Saw the inside of my neighbor's house yesterday.

[Chava_Raizel]

Our house is what I would consider clean-enough but it's cluttered. There are 6 people in our 1600 sf house, and we have a LOT of stuff. I do what I can, but our house is very lived in. I would say our home probably appears messy to others.

 

I grew up with a mom who is a hoarder - there were huge piles of stuff all over the house and she never cleaned. So, clutter makes me crazy. I would never let my house get that out of hand, and compared to her home, mine is a spotless palace. But I do wish I could get the clutter under control.

[KidsHappen]

I am a minimalist. If it was up to me I would have furniture, a few pictures and then nothing else but purely funtional items. I would also prefer for my house to be spic and span. Unfortunately, I live with people who have lots of stuff. It takes all of my energy just to keep the clutter under control. On good days I get some cleaning done but by the time I am ready to move on to the next space the last one is already messed up again so my house is never all clean at the same time. That is one thing I do look forward to once all the children leave home. My hubby and I plan to down size, keep only the stuff we need, clean throughly and then we will just have to do daily upkeep which shouldn't be too much for two, little, old people sitting in their rockers reading.

 

My dd's house is gorgeous. It is slightly larger than mine and she only has one child but she has tons of visitors. It's like she is running the Embassy Suites. I rarely see her sweep, vacuum or dust and yet her house is always immaculant. It is also very tastefully decorated. She does have purely ornamental things but not too much so it never looks cluttered. Her decor is not all matchy-matchy but is well coordinated.

 

My house used to look like that until the last one turned about three. Then my health started deteriorating, I started running out of energy and crises starting happening at the rate of about one every six months so that by the time I recovered from one another one would come along. At this point in the game, I am just trying to keep it from getting any worse until they either leave home or I can afford a housekeeper.

[beachrose]

My home is more cluttered then I would like but my kids always tell me their friends feel at home in our home because it's not a showcase. I'm working every year towards better organizing and it shows. Still our home probably looks more like your friends and I'm ok with it. I don't like who I turn into when I try to keep it perfect and frankly I would rather spend the time with my family. In fact even the major cleaning we do together as a family,once a week. We all chip in and it's done quick and it feels good to do it together. The rest the week we also all chip in doing different parts of the maintenance. But over time there are things that get neglected like inside my cabinets scary!!! I need to get that done the next family clean!

[Parrothead]

Right now my house is a mess. Dh is working odd shifts. It seems someone is always sleeping at any given point in a 24 hour period. I'll be glad when things get back to normal. Im going on a massive decluttering to get the house back to a more zen like state.

 

I like a certain amount of useful stuff. Anything beyond that is clutter.

[Parrothead]

Years ago a woman I met invited me over to her house. She lived in a huge beautiful house. Her house was a total mess. But I loved that. It made me feel like she was a real person. I don't want to say that I don't like when people are too neat, but it doesn't put me at ease.

I'm the opposite. It makes me nervous to go into someone's house and find it messy.

[shanvan]

I frequently think that if someone came to my house they would think that I never get around to homeschooling much less cleaning my house!

 

I can clean my house and within 3 or 4 days it is right back to where we started. It is defeating. And, I am lazy about it.

 

This is how I get too. Then I'll have times where I reform.

I am a stacker and I place things anywhere for immediate relief.

 

For me, between getting school work done and after school activities there is just so little time to get my kids to help clean up.

 

Yes, as the kids got older and involved in more outside activities, and their school work got harder and took longer, their available time to help has decreased.

 

I do dream of a clean house and I would like one, but it is not my season.

 

And, on most days I have a hard time fitting in a read aloud, which I much prefer to cleaning.

 

While I try to hit the minimums for cleaning, even they don't always get done. True confession #2 --I left 2 pans in the sink last night. Scandalous, but true.

 

We had dinner late b/c we visited our neighbor next door who just lost his daughter. She was 22. We brought him a card and some zucchini bread. He wanted to talk, so we were there for quite some time. By the time dinner was over it was late. Then I had to walk the dog b/c it's part of his training. After that, like you I chose the read aloud instead of finishing up the 2 remaining pans. By then my body was aching and I needed to rest.

 

Don't know if I said this earlier, but I think sometimes, we just have to choose what is important. So last night those two pans were not as important as our hurting greif-stricken neighbor or my 2 kids listening to a read a loud.

[shanvan]

My home is more cluttered then I would like but my kids always tell me their friends feel at home in our home because it's not a showcase. I'm working every year towards better organizing and it shows. Still our home probably looks more like your friends and I'm ok with it. I don't like who I turn into when I try to keep it perfect and frankly I would rather spend the time with my family. In fact even the major cleaning we do together as a family,once a week. We all chip in and it's done quick and it feels good to do it together. The rest the week we also all chip in doing different parts of the maintenance. But over time there are things that get neglected like inside my cabinets scary!!! I need to get that done the next family clean!

 

I like this approach very much, and it's what I've mostly been doing. This year I was thinking of actually scheduling about 4 days out of the year for family cleaning so we can tackle more of the bigger jobs. We actually enjoy working on cleaning as a family.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I clean before I shower too. I actually scrub the tiles while the water is running on me! I've never talked to anyone else who does it this way. Once I told a friend and she looked at me like I was really weird. Her eyes got wide and she said "you mean naked?" I never told anyone else about it after that! :lol:

 

Our vacuum doesn't really have a home either since we are constantly vacuuming. We have to b/c of the dogs.

 

I do that, too. The shower is always the last thing I clean, so I can get in there naked, scrub it down, then take my shower.

[shanvan]

My dd's house is gorgeous. It is slightly larger than mine and she only has one child but she has tons of visitors. It's like she is running the Embassy Suites. I rarely see her sweep, vacuum or dust and yet her house is always immaculant. It is also very tastefully decorated. She does have purely ornamental things but not too much so it never looks cluttered. Her decor is not all matchy-matchy but is well coordinated.

 

This describes what my house was like when I had one child and he was very young (hence not as many school books). I think that might be why I struggle with the reality of my house today. I am comparing with the past, which is not fair b/c circumstances have changed.

 

My house used to look like that until the last one turned about three. Then my health started deteriorating, I started running out of energy and crises starting happening at the rate of about one every six months so that by the time I recovered from one another one would come along. At this point in the game, I am just trying to keep it from getting any worse until they either leave home or I can afford a housekeeper.

 

Same thing here. My mom got sick and needed a lot of help. Then she had tomove and needed help with that. I still have to keep tabs on her. My great uncle needs help from time to time, as well. I keep tabs on him too. Then I got mysteriously sick and was practically confined to my bed for a month and a half about 4 years ago and now have fibro. I'm at the point of trying too.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I think my home is in a good balance between clean and lived-in looking. I like a clean home- meaning clean floors, non-dusty woodwork, clean kitchen, clean bathrooms. But, we always have stuff out everywhere. I usually try to make the boys wrangle their toys back upstairs once a day. Once a week I work on diminishing the piles that have accumulated over the week. Our books are always all over the coffee table, but I try to keep them arranged in neat stacks. School stuff is always all over the dining room, but that is our school area, so I don't care. Miscellaneous stuff piles up on the kitchen table, but I really try to declutter at least once a week so I can wash it.

 

I like the look of a clutter-free house in a magazine shoot, but I wouldn't feel comfortable if I felt I had to keep it looking like that all the time.

[shanvan]

I bought the Motivated Moms cleaning schedule and it has really helped me keep on top of stuff that I normally don't think of. I combined the list with the You Rule app for the Ipad and the kids are just dying to help out. Blinds are dusted, floors mopped, toilet paper stocked....now to attack the school books I have scattered everywhere.

 

This is good to know. A while back I posted asking for MM success stories. I thought it looked like something I could deal with. I didn't get a lot of responses. I might take a look at it again.

[fairfarmhand]

There's a vast difference between looking spartan, hotel-like and too cluttered.

 

For instance, in my home there are usually 2-3 different books on the coffee tables in the living room, a pair of shoes by the door, 1-2 drawings on the fridge, a neat stack of schoolbooks on the table.

 

I think the distinction is 1. things are clean, and 2. the things left out are almost intentional. The clutter isn't there because I ran out of time or was too lazy to put it away. It is there because the items are in use.

[Parrothead]

I clean before I shower too. I actually scrub the tiles while the water is running on me! I've never talked to anyone else who does it this way. Once I told a friend and she looked at me like I was really weird. Her eyes got wide and she said "you mean naked?" I never told anyone else about it after that! :lol:

 

Our vacuum doesn't really have a home either since we are constantly vacuuming. We have to b/c of the dogs.

There really is no other way to get a shower clean that I've ever found. One is inevitably going to get wet. Might as well get naked and clean the thing then be the first to use the shower you've just spend 20 minutes scrubbing.

[J-rap]

With five children we definitely did have clutter, but less so as they got older. I'm not a neat freak, but I don't like a gross home -- haha. I like people to walk in and feel that it's clean even if messy. My husband is a stickler for little fix-up projects: a hole would always be perfectly patched up and painted over, etc.

[fairfarmhand]

 

I don't mind that. One thing I don't like are nicknacks. That's just more crap I have to dust. LOL Plus there is no real point to them in my mind.

I too despise knicknacks. HATE them.

 

(I have like 2 special ones that remind me of special people, but that's it!)

 

I prefer photos, potted plants and BOOKS, lots of BOOKS!

[shanvan]

I too despise knicknacks. HATE them.

 

(I have like 2 special ones that remind me of special people, but that's it!)

 

I prefer photos, potted plants and BOOKS, lots of BOOKS!

 

Me too, mostly. Lately, though, I've started to wonder if some of the photos look knicknacky. I've been contemplating putting some away, but can't decide if I'm going overboard. Some of the hanging photos are just too dated and need replacing. They definitely need an overhaul of some kind.

[beachrose]

I like this approach very much, and it's what I've mostly been doing. This year I was thinking of actually scheduling about 4 days out of the year for family cleaning so we can tackle more of the bigger jobs. We actually enjoy working on cleaning as a family.

 

 

My therapist suggested it LOL for help with the overwhelmed feeling and that doing it together also helps build a "It's our house" feeling. They also seem to appreciate what I do more since we started doing that. We usually only clean about 1.5 hours and it does really help me feel not so overwhelmed. We do have some days every year where we work all day. In the spring/fall usually when we get everything set up outside for summer (pool,wash outdoor furniture etc..) or batten down the hatches for winter.

[beachrose]

I do that, too. The shower is always the last thing I clean, so I can get in there naked, scrub it down, then take my shower.

 

me too! I always feel so dirty after cleaning the bathroom I want a shower anyway so now .... LOL