Last week I recovered my home from two (or more) weeks of neglect.

I used to do this all the time, as it was the only way I ever really cleaned, picked-up, decluttered, whatever.

So I was struck by the difference.

It’s not as huge of a deal as it used to be.  I used my daily checklist and weekly cleaning tasks to keep my pace instead of randomly running through the house putting out whatever fire caught my (fleeting) attention.

I also was reminded that it’s not really a coincidence that I’ve been hosting people in my home on a weekly basis since just a few months after I started this blog. 

Our church started weekly home groups just after I began this deslobification journey.  I remember the look on my husband’s face when I volunteered our home as a meeting place.  An every-single-week meeting place. 

My stomach hurt and my heart beat fast as I tried to ignore the “Are you serious?” expression in his widened eyes.

Almost four years later, I’ve made big strides and can usually have our house ready in just an hour on Sunday afternoon.

I attribute that big-deal-for-me success to a few factors:

• I have decluttered like a crazy-woman.  Simple straightening and vacuuming are not overwhelming projects like they used to be.
• I have developed basic habits that keep me from needing to spend entire days cleaning the kitchen.
• I don’t worry about bedrooms or the playroom for these weekly meetings of adults.
• I have changed my perspective on hospitality and now put the emphasis on welcoming people instead of worrying about perfection.

But there’s one thing I do miss about the Whole House Overhaul days.

I used to redecorate every time I hosted a party.  Because it was such a BIG DEAL to open my front door, I bought new wall-hangings, moved furniture, painted rooms . . . and more.

I like it better now that I don’t get so crazy, but I was always so happy to have the motivation to change things up decor-wise.

I got a little sad as I passed the cutesy signs and framed-prints at Hobby Lobby last week.

But then I passed the doormats.  And they were 50% off. (Like everything is at Hobby Lobby, all the time . . . )

And finally . . . it happened.  I remembered how much I wanted a new doormat at the SAME TIME new doormats were right in front of my face!

That’s a big deal, people.

So I bought a pretty new doormat, and I feel like it makes a slight difference:

Don’t you think?

Do you use parties as an excuse to re-decorate your house?

Do you talk to yourself while you clean? Oh. Me neither. But if I did, today my constant reminder to myself would have been, “Everything but vacuuming.” At first, I planned to vacuum. But then I got going, and decided I would leave it for tomorrow.  Somehow that helped keep me on track. Every time […]

Read More

I had big plans for April. It was supposed to be my get-some-major-writing-projects-done-so-I’ll-be-ready-for-the-loosi-goosiness-of-summer month. I planned to hole up in my house and accomplish big things. But then, my daughter decided she wanted to have a birthday party. Let me explain. I was well aware her birthday was approaching. I knew it was her year […]

Read More