thought I would pass along the first tip my mom taught me when growing up. The first step to a clean house is making your bed every morning...so if you don't do anything else...try that.