I’ve heard people say you shouldn’t stress so much about people coming into your home. You shouldn’t feel the need to change things. You should let people see how you really live.
But I’m pretty sure this is NOT what they mean:
This isn’t actually how we “live” if you define “live” as the prolonged state and purposeful design of a living area.
It’s the result of finally getting my two new recliners that will replace our loveseat.
So I have two new recliners, their packing material, two huge boxes which together create an awesomely spacious playhouse, AND the loveseat which will HOPEfully leave my home later this week.
And when you have all that, what’s a little bit of extra clutter?
So . . . I was pretty sure the “Let people see how you really live” philosophy didn’t apply to me last weekend when I was stressing about what we were going to do about hosting our Sunday evening home group.
I’d have managed. I’d have shoved things around and possibly into the garage. But I was more-than-a-little giddy when ice began falling from the sky and we had to cancel.
Here’s to figuring out a solution before next Sunday evening . . .
that is weather becoming of canceling a get together? hahaha if that was true I would never go anywhere! 😉
In Texas it is! Though this pic was the next day in the sunshine. It was cancelled in the midst of the ice storm. Lots of wrecks!
“I’ve heard people say you shouldn’t stress so much about people coming into your home. You shouldn’t feel the need to change things. You should let people see how you really live.” I’ve never heard this before and I think its for good reason… lol! I always clean up the house (ok I don’t “clean” I just mostly stash stuff in the bedroom and shut the door) before people come over… Hoping that it gets better by continuing on my de-cluttering journey. In fact, this past weekend I worked on my master closet some more and went through my purses. I will be posting about that project tomorrow.
lol Nony!
Love your posts.. I agree, that is not what people mean! (Although, I’m alot like you)
But I’m really laughing at the dusting of white stuff you got.. lol, as a Canadian, you know that wouldn’t stop us from coming to see you 😉
Love your blog
I have a friend who recently said that while she needs her home to be minimalist and clutter free and clean, she certainly didn’t expect other people’s houses to be the same. I’m really kind of surprised she doesn’t break out in hives and hyperventilate when she comes over. Related, some friends and I are doing a 40 bags in 40 days challenge for Lent. While this one was from 20
Wrong button. So sorry. While this link is from last year, it’s still pertinent information: http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/40-bags-in-40-days-2013-declutter-challenge/
Oh I like this challenge! I mean I REALLY like this. And looking around my office, I think I could do one bag in here…if I start weeding out books. And I think I will. Saving the link to my desktop. 🙂
Yes, this is exactly what I am avoiding, knowing I can easily get like thus overnight. I also know my husband’s thought’s on this and we would definitely have marital problems over it. I want to be a fairly decent wife. I know I am not perfect and I am learning as I go. I am on the de-clutter/re-organize journey this month, a little at a time. Food pantry and fridge are slowly getting there. I am also working on my drawers with my underwear and socks!
He is okay with things for now, but I know what would happen if I let things go…he does not have to tell me. A way to my husband’s heart is clean clothes and a clean/organized home:) One baby-step at a time…I have my moments, but I realize now the importance of keeping a home looking nice not just for everyone else, but for me and DH!
I kind of agree, I mean, if my friends want to come hang out I’m not going to spend half hour running around cleaning my house. My friends don’t care if I have a stack of mail on the table and they’d totally understand if we just got new furniture and hadn’t sorted out how to arrange it yet! They’d actually probably be there helping me decide how it should go!!!!
Now if I was hosting something, as you regularly do, that’s a bit of a different story. Although I’ve been to someone’s house for a get together and I wasn’t sitting there thinking, oh, I can’t believe she has ‘random other stuff’ on her ottoman!!!! Lol!
Also, getting new furniture isn’t a regular occurrence, so I assume you don’t “live” like the picture, that’s a once every couple years (like 10!) thing!!!! And Donna, I’m in Canada too, and I totally agree, that’s like September snow for us 😉 we would still visit if you had 6 feet of snow, Nony!!!
What you write speaks to me and gives me courage, knowing others are facing the same thing I am! Thank you for making yourself vulnerable to encourage others!!!
Honestly, if someone is going around the house criticizing how someone else runs their home, then they are the one with problems. However, I do with the writer above. I always make sure that my house is looking nice when people come over, even friends, though. Mostly, I do this to make an impression. I want to show people that I CAN keep an organized home…I CAN clean house…But, I don’t obsess and try to make it “perfect” either. I prioritize…I straighten up the house and make sure it is, for the most part, clutter-free. This is the way I see it…you can have a house that is cleaned from top to bottom, but if you have not tackled the clutter issue, no one is going to see the clean part. How can anyone see the cleanliness of a home if it is full of clutter. That is what I am focusing on right now. I have a regular schedule for my chores, but I have been letting that go, a little, so that I can get down to business with the de-cluttering. Now, our home is fairly new…we just purchased last Spring, right before getting married. So, I don’t have a lot of things I am “hoarding” in the house…most of that is at my parents, for now (lol)! With that being said, I am doing my best to keep clutter out of the house. I know I can become the “bag” lady or just be that “crazy lady” full of clutter and I do not want to get that way. I have bee finding things like drawer dividers to help me better organize my underwear drawers and my sock drawers. Two weeks ago, I finally got to work on my pantry. It had no rhyme or reason to it and never did since the day I moved in. Before I moved in, DH did not have a lot in it. He moved in to the home before I did. I found bins to store items in, hoping that by keeping storage bins, things won’t slide around and I won’t get lazy and just “sling” them around. This makes life easier for me as I just “dump” what goes into these bins right in them without having to think too hard about it. I also got started on my fridge, another area that had not been touched since I moved in. I got more storage bins for there as well, even a bin for our milk!! He drinks whole while I drink skim, so I have one bin for both. Next to the milks, I have another bin for ice-tea and small containers of juices to fill in the extra space. So far, it is working. It is still a work in progress, but I am definitely enjoying the process and I am really enjoying watching it evolve from disorganized to organized! Yes, even those spaces can get cluttered instantly if you are not careful of where you put things. Slowly, but surely, I am de-cluttering my home and making it more organized. One thing I want to work on is my husband’s small cluttered space in the kitchen. I want to find the right bin to put his stuff so it is all right where he can see it while having it so that it does not look like a space full of clutter, like it does right now! Maybe not today, but maybe another day I will work on that:) Until then, I am off to continue on my journey of de-cluttering/re-organizing home!
I meant that “I do agree with what the writer above.” Sorry for the typo!
I can relate. Our house is never “naturally” in a state where I wouldn’t be mortified if somebody stopped by for a visit…family or not. Between the 2yo and 4yo boys and all of their toys, and a very disorganized mom (that would be me), my house is constantly in a state of disaster. We can get it into “So nice of you to drop by” condition, but only after 2 hours of intense picking up and cleaning.
Exactly! There is no such thing as a “quick tidy up”. The worst thing is the state we’re in right now, just come back from a week long self-catered trip to an education conference. We live overseas so any English language books I want my kids to read have to be bought, there are currently still 3 of 5 boxes of books, and 1 of 3 suitcases in the living room for me to deal with (because I don’t want to dump them somewhere before I deal with them properly). And of course, all the lazy clutter that mess has attracted since we arrived on Sunday night. Grrr.
A bit embarrassed to say our home used to look way worse than your picture…ALL the time! I am so very happy that so far, it is a thing of the past. We put off so many people coming over to visit, that now that I want to have them over, no one asks to visit. Oh, well. At least our home is now more livable for us.
I’m the same. I hear all kinds of “don’t worry about the mess! It’s part of life!” etc. advice, especially related to parenting, and I think — these people don’t know how terrible I am at housekeeping. And with 6 kids, clutter and mess control and a cleaning schedule is important. And I’ve become happier as the house has become less cluttered, more tidy, and more manageable.
There was something going around on facebook recently, from a mom, about not cleaning for 3 hours before someone visits. The pic she posted of her “messy” living room was really a very nice, clean, well-decorated, clutter-free space, which happened to have toys on the floor. If that were my situation, I would take the advice to chill and not worry about picking up the toys. But it is not my situation.
Re: the snow — I’m in Canada, and icy roads and no snow tires and not being used to slippery conditions is a good reason, in my books, to cancel stuff!
I am commenting b/c I like your comment about the snow so much and understanding our canceling! I am in Texas and experienced the same ice storm. It was ICE! We lost part of our porch roof, electricity, and had leaks in our sun room. We Texans don’t know what to do with ice, other than stay home! Lol. We don’t have cars equipped for it. Or plows and such. Heck, I don’t even have an ice scraper. I don’t mean this to sound whiny because I have totally loved these last 2 days stuck at home!
Ha! I’m the same way, Jodi, and don’t have an ice scraper!! (Thought I did, but who knows where it is since I haven’t used it in years!)
Are you kidding? Throw a blanket over those boxes and you have some extra seating for your less robust guests!! LOL. I definitely get it though. I’m still in the beginning stages of getting my house together. It’s never been really dirty but I am a clutter bug. Homeschool and teaching science out of the house doesn’t help. My main thing is my lack of decorating talent. I’m a minimalist in that department for sure. I think my dad breaks out in hives because I have no pictures on the wall after being in my house well over a year. Sometimes it a little embarrassing to have people over because of that.
I used to freak out before people come over and started picking up and cleaning the whole neglected house until i started focusing on two things: Keep up with dishes and keep the living room mostly clutter free (mainly limiting toys and craft supplies there – we have a large living area that includes the dining table where most craft projects happen) The secret i discovered is that the kitchen looks in good shape as long as you keep up with dirty dishes, even if some groceries lay around not yet put away… and the living room looks good as long as there is not much stuff. Now i only vacuum quickly if neccessary and check the toilet if it is in decent shape before guests come over (you never know with a 2 and 4 yo)
Thank you!!!!! It has become really popular for other blogs to write about letting people into you imperfect home. They have NO IDEA of what that would mean at our home!!! It is not about toys on the floor and dishes in the sink and a half painted kitchen and duct tape on the stairs. If my house is decluttered to that point, I let them in. But I’ve let enough people in to our ”normal lives” to know that most people can’t handle walking on paper all over the floor and piles and piles of stuff everywhere. They freak out. So that advice isn’t for those of us who still need to learn good habits. And even if new furniture doesn’t show up every day, it seems like something else like that shows up all the time and I struggle with how to deal with it on a daily basis.
Sarah- your house sounds a bit like mine! Our house is being expanded and one wall in my kitchen has exposed studs (no, not THAT kind of exposed studs.. that would be kinda cool, but beside the point…), and yes, walking on toys, papers, and random duct tape… sounds vaguely familiar 🙂
Hi there! Just wanted to say that I’ve soooo benefited from your podcasts! They have really helped me to get moving on the things I’ve been procrastinating over. I wouldn’t say I’m a slob, but I am very much like you with the creative mind that can get lost in its MANY projects and completely forget for several days that we need clean clothes or dishes lol. I also think we might live very close to each other because we had the crazy ice falling from the sky on Sunday and the ice day Monday as well. I made bread on Monday too!
Someday I’ll move to a bigger house, have fewer books, more linen storage, a bigger kitchen, a real livingroom, a space with a door for an office, have things organized and tidy so folks can visit in comfort…Whoaa, that is called “waiting to live”. Each of us have to just start where we are and if I don’t want witnesses to that process (ok, “guests”) then I’ve put my social life on hold, too along with locating/affording a more suitable dwelling.
All this to work around possessions which I’ve brought into this home, whether bought or gifted.
I saw one of Gretch Rubin’s YouTube videos today and one message she shares is “everyday do some thing,” do that particular thing everyday, not every other day, or just sometimes. Dana has her nightly dishwasher load. What is my one thing I’m willing to commit to that will start me and my things moving in the direction where I want things to head?
Thanks Dana and friends!
Ohhhh, I’m going to miss you talking about your love seat. It’s such an adorable term.