Ever have that feeling where you hate everything in your house? I'm having that feeling these days. I wish I could just get rid of it all, make the walls white again, and start from scratch with no preconceived notions.
Our house feels closed off and dysfunctional. Nothing seems to have a place and it seems perpetually dirty. It feels monotone and impersonal. I can't seem to think outside of the "usual."
Perhaps because I spend so much time here these days or perhaps it is the new-found presence of baby gear - bouncy seats and burp clothes and bibs that are ever-present. Perhaps it's the lack of money available to do projects or buy new furniture and the lack of energy to do free fix ups. It feels heavy.
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So now that that is off my chest - what are you going to do about it, Claire? (Third person is required for self motivation blog posts). For starters, you need to stop the self pity. If you don't like it, do something about it.
So here's my plan:
- Make a cleaning plan - for real this time: I've talked about doing this for forever, but it's never happened. I totally have cleaning ADD - I will start in one room and then end up in another. The result is many unfinished tasks and general chaos. I need a list to go by and stick to. I want to do a one-room-per-day type of plan - bathrooms on Monday, kitchen on Tuesday, etc, but I also need a "do daily" list. We are bad about doing dishes right away, and I can never seem to put laundry away in a timely fashion. This kind of laziness allows simple cleaning to become overwhelming. Also, things like dusting and mopping get done too infrequently.
I vow to make this plan and print it on fancy paper in a fancy font and post it so I will actually do it...
- Make a project list: I feel like I never do any house projects any more - partly from practicality (time, money, energy) and partly from laziness. There are many things I want done - so I'm going to make a list of all the projects I'd like to do - big and small. If I have a moment, I can peruse the list and take action. For the big projects, Tony and I can choose one together to save up for or tackle slowly.
- Think creatively: Maybe it will require literally taking everything off the shelves and off the walls in order to rethink and change perspective. So be it. A simple and free change up could go a long way.
- Get organized!: I have to say, that our closets and home in general are fairly organized, especially after I did a crazy pregnant nesting clean out a few months ago. But I still feel like a lot of our house clutter is due to items not having a functional place to go. I want to tackle each room and get it truly organized.
I'll share my progress as I go. It starts today.