I am probably unlike most of my friends, and my friends friends in the cleaning and organizing department. I think you are born with it, or have to be trained up to start a system that works for you, and create a program that helps you to STAY organized.
I think I would have to consult with my Mom on this, but I believe that I was organized from the beginning! I remember my "Little House on the Prairie" bedroom. I have photos to prove it. It was SPOTLESS and organized.
I blame my crazy cleaning ways on the Richmond Inn, where I did a stint as a housekeeper during the summer in my high school year! It was there that I cleaned 16 rooms in 8 hours. Yes, I even had the "white glove" test done there, and passed. That was thrilling for me! I could sheet up a king size bed like it were a crib. The bedding flat and smooth and symetrical. The towels folded in "hotel style." I could do a large suite in about 1/2 an hour.
I liked that job a lot, and I think it taught me many things about myself. I also think there is a "clean gene" in our family too. I know my Oma is very clean, and my Grannie is too! I know my cousin Andrea is very clean too!! And, April and Amy! I was at my cousin Riki's place once, and it was spotless too. So, maybe it is just in my family.
Maybe I was born to be clean and organized. Maybe that is why I want to become a professional organizer and home stager. I just feel this is the right profession for me. I KNOW I can help others feel good about their places and spaces. I know I have a lot of knowledge to share with others! And, keep them motivated to do more!
My parents, they are organized, but not crazy organized like me. They have piles of newspaper articles and clippings and things around their house. I would prefer to file them away, or purge them...but hey it is not my home! But that is their system. And it works for them as far as I know.
Maybe a person can spend too much time doing these two things? Maybe not though. I know I have an organizing and cleaning obsession. I am not happy if it is not "up to hotel standards"
The organizer and cleaner in me is coming out even more with all of our house staging for open houses. I go MENTAL the hour before a staging. I have to let my "standards" slide and that really bothers me. The feedback has been wonderful on our place. EVERY PERSON who has been through our place CANNOT believe that we have 5 kids. So, obviously they do not notice the "things" that I notice. I KNOW that the floor is ws not perfectly clean, but hey in other peoples eyes it was spotless.
When our realtor saw our place for the first time, she said I have the knack for decorating and for staging. And what did I say to her. Oh no, this is no where NEAR what it will look like when we have a showing. This is really not up to my regular standards! Why couldn't I have said...just THANK YOU.
Our realtor recently took a course in Seattle to do Home Staging, and I do it naturally. I think it is very fun, and it is something I look forward to doing, even in the madness of 5 kids at the dinner hour. That is why I know this is what I need to do to help other families with kids!
Cleaning and organizing is different with a family around. Everything changes! Your time, your space your mind. I was a neat freak once, and I think I will always be one. For now, I have to let things go so that I don't pull my hair our going crazy! I clean and organize and feel happy and the next second, everything is pulled out and on the floor again!
Truly though. I don't want my kids to grow up and remember me always cleaning and not spending enough time with them.
I also hope that they will learn SOMETHING from me, about staying clean and organized. But, I often wonder will they become total packrats because I made them "purge" their playroom one too many times? Will they regret that we "gave away" their toy to somebody else? Will they become hoarders? Only time will tell. I know if they all became packrats I would have to go in to their places and help them lol!
But, because I am clean and organized, our house works very well, and our place cleans up like a dream because we don't have ANY clutter. We do not even have a "junk drawer". I love how for the house showings I can stage our place and have dinner ready, kids in jammies and teeth brushed in less than one hour! The towels are placed, flowers are placed and the candles are lit! Fresh vacuum tracks on the rug! We leave, and our place looks like a million bucks! That is my secret thrill to it all! The power of a clean and organized space!
I wonder about my other blogging friends and family. Are you naturally organized? Are you a naturally tidy person? Has this changed for you when you had kids? Or, have you been able to keep it up without going crazy? Have you let stuff slide? I just wonder how others feel about this topic. Do you look forward to organizing? See, to me cleaning and organizing is more exciting than what designer handbags would be to some women!
I think being tidy and organized has freed up time so that my precious time with my family is NOT wasted! We can do more together and that is what it is all about for me!
9 comments:
Let me just say, if you saw our house - you would fall dead (or at least unconcious). There is no dirt, I do manage to clean things but there is visual clutter everywhere.
Thanks to your insparation I am very slowly moving to cleaner and more organized house. It is so hard to say goodbuy to "good stuff you may use one day"...
And to think before I had all my little gals, my place used to be spotless, but as we grew so did the things, the junk, the collectibles. Your poor kiddies, they will probably have the recessive gene marked KEEP IT ALL! Good Luck. Heart You all xxxooo and yes Cathy, your Little House on the Prairie room was always clean, I think we even have the videos to prove it! xxx
Take it from someone who grew up in a disorganized and un-clean house--your kids will not suffer ill effects from having things clean and tidy, nor will they resent you for it. I was born with the messy and disorganized gene and if there's one thing I wish I could change about myself, that would be it. Fortunately, it is something I can learn--over time and with much encouragement and positive reinforcement.
The funny thing is, I am pretty picky about how clean the house is--in terms of bathrooms, floors, dusting, etc. But I can live with clutter. My husband, on the other hand, can't stand clutter or for things to be out of place, yet he won't see the inch of dust piled up on the baseboards or the grimy toilet seat. Go figure. So he picks up, and I clean. And we both gripe to each other about it a lot! I guess it works, though.
Sorry for the novella. Your post struck a chord!
--Beth
Cathy I used to be you - and since meeting you, I have been inspired to truly try to change our disorganized lives!! When I was young, I was also the child with the absolutely pristine room. I prided myself on that. Since having kids - esp. during my insanely sick pregnancies everything crumbled to pieces. The bottom line, we need more storage in our house - ex. closet organizers. I am also trying to eliminate the junk drawer... so far... not so good, but it's coming along nicely.
I need to get my butt off this computer and get organized ASAP!!!
Olena, I would be there to support you should you choose to get organized. No need to worry about what I would think! I think just admitting it, you are taking steps to get organized and I commend you for that!
Mom: Oh, how I would LOVE to see video footage of my old room. That room was my FAVOURITE!!
Beth: I am here for you too! IF you need anything. Please ask! I can give you some tips! Sounds like you have a nice situation with your dh! That is nice how you both can balance yourselves off!
Amber: I can do telephone consults ;D
Seriously. You can do it too!!! I know you can look at your place! It is awesome.
I love being organized. My problem is keeping things organized. For example, my wonderful hubby built me a closet organizer and I spent an afternoon organizing clothes in groups of type of clothing and colour. But a few weeks later ... not so tidy anymore. Now I feel discouraged to spend the time reorganizing it. What tips do you have for keeping on top of this sort of thing?
Wendy: Is the closet organizer the right way for you? What does your closet look like? Do you have a walk in, bi fold or dual sliding door? That would be hard to keep organized because you can only see half of your closet at any given time. That would make me want to not stay organized.
Do you need to purge more clothing? Maybe you have too much?
I would start with a purge, and see what you have left. Maybe you need to rethink your storage solutions?
Let me know!
We have a walk in closet, and my side is on the left. There is 1 long shelf on the top. Then the middle of the closet is split in two: 2 shelves on the left and a bar on the right. There is also a bar that runs along the bottom, where I can hang skirts, pants etc. I took your advice and purged some clothing today. Now I'm faced with how to organize what I have ... nice tops, casual tops, dark colours vs light, long-sleeved vs short-sleeved, sweaters, cardigans etc. Any tips? Thanks for helping me!!
Wendy: Good for you!! I would sort and place first of all by season! IF you can ONLY store in your closet what is in season now...say winter and fall. And when spring has sprung put those clothes out! IF you don't have another closet...store them in boxes on the top shelf, or hang on the top bar.
As for storage...I would sort "like with like" ie. Pants with pants, short sleeves, long sleeves, skirts etc. And, I am anal so I would colour coordinate. You could also sort by outfit. Depends on what would make your closet work for you! Always fold your sweaters! Don't pile them too high either!! They can tumble down on you and get frustrating!
If you have jewellery, etc. you could buy a shoe storage bag that would hang on the back of a door and put your jewellery, socks, scarves, accessories in the pockets. Makes it easy to find your stuff in the morning.
Do you store shoes in there too?
I hope I helped! Let me know!!
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