by Lynne Parker, The Old Attic –
With a background in merchandising and being a bit of a clean freak, I can be a pain to work with and OK, I’ll admit it: live with at times!
I know for sure this is a fact. When I used to ask my boys to clean up their bedrooms and they were done, I would of course ask if it was done properly. Reasonable question, right? Wrong! “Yes, it is clean to ‘our’ standards but quite possibly not to yours,” my eldest son would reply. Need I say more?
Over the years I have helped family and friends sort through their homes, either while they were getting ready to sell, setting up after a move or just reorganizing.
This is can be a daunting task for sure, and we have all been there. You look around your house and wonder: when did everything go sideways? Better yet, where’s the wine? It seems that every room you walk into is a mess and you don’t know how you let it happen. We all have very busy lives and it’s easy for things to start accumulating; with work, the kids, animals, husband and appointments, it’s no wonder the house is a mess.
It’s so overwhelming that you just want to walk away, and where to begin is the big question. Take a deep breath, roll up your sleeves and let’s get started. Keep in mind that depending on how big the mess is, it may take a few hours or a few days to complete.
I go by a few very simple rules when cleaning or organizing any size area:
1) Always start in the same room of the house. Once it is clean, only then do you move on to the room right beside it. Keeping your clean rooms next to each other creates a flow of accomplishment.
2) Take all the larger items out of the equation by first putting them away where they belong. Now it just looks like simple clutter to sort through.
3) If you have a lot of things to sort, make piles of similar items on one side of the room. Example: papers / clothing / toys / shoes / misc.
4) Once you have your piles, just pick them up and put them in the rooms they belong in. You will sort them once you get to that room.
5) Your room should be pretty tidy once these items are gone. Now you can clean this room throughly.
6) Your room is now back to normal and you can move on to the next room.
When you have a system in place while you clean, you quickly see results as you go.
It will not seem so overwhelming – it really is just mind over matter!
One thing to remember, if you have a lot to do, NEVER be afraid to ask for help.
Or … just pour another glass of wine, close the door and walk away! It will always be there tomorrow.
Happy cleaning!
