Start at the Very Begining

The first step of the new cleaning plan I am trying is to let your house get good and messy. I was able to skip this step. We just got back from traveling for Christmas and came home to 4 house guests. So, with new stuff in the house, suitcases out, and about a week of 8 people living here, I thought the first step had been reached. In all honesty I actually cleaned a little during this step because I wanted to take the Christmas tree down before I started.

The next step is to start a journal of your mess. We are going to give this system a fair shake on the main floor of our home before trying to convert the children so I have only done half the house. To start you make pictures of your mess. This is to give you a great "before" shot and also because it is easier to see the mess you step over everyday when you look at it in a picture.

The next step is to describe the mess. This was a bit painful.

Now you write down your excuse for each problem. The inner child in me was great at this step. A lot of blame got passed around.

Now comes the time for the 100 year clean. It is like a 100 year flood, but with a mop and vacuum. I started in my den and performed a cleaning so profound that the neighbors might have wondered if we were trying to sell the house. After that was done I was able to think through the next few steps to make the necessary changes to the room.

Tonight I am very pleased with myself. My first room was a great success to this point. If it still looks even half this good next week I will call it a win.

The Family Room before

Drum roll please...

the after!

The area under the jumbo tron has been completely reworked so that a lot of the mess now has a neat home there. I have also managed to hide a good sized toy box in this room. I removed 2 side tables that were serving no purpose other than to be a flat surface to hold random junk. No table, no where for stuff to sit. Genius! It is a little on the minimalist side, but if it stays clean, who cares? One big win already is that I vacuumed the drapes and found about an inch of dust in my vacuum when I finished. We are no longer breathing that in.