A Morning of Housework Is Cheaper Than Therapy.

I've been accused of being a neat freak, and I suppose I am in some ways. My house is never spotless (and I don't expect it to be), but clutter and mess bother me... a lot. They make me feel stressed and nervous. They distract me from doing other things, even if the other things are more urgent.

So, to have gone away for the weekend with the house in the shape it was in was a big deal. It was a needed break, and I knew that, but I didn't feel good about it until I was well away from home and could more or less forget about it.

In a bold move on my part, I'm posting pictures of the mess that was our house this morning, and what I did to get rid of it.

If I were really bold, I'd show the before and after pics of the basement, but I don't think I'm that brave. So you won't see the first thing I did, which was start on the laundry. I pulled last Friday's dry load from the dryer, moved the wet laundry from the washer to the dryer, and folded the dry stuff. That took 20 minutes. One load down, about 5 more to go. It'll be a day-long project.

Here's the kitchen this morning:

And here it is after an hour of work:

It's not clean, but it's better. I still need to mop, wipe down the appliances, and scrub the sink. But the clean dishes from the dishwasher and counter top were put away, the dishwasher was reloaded and is running, the rest of the dishes were handwashed, the floor was swept, the trash was taken out, and anything that didn't belong in the room was removed.

I tackled the bathroom next. Here's the before:

I tossed the laundry down the chute into the (now dry) basement, put things away, wiped down the sink and toilet, gave the toilet a quick scrub with the brush and swept the floor.

All told, that took just 8 minutes. That's why I never mind cleaning the bathroom. A little work makes a big difference.

The living room was a wreck, but I took care of that, too.

First, I sent Kat to daycare and got her out of the way! Then I just started picking up stuff by room (things that go in Kat's room, things that go back to the kitchen, etc.) and putting them away. It took fewer than 10 minutes. I still need to dust and vacuum, but at least it's livable now.

And finally, our bedroom. Can you believe that except for two or three garments, all the clothes in this room are clean?


I just didn't have time to put them away last week. Once I did that and made the bed, the room was more or less done in 40 minutes.

The office is still a mess, and will stay that way at least until tomorrow. Kat's room, oddly enough, wasn't messy at all; maybe because half her things were in the living room.

The house is still not as clean as I'd like, but it looks like it is. That alone makes me feel much more at ease and able to tackle some of the other things I need to get done today.