If you have ever been one of those lucky people to live with me or, better yet, one of the lucky few to have shared an actual bedroom with me, you can testify without a shadow of a doubt that the following statement is true:
I am a messy. I leave my stuff laying around. And, it takes me a long time for it to bother me enough to DO something about it.
The greatest perpetrator in this throughout history is my laundry: there is a pile system, and the hamper. Often times I have a few pairs of semi-clean jeans/work pants that have been worn once, and will be worn again before washing. There is the stack of things that came off of hangers, and were tried on but rejected for public viewing. Usually the pjs are thrown somewhere near the bed. Last but not least: there is the hamper which houses the dirty laundry.
In recent days… namely the last year and a half, the laundry is much more controlled than it ever has been thanks to a few closet hooks, and a very small bedroom. However, I have managed to spread myself throughout the entire 876 square feet of our home. There is now the lunch bag slash purse slash whatever stuff I take to work and bring home pile. Then, there is the pile of currently reading library books… and let’s be honest, sometimes there are two of those piles! There is the constant rotation of dirty dishes in the kitchen from various cooking projects. An assortment of acrylic paints and sponge brushes and various widths of painter’s tape in the basement. The puzzle of Cinderella’s castle I started putting together, but haven’t had much of a life enough to finish in the past month…. I think you get the picture.
Enter my dearly beloved husband into my life: he greatly appreciates a clutter-free and clean home, and was able to maintain said cleanliness in his many years as a bachelor. For him, a clutter free home means he can be at peace, he can relax, he can rest. If he comes home and sees clutter or messies, he just thinks of the stuff that he needs to do.
Enter my Mosaic training classes this month.
A couple weeks ago, I had a safety class. They talked about how when we have someone living with us it is important to provide them a clean, safe environment. This means no clutter, a clean toilet, organized book piles, and so on, and so forth. This is good, this makes sense. IT ALSO FREAKS ME OUT!!! Yes, I have an amazingly wonderful husband who will be a great help to me, but the truth is: I got to get my act together!!!!
In short, I was expressing my great anguish over the subject at small group a couple weeks ago, my dear, dear friend chuckled and said, “Well, now Matt will have the wife of his dreams.” AGH! SO TRUE!
Enter my newest acquisition: Martha Stweart’s Homekeeping Handbook. I checked it out at the library last week, and ordered me a copy today on amazon. My first goal, aim, challenge in becoming the wife of my husband’s dreams lies in Martha’s six things to do everyday checklist:
- Make the bed
- Manage clutter
- Sort the mail
- Clean as you cook
- Wipe up spills when they’re fresh
- Sweep the kitchen floor.
I can’t say that I’ve become accomplished at these tasks, but have surprisingly come a long way!!! The thing that I am most amazed with is cleaning up spills when they happen: namely on the stove top! It’s SO easy to keep the stove top clean now 🙂 I love it!
Stay tuned, who knows what is going to happen as I dig deeper into Martha’s world of housekeeping!!
Mrs Claus House 
I can attest to all of the above – in fact Ang once told me that the clothes on the floor of her bedroom was saving her carpet! Thank you Martha – you are a better woman than I!
I was seriously saving you money. You just never appreciated it 🙂
i’m the SAME WAY about cleaning the top of my stove. It’s so easy just to move on with my cooking!!
however, being an organizational freak… i’ll share a couple keep tips for a clutter-free home:
1) have a place for everything. even if it means installing some shelves in a closet or investing in a mail organizer. if every item has a home, you’re less likely to just leave it wherever.
2) when your leaving one room to walk to another, take the opportunity to grab a thing or two that belongs in the room you’re heading. Do the same when you return! You’d be surprised how this keeps clutter down!
that’s all I got. i got no advice on actually keeping things CLEAN (not just clutter free). I’m the kinda girl that clears the counters, does the dishes and throws away all garbage… but DOESN’T WIPE OFF THE CRUMMY COUNTER. yes I’m that wife,
your second tip is exactly what martha says to do to manage clutter 🙂 I’m def working on a place for everything!!!!
And…. CLEAN YOUR COUNTER is so worth it 🙂