Soo, yesterday I talked about how I’m going to make more of an effort to let you see more of the messy, imperfect parts of my life, and I thought today would be a good day to start that!
Some of you have wondered how I manage to keep my house “so neat and clean” (which is funny to me because I don’t remember posting much in the way of pictures of my house).
I like to have a clean house, this much is true. A neat, simple, uncluttered environment makes me feel happy and at peace.
Ahhhhh.
But the fact of the matter is, because I have four young-ish children who are home with me all the time, keeping things perfectly neat all the time is nigh onto impossible.
I do manage to keep parts of my house neat and clean, so it’s sort of rare for the entire house to be a mess. But it is equally rare for the whole entire house to be clean at one time.
Quite honestly, I think the last time my dwelling place was completely neat top-to-bottom was 5 years ago when we were selling our townhouse, and it took a solid week of work (and schlepping the kids off onto my mom!) to get it that way.
So, while my living room often looks the way it does in the above picture, other areas of my house usually do not.
Most often, the messiest place in my house is my office. For some reason, I just cannot manage to keep this room consistently clean. Want to see? I snapped some pictures yesterday before I undertook a massive cleanup effort.
(I apologize for the poor lighting and blur in these pictures. My office is super dark, and I think I screwed up a focus setting. I’m still learning how to use my new camera body!)
My scrapbooking desk, which is also where Joshua does his schoolwork.
The office closet.
General chaos.
More of the same.
Piles of old laptops that need to be sold on Ebay (they’re broken/missing parts, and the company my brother works for was getting rid of them).
More general mess.
I’m happy to report that the office is in MUCH better shape now than it was yesterday (I can shut the closet doors again, for one thing!), but I am sure that it is only a matter of time before it degenerates into messiness again.
I’m pretty sure that my very-neat grandmother (who subscribes to my blog via email) has fainted after seeing all of my mess, and maybe some of you have too! But, I hope that this post helps to wipe away any notion you had about me being a perfect housekeeper or me having it all together. I live a real life with 4 real children, and whether or not I like it, messes just have to be a part of my life right now.
One day, if all goes well, my kids are going to leave home, and I’m pretty sure my house will be a lot neater and a lot cleaner then. But I’m also pretty sure that I’m going to fiercely miss those mess-making people of mine, and that’s what I try to remind myself of when I’m stepping over craft supplies and crayons and legos and papers.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
I know that office. There is one just like it in Michigan.
Well, my office feels less embarrassed now. lol
I’m in the course of moving and let me tell you there is so much junk in the world I often wonder who wants a lot of it. Still, there are people who buy those broken laptops. I just gave some parts and stuff to a friend of mine and he got one working again.
All I can say is that your office encouraged me so much! (My office/schoolroom is about 50% worse than yours!) Why do we find it encouraging that others have the same struggles that we do, I wonder…? Anyway, I promised my hubby that I’d have mine in better shape by Wednesday, and yikes! that’s tomorrow, so I’d better get working!
Ahhhhhh, I feel better about my piles of randomness in just about every room right now! I plan to make some headway on the clutter today! Thank you for sharing
I just love this post, thanks for being real! Especially because I know you are very naturally a clean and organized person. That picture is everywhere but two rooms in our house today. I don’t know how it goes from clean to disaster so quickly… today the big goal is to clean clean clean all those other rooms.
You are too funny! We don’t get to see it cleaned up? The “keeping it real” idea is a good one. But it was also fun to have you be “aspirational.” Can’t please us if you do, can’t please us if you don’t
LOL But whether you’re neat, or messy…have it all together all the time, or don’t…you’ve saved me tons of money at the grocery store and we’re eating healthier. So, as far as I’m concerned, you rock!
I will take an “after” picture tomorrow. lol I better hurry before the mess invades again!
I also need to add that my mom thinks I’m a bit crazy to go to three grocery stores
I so enjoyed this post….especially because I share my home and life with three little mess makers and one big one (my husband!
) Thanks for the reminder that someday my life will be calmer and my house stay cleaner – and I’ll be lonely for my sweet kids.
I have to say that our office is the worst room in the house to clean … it gets cluttered so easily and there’s not much space in there to begin with. Thanks for “keeping it real”.
I think most women assume that just about everyone has it “together” more than they do. I certainly do. Why do we do this to ourselves?
My husband loves me even when our house is a disaster area, and God certainly loves me, so why am I disappointed in myself?
I think it’s because we tend to not be real with other women. We put up a front because we’re scared of what people will think of us if they see the real deal, you know?
You are soooo right! The women at my son’s school put on a false front and are extremely competitive. I hate it!
I’m glad I’m not the only one. lol
Okay, seriously, I am cracking up looking at your “messy” scrapbook/homework desk with like 3 out of place items as I glance over at my own scrapbook desk with literally about 6 inches of randomness piled on top! lol.
In my defense though, we just kind of rearranged some things, so some of that pile is moving-in-process that I wasn’t able to get to due to our trip this past weekend.
That’s just because I haven’t been scrapping much lately! lol Mostly that desk has been used for Joshua’s schoolwork.
And, I have to say that I’m glad for “realness” as well. I’ve seen that you have received a lot of conflicting comments on that topic (some who say you should be real, and some who say you should share only positive), so I thought I would throw my opinion out there as well for what it’s worth. I personally appreciate a glimpse of your struggles. It inspires me more than the allusion of perfection. If you admit that you struggle as well, then it makes it seem more attainable for me to improve my own time management, organization, and other issues. If you don’t share any struggles then it’s easy to write it off and say “Well, it’s easy for her, but it wouldn’t work for me.” I think that seeing other people had similar struggles but they still practice self-discipline to get through them and persevere is inspiring.
I hope this makes sense and sorry it’s so long.
Thanks for the feedback! I know some people prefer to see only the positive, but I think that blogging that way has the potential to be destructive and discouraging. So, I’m going to throw in peeks of realness every now and then.
I agree with Crystal!!
And Kristen, I am so smiling to myself about this post, since I think I may have spurred something.
I also remind myself that the noise, the clutter, and the radomness of the children will all be gone one day and my husband and I will be sitting watching re-runs and the news, looking forward to our highlight of the week, grocery trip!!
But…when I can’t take the clutter anymore, I stay up and de-clutter and enjoy it for an hour or two to give myself some peace. I also use the time that my niece/mother’s helper is here during the summer to get more organized. I have SEVERAL projects waiting for her arrival this month!!
Generally, we are cluttered, messy, but happily moving around it all.
Thanks for sharing your real-ness!!
Georgia
Well, welcome to the human race!
My desk space is messy too. And it bugs me when its messy, it’s like it makes my mind cloudy. So I normally clean it or cover it to keep myself from thinking about it. I don’t have an office, but I imagine it would be messy too, lol.
I have a question, totally unrelated, I was curious about your family? You mention going to a sister’s house or playing with their kids… I was just curious how many siblings you have and where you are in the age order. Also, have you always enjoyed your place in the family? For example: I hated being the oldest growing up. I resented that I didn’t have an older brother and that I had to be the role model. ha. But now I love being the oldest sibling.
Oh, and thanks for these pictures. They encourage me. I have been learning recently to declutter my house. I just have thrown away huge amounts of stuff. They’ve just been sitting in the spare bedroom since I got married a year ago and haven’t been opened. I figured I didn’t need them.
Thanks so much for posting the photos. It seems almost impossible for me to keep my tiny office neat and tidy, and I don’t have kids so it’s only me making that mess! Magazines and newspapers full of ideas, notebooks full of ideas, bills to pay, the list goes on and on, and is a continual project.
It’s funny but true that it is a relief to peek into your “real” life.
Do you actually use those Knifty Knitter looms that are on the floor in the closet? lol I have a set that I haven’t touched in years and should probably get rid of them.
Lisey received those as a gift, but they came with no instructions! I need to go online and figure out how to use them.
I have to say that I’m still incredibly impressed how clean you manage to keep the rest of your house – especially with 4 kids and light-colored carpet!! You do a great job! And I’ve never got the impression from reading your blog that you’re perfect — your attitude is always great and very real.
Oh, there are spots on my carpet, trust me! The living room has been recently steam-cleaned, though.
We do have a no-food-on-the-carpet rule and we always take our shoes off indoors, though, so those two things help a lot.
I say never let orderliness get in the way of creativity! When I was a professional artist, the studio was a disaster zone even though my house was pin-perfect. But I knew where stuff was, and I didn’t want to lose the groove by slowing down to pick up! When a project was done, then I cleaned. My workroom is the least organized room in the house right now, followed by the shared office. But we manage, and it isn’t unsanitary! If you can still find the children, then it’s not out of control.
love those pics. i love uncluttered spaces too. but full time job and a 4 year old means that doesnt happen much here either. most of time, my house is that general chaos you had.
i agree that one day when 4 year old is gone, the house will be spotless because i’ll be so bored without her. now, i like the general chaos because it reminds me i have all the time in the world to clean later. now, i’d rather be with her.
thanks for posting
What it is about offices? They’re alway my worst spot too. It’s worse at work because what I do there is creative and the “mess” has to stay out till it has populated my brain (which can be a while), whereas what I do at my home desk is routine paperwork that can be filed/tossed/shredded immediately.
I don’t consider your messy photos to be negative. It would be negative to talk all the time about how whiny your kids are. It’s just real life to talk about how your house is not always tidy. Do you feel your food waste photos are negative? Maybe messy room photos will become like food waste photos – a public accounting and a history of improvement.