How can I be the first?

Laurie, only YOU can make cleaning a zen thing.

[And that's not a bad thing!]

As long as you have to clean, make it the best clean you can.
.

Is that pink marabou trim on her gloves? Definitely glamourous.

Dang, can I get Aggie and Kim and their crew over to deep clean my house? I'm perfectly happy with uncluttering, straightening and dusting but anything else is too much like real work.

I think I'll skip right to the wine.

Laurie, great job on straightening your house along with your life!

i do my very best cleaning while wearing a tiara.

Laurie,

The thought of deep cleaning makes me go CRAZY!!!! However, when seen and analyzed via your perspective it makes me want to get up early on a Saturday morning and DEEP-CLEAN!!

I do not clean, tidy whatever you want to call it Monday thru Friday 13-15 hour days are enough for me!! All I do is dishes after dinner and call it a day, everyhting else can fall apart Mon-Fri!! LMAO

"I kept up the maintenance, vacuuming, always keeping the litter box tidy, washing up on the weekends, but I didn't deep clean anything."

You mean maintenance, vacuuming, always keeping the litter box tidy, washing up on the weekends, isn't enough?

I'm in big trouble then.

Those ladies are crazy and they will smell anything. Pewey, pewey, stinky, stewey!

I'm keep trying to buy into the cleaning bit but it is hard and nobody helps or cares but me, so I do what I can to keep it sane and healthy. A little dirt will not kill you, is my excuse.

Some day when the boys are grown and on there own I will get my clean house.

Laurie -- If you're interested, you might want to check out a website I write for ... Unclutterer ... http://unclutterer.com

I don't mean to put a big ol' ad up in your comments section, but since I regularly read your site I don't feel totally weird about it. I'm not a spammer, I promise!! :)

I do agree that having an orderly home makes stress and life easier to manage. You know how you feel when you have on a pair of sexy panties and no one else knows? Kind of like that :)

Did you see the one where they didn't even have a sink in their bathroom and they had to go upstairs to wash their hands (and you know they didn't!) -- they found some nasty germs in that one -- totally grossed me out!!

Love that show - it's that comparison thing for me...at least I'm not that bad -- as I run to disinfect the bathroom!!

Cleaning + decluttering + redecorating = great place to enjoy that well-deserved gin and tonic.

Sometimes I do laundry as a centering activity. I don't LIKE doing laundry but there's something calming about it anyway.

I can't do laundry right now because our house has no running water. With the drought here in Minnesota, all the farmers around me have been running their irrigators for days at a time (got to have corn for all that corn-based ethanol) and our well has run dry.

So we're using the money we had earmarked for our bathroom remodeling to get a new well drilled. There's not much point in replacing avocado-green fixtures if you don't have any water to run through them.

That's my tale for the 2007 Summer O' Woe.

Shit. You've done it again, Laurie, inspired me to do something I was perfectly okay ignoring.

I have to agree that Mon thru Fri I do pretty well just to get the dinner dishes into the dishwasher, and weekends have been crazy all summer. So now I'm seriously considering taking a week of vacation to do something about the state of my house!

I am addicted to that show to. It always makes me feel like my house is immaculate after I see it! And a clean enviornment really does clear the mind and aid in a better self esteem.

Can I have the British ladies here when Amy is done? I live with 3 adults that suffer from L.I.W.I.L. (leave it where it lands)and I'm not sure how much longer I will last... (or maybe it's S.E.W.D.I.(someone else will do it)

Thank you so much for writing about this show! I will mos def be tivo-ing it myself. And thank you for putting into words so succinctly how I feel about cleaning and having a clean house. You've re-inspired me to keep up with those deep cleans. :)

Love that show! Like some of the other commenters, it makes me feel like my house is pretty darn clean when I see how some of those people live. How are they not dead from all the germs, bacteria and dirt? Yuck!

I wish it inspired me to pause the Tivo and jump up and clean my sink like you, but I have to admit it hasn't. It makes me want to clean, but after the show is over.

I also find cleaning to be a great way to relax and chill out (when it's done on my own schedule). However, the only way I could clean early enough in the morning before it gets hot here in Atlanta is if I start around 4:30 a.m.

"Unless by 'scrub brush' you mean 'wine glass.'"
That is my kind of cleaning!

I cleaned like a maniac when I was single. Then I got a doggie. Things got a little messy sometimes, but I still tidied. Then I got a kitty. A little more to clean... Then I got a husband, and that more than doubled my laundry. Then I got a kid, and I gave up.

If I can make my way through the junk to reach my bed at nite, I consider myself successful. Life's too short to have an immaculate house.

Wow! Thanks for this! I am in the throes of decluttering for an eventual move (like, this house needs to be listed by November or I'm going to scream!) While I would love nothing more than some proper British ladies to come in and whisk my house clean with a team of experts, I know that won't happen. I will take the challenge with you, Laurie! I will deep clean every room in my house during the month of August! That way, I will know what needs to be fixed or spruced up before we list, and I will already begin getting rid of things that don't need to come with us into a new house! Now, where in the HELL is the vacuum?!?!

Zucchini alert:
http://www.gardeners.com/Zucchini-Dog-Yard-Decoration/default/StandardCatalog.HarvestDecorating_Cat.36-667.cpd?SC=KNA7031B

When you're done, can you come to my house?

I know you read your comments more quickly than your email...so here's a little snippet from something I emailed you just now. Unrelated to cleaning, but VERY related to zucchini.

"Nothing conveys the bounty of a summer garden quite like zucchini. Prolific to the point of absurdity, there is even a holiday dedicated to giving them away. If your garden is teeming with this green squash, or a neighbor has given you too many extras, there are plenty of uses for this late-summer treat."

I always find myself cleaning/organizinge I get stressed out. For some reason, if my environment is neat and tidy, then my insides and thoughts must be too. When I was in college and in the middle of finals, I used to take a break from studying and clean out and reorganize my desk. Worked wonders for my sanity.

Oooh - zen home + decluttered home = zen Laurie!

Music is always necessary for cleaning. I keep trying to get myself into my old routine of years ago. Sunday morning I would get up and clean out the fridge. This meant at least once a month emptying it out completely and really cleaning it. Then I would make me shopping list. On the way back from the grocery store, I would stop to buy flowers. I'd arrange the flowers and start cooking Sunday dinner. While dinner was cooking, I would scrub down everything else. If I timed it right, dinner would be ready around the same time that everything was cleaned. Then I could sit in my clean apartment and enjoy a good meal.

That show is pretty awesome, I just started watching it myself. BBC America is the best channel ever.

It does strike me as odd, though, that they don't really talk about the deep underlying reasons that the houses got so out of hand in the first place. Like that guy who walked dogs and hadn't cleaned his house in 10 years? Something had to be going on there.

I reckon that having the ladies come in and scrub the house inside and out probably inspires many of those people to examine what got them to that state anyway.

It's a good plan, cleaning up from the outside in. I love it!

Coming out of lurking to tell you about flylady.net.
I use the timer for 15 minutes and the 27-fling-boogie for decluttering...
You don't have to fully commit to it, but she helps you get started to a cleaner house with some of her tips, if you are interested.
I love your blog. :)

Laurie - You have the uncanny knack of putting into words the thoughts from my head. Thank you!!!

With three cats I can't keep up with all the cat hair. And why is there always litter all the way down the hallway? Riley's newest trick is tearing up a sheet of cardboard, so that's all over the living room floor now too. I picked up all the little bits the other day, and he promptly ripped up some more so I gave up. And to think we did a major clean a couple of weeks ago after the flea episode.

I totally agree with you about how changing your environment works as a catalyst to change your internal state. It's true. I sometimes feel that I can't even think when things are too messy.

And that show is pretty funny. But those places they clean are awful!

I'm afraid to watch that show. I'm afraid I might be on it.

And I'm not sure I can get past the disgust of the nasty house and enjoy newly-cleaned one....

My best friend is a clean freak (and in a good way!) and she loves this show. There is a version where the ladies come to the US - I think it is on Lifetime.

I need to do some deep cleaning as well - perhaps I should watch a couple of episodes to get inspired!

Delurking to shout-out to Sarah (do people still say that?) I'm totally a stress cleaner too! During college finals I got so routine-bound that was never so "organized" as then... I ate 3 square meals, cleaned my apt, and did laundry.

"Midway through the second episode, I had to pause the Tivo and go scour and clean my sink. I am not lying to you. I HAD TO SCOUR MY SINK IMMEDIATELY."

I had the same exact reaction to an Oprah show on the very same icky house/sink = massive scary germs subject. I jumped up from the couch in the middle of the show and started cleaning and bleaching everything in and around the sink!!! I am happy to report I continue to do so on a fairly regular basis. Nothing like a bacteria filled petri dish for motivation.

I love the British ladies also. They somehow make being shamed and humiliated seem sort of fun.

Dagnabit! ANOTHER show I'm now going to have to tivo!

Do you find that since you got tivo that you watch not only WAYYYYY too much tv ... but also shows you wouldn't normally watch?? I tell ya, I no longer have TIME for a man in my life!!! ;) Now excuse me while I get back to watching "Rock of Love" and "Ace of Cakes"!

Must. Be. TIVOed.

Now, you're going to call me crazy, I know that, but clutter prevents energy from flowing freely, I think. And since, right now, I'm in the middle of moving in with the man who is the biggest packrat ever, I've forwarded all your posts about this topic to him already. Let's hope they stick (not to the clutter, of course!).

OK, I honestly hate to clean, but I am SO mopping my kitchen floor on Sunday morning. Thanks for the kick in the pants! I wonder if that show is available on NetFlix?

Thank you for putting it all into words for me. Deep cleaning one room at a time is the first thing I seem to do when my life is falling apart. It is empowering to see at least one thing organized. I separated 1 1/2 years ago from my hubby and I find myself beginning to clean once again. My kids are probably so thankful I am doing something besides daily maintenance. Keep up the great work!

You said it so well - it does honor. When my place is 'clean' my head is more quiet, my house seems calm and a place I can 'be'. I really like knowing what is in every corner of my place...drawers, behind furniture. It is like your budget epiphany - when I know how much money I have (or don't) it just quiets my head down; life becomes 'now' and clear and managable. Really like the breaking it down to a room at a time...very cool.

People can tell my overall mental state as soon as they enter my house. If it's spotless, watch out! I'm ready to rip heads off. I hate cleaning, but it's my favourite way to work of angry energy, cuz my mood wouldn't get any worse anyway. Most of the time we live in a state of comfortable clutter, but it's extremely obvious when I'm feeling completely overwhelmed by life.

I'll have to check it out. When we bought our house, a friend told us that once you own a house you learn what "spring cleaning" is. When you rent, you tend to move every few years and never need to do a deep clean while you're still living there. (Long-term renting counts in the owning category - not moving frequently enough to clear things out in some sort of cyclical pattern.)

mmmm...going to have to DVR that. I have been decluttering in super slow motion for a while now. Maybe that show will get me motivated too!

Ah-ha!! More converts to my Evil Cleaning Ways! I used to be way too crazy about cleaning - when I started, I couldn't stop. Literally. Up until 2 am cleaning. "Hello, crazy lady!" I've since learned to relax a bit (the knitting helps a lot, and so does my son). When visitors are coming, I have a new rule: 20 minute of cleaning, no more.

But I definitely feel the Tao of Cleaning. When I'm sad or depressed, I clean, thinking "at least I'll have a clean place to be sad in." But it always lifts my spirits, and it is indeed a moving meditation. I usually watch weird and stupid TV while I clean, or play music really LOUD.

I'll join in on the "Crazy Aunt Purl's August of Deep Cleaning Zen-osity". I'm starting with the bedroom this weekend. Symbolic, yes? I hear Anna-Liza snorting.

re: giant zucchini

A friend of mine, who is an organic farmer, says that she and her family used to hollow out giant zucchini and make them into boats to floats on the lake. Not sure if you have a body of water around (well, the kiddie-pool probably counts) but zucchini boat races sound like a lot of fun.
Happy Cleaning!

Does that show visit the US? Because my sister totally needs them to come to her place. I love her and all - but really. The place is beyond messy -its really quite gross and dirty. I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until I dropped off my cat there for her to watch while I went on vacation.

And I felt a little worried for my cat! Not to mention my 5 year old niece!! I wonder if my future brother-in-law has seen her place in it's natural state. Or just in it's "cleaned-for-company" state. Hmmmm...

I digress... Having spent time at her place the last three weekends, and reading your recent posts have really inspired me to declutter a lot in my life. I have my bed at an angle in the far corner of my room. The space created behind it is "storage". ugh! Crap that's occupying the space where I had planned to hang some artwork, and maybe a nice focal-point thingy. Then there's my closet. (yikes!) and my storage unit! (double yikes! plus I'm paying extra each month just to store extra crap!)

So- I'm visiting my storage unit at lunch to do a visual evaluation. Then I'm tackling the space behind my bed this Saturday.

Thank you for inspiring me! I know a lot of this stuff is totally uneccessary in my life now. I feel like I walk around in a Winter-Jacket-Of-My-Former-Life. When I could be better enjoying the Summer-of-Now!

Love that show! I feel so much better about my mess when I watch it, and I can't believe people actually live like that.

I used to do a good cleaning twice a year when my family would come to visit. Unfortunately my parents aren't up to coming that far anymore, so I don't have any 'reminders' that a good cleaning is needed, hence it's getting more and more messy. It certainly feels 'lighter' when I've put stuff away, but I tend not to notice the mess day-to-day until it's gone.

Flylady has worked for me in the past, but I let it slide (like my diet *sigh*) and I can't get motivated enough to get back into the swing of Flying. I'm trying to start over AGAIN though.

your last two posts have touched such a nerve in me, it brings me to tears. I know how much our cluttered home affects my anxiety and depression ridden mind- I know the steps that need to be taken but it is so hard. I'm so overwhelmed, so discouraged. And I know that the obstacles I put in my own way are preventing me from truly living now. I hate it. I want to stop this merry-go-round.
I'm holding your posts close to my heart and am going to try to take one step at a time. Thank you for being such an open and beautiful person.

OMG I love to clean. Not the maintenance kind of clean, but the serious scrubs and wipe down kind. And also organizing and filing things. My friends call it my "nesting" habits, and I agree with them, it's my way of settling in. And honoring the space, and rewarding myself, just like you said Laurie.

And there's immediate gratification in cleaning! I mean, just LOOK at how shiny the sink is! And how squeaky clean the bathtub is!! It's also mindless enough but keeps me busy, and I sort through a lot of thinking while I clean. Just let my mind wander, and if I get anxious or worried or stressed, well, just scrub the pot harder... which is better than grabbing the nearest bag of chips - and then I'm done thinking things through and I feel less stressed, and oh my! Did I mention how shiny the sink is?

:) Happy Friday!! FINALLY!

How and where do I sign up to be the recipient of the cleaning ladies. S.O.S., i.e., HELP meeee (remember that movie, The Fly, hee hee)

I've always been guilty of leaving the cleaning until someone was coming over--the 'shame me into cleaning' method. But your post reminds me that I'm worth having a clean house for, too.

Hey, I need 'em! As long as they keep their hooks off the yarn....

I worked on the US season of HCIYH with Kim and Aggie. I also had to make new gloves for those ladies for each episode. And yes we went to some insanely disgusting houses. You have no idea. Email me and I'll give you all the sordid details...

Get me mad and I will deep clean anything. That seems to be my way of blowing off steam. Crazy hu?

I haven't watched the show yet, but I just set it on my DVR. ;)

I have loved that show for years! I look at my own home sometimes and wonder to myself, ' if I got burgled, how long would it take for me to realise it?' it affects my piece of mind how untidy I am - yet still not bad enough to feature on that show (but then, there but for the grace of God go any one of us, I suppose).

And yes, we all do talk like that (yeah, right)!

Time to put down the wine glass and pick up the duster!

Um, maybe tomorrow.

Laurie.. I just finished deep cleaning my house. It's a giant old Colonial with 14 rooms. I started the week school vacation did.. and finished last week. It's so nice to have a clean house. I deep clean 2x a year.. spring and late fall/early winter (ok I was late on spring this year). You go girl.... I find cleaning relaxing when I am very stressed out. It gives me control over something.

Great show, and yes, I know what you mean. My clutter has gotten a wee bit out of control lately - too many things on the pile of "must set this aside because it has to be dealt with urgently" - which of course it hasn't been. sigh.

I did actually deal with two things yesterday and put them in the mail and everything. Now to check the bills. Tra la, what a life of unending excitement and flat-out drama.

As a Brit I can inform you that this show is very very popular over here (but is shown on Channel 4 (yes, we are still in the single digits :D) so you won't find it on the Beeb website). It never fails to make me feel better about the levels of dirt in my house (although the top of the fridge might be a danger zone).

Here are three show related pieces of info you might like :D

1) Aggie used to work for MI5 :D She went for a basic job and got hauled in for something fancy...
2) A can of Coke down the loo works wonders, as does a few denture cleaning tablets (which are also good for tea/coffee stains in mugs)
3) There is a book! You NEED this book.

Oh, and finally, you can buy marigolds like Kim and Aggie's in the shops here now :) Maybe they will ship to the US?
http://www.jamespirie.com/standrews/display.cfm?ManID=29&gclid=CM-aiNT32Y0CFQRBMAodVyGIag

:D

I adore the show. But I really loved it when they were on A&E with the American version. Well, same British ladies but some good old American filth. Swabs of the fridge regularly would reveal a science experiment gone horribly awry, and when they mentioned anything about bicarb or biological washing powder, they would be met with blank stares from homeowners who couldn't imagine where they would ever find such chemical wonders in their city.
I used to have clutter but when I cleaned a closet once, I found a family of scorpions and it motivated me to keep everything tidy. I still have the occasional scorpion, gecko, and ground snake but I chalk that up to having a dog door in the desert, and with a clean house, I see them easily.
Clean your windows with a spray bottle of strong tea and newspaper. No fumes and the windows look great. And if you have bits of crumbs or dust in your cabinets and drawers, you really must have a Dirt Devil Kone. The handiest hand vac of all time. It's always there and always charged. And I don't have to hide it!
I love love love to clean. It's an illness.

That show is further proof that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" because only superhumans could live in some of those places. It's a scary thing.

I love this show too. That and Clean Sweep. I keep a pretty neat/clean home--as neat/clean as you can with 2 boys and a dog--but honestly watching these shows give me the kick in the pants to get up and CLEAN every time I see them.

Another good Brit cleaning show is called "Cleanaholics" - it's on BBC Canada but I don't know about BBC America. I find myself watching it so I can see what extreme cleaning looks like as it will never ever happen in my house.

*sigh* It's the "stuck" part that always gets me. Well, that and the "running out of steam right after I've pulled everything out of the closet and put it on my bed" part.

I totally understand cleaning being a zen thing. I love cleaning. And it's really great when I am upset and feel like life is spiraling out of my control. Cleaning My Universe (aka my 650 square foot house) makes me feel in control again. It makes me feel good. So I totally understand the love of cleaning.

Oh my god !

I so enjoy this show, I watched it with the kids and they love it too! It made want to clean but it also made me feel like my place was not the messy hell I always thought it was.

I am myself waking up from a divorce. I was in a daze and surviving for the last year but I made a concious decision to live and for that I have decided it was time to invest in decorating my place. I do not have any clutter cause the divorce pretty much made me throw stuff away (in anger and a good dose of wine) but I never took the time to really brigthen my place, now it's time to make it mine and make my life and me better.

Love,

A.

p.s. I come from Montreal and I would NEVER use a bag from one store at another store. It's just WRONG for me, I would totally feel like a cheating customer if I did that.

BTW I think you'll find it *is* bicarbonate of soda, I've always wondered what the hell a stick of butter is, perhaps you could enlighten me? ;)

Don't let cleaning take over your life hun, it expands to fill the time you give it. There's having a nice home which you feel happy in and then there's scary perfectionist OCD cleaning - remember to take the wine with you...

I LOVE THIS SHOW. I'm not blessed enough to have the joys of TiVo, but I do get BBC America. Goodness, these ladies sure know how to kick you in the knickers, don't they? But in a kind and loving way, with lots of rubber gloves with maribou feathers at the cuffs, and "washing-up liquid" and lemons.

Also? I kind of love how they smell EVERYTHING. And then I am super-glad I am not there.

i wish i got BBC America - i would watch it just as a reminder that my house isn't all that bad after all.

i live with a man that leaves things like power drills and crowbars on the bedroom chair.

I totally get that decluttering your environment is also decluttering your mind and your life.

I'm a bit of a neat-freak myself. I just can't seem to relax till I hit a specific point in "all is tidy in my house."

BTW: Lemon juice and salt work wonders cleaning the inside of your coffeepot. This works best if you buy the kosher salt as the grains are much larger and take longer to dissolve. Also, kosher salt and a little bit of oil and lots of rubbing make for really clean/well-seasoned cast iron.

Another helper in the declutter field is author Julie Morgenstern. Her book is "Organizing from the Inside Out"; there is a video by the same title. (I have no connection to her or whoever publishes her stuff.) She takes the approach that organizing is different than decluttering and is probably different for everybody. I found it rather inspirational.

Please, anyone overwhelmed by decluttering should check out Flylady.net. It changed how I looked at my clutter and enabled me to not only get rid of it, but keeps it from getting out of hand again. She teaches you how to clean in 15 minute installments so you don't get overwhelmed. And Laurie, she even says the whole thing starts with "shining your sink" and gives a lesson on how to thoroughly do it.

Smitten Kitchen has zucchini recipes today. I'm just sayin...

I love Kim and Aggie too, for the same reason that many have mentioned. The show makes me feel good about my own house. Most days I don't feel that great about it, but if I can manage to catch an episode of Kim and Aggie, I realise it's just not that bad! Just wanted to point out though that while Kim might be a lovely proper English lady, Aggie is definitely Scottish!

I love that show. It allows me to (very clearly) define the parameters of Them and Me.

As for actual cleaning (as opposed to watching people clean on TV), you might want to check out www.flylady.net .

~Angela

I love you Laurie! You rock! Reading your ramblings is the highlight of my day.

Hooray for How Clean is Your House! I discovered this gem on a cross-country flight - they were doing a marathon. I was sad when the plane landed because I couldn't watch the end of the episode. SAD TO GET OFF A PLANE AFTER A 7 HOUR FLIGHT. Now that's entertainment.

I'm a 39-year old single gal looking for my soul mate. In all my dating sagas, I've discovered that an important quality I want in a man is cleanliness. I've dated so many guys who live like pigs and they honestly don't think it's worth an inkling of effort to maintain their living space (even if that means hiring a maid). I also hate it when men drive filthy, grimy cars. I feel that keeping homes and cars clean is pride in ownership. Sadly, I'm still looking for my (clean) man and have no prospects on the horizon...

I once heard a story about an extremely poor family with young children. Even though there was no money for nice things, the mother of the household kept the house sparkling clean, the children sparking clean, and their somewhat shabby clothes clean and pressed. She said, soap and water is all it takes, plus a little elbow grease. They have their pride. I love that story!

OH MY GOD!! That is my new favorite show too!! I started Tivo-ing the episodes about three weeks ago and I love them!!! It satisfies my need to be nosy and peek into other peoples' homes, it makes me feel better about my house and I love all the cleaning tips and natural products!!

I was going to write about it on my blog too. My husband is totally skeeeeeved by the show and will not watch it with me. It's on here at 3, 3:30pm and 7:30 pm. I can't wait to fold laundry this weekend and watch a bunch.

I started cleaning and decluttering our spare bedroom (you know the guest/craft/yarn/tv/playroom that fills me with shame)last weekend and it almost looks like a room someone would actually use!!

I'll shut up now!! Have a great weekend, sweetie!! Do you have rubber gloves with fur on the top like Aggie and Kim??

I love that show too! How Fabulous are their gloves! I love anyone that can accessorize rubber gloves. I totally agree with you that cleaning is calming. Everytime something bad, stressful, painful, etc. happens I clean. Good luck with your deep clean!

Love that show too! All the comments are so interesting today; for those non-neat/clean freaks trying to get motivated I recommend any books by the 'slob sisters', Pam Young and Peggy Jones. They argue that the reason most self-help cleaning books don't work for many of us is that they are written by the 'naturally neat', and we slobs have a different approach and personality. They are so funny and they changed the way I live and clean. I am not totally organized or even totally clean, but they make it possible. Words which helped me: "Remember, your house did not get this way overnight, so it won't be better immediately either. Be patient with yourself." Don't let yourself be overwhelmed, nyjlm. You can do it.

Hey Laurie,

Again, another wonderful post ! I have a lot of mixed feelings myself about cleaning. I love having a clean house, but find that I am exhausted after working all day, when I come home from work I want to relax. So I try to get my "cleaning" done on the weekends, which I find more and more difficult to do since my husband is home on Saturdays now, and I wonder if any one else has that issue, or is it just me ?

Another problem I have is that as I get older I am more easily distracted, perhaps a little adult onset ADD ? ;)

Also, we are in the middle of remodeling our entire house, and I really have no storage at this time, and with all the dusty work going on, I feel overwhelmed !! My worst thing to clean ? Our damn wood blinds !! I wanted them so badly, but now I wish we hadn't gotten them, they are SO hard to keep clean. Between the dust outside our house, and the dust inside, the hair from the one dog and three cats, and two humans, and the ash from our wood burning stove, I could dust them every day !! Which is just not going to happen.

When I win the lotto ;), the first thing I'll do is hire a cleaning lady !!

Well everyone, enjoy your cleaning/de cluttering.

Ciao,

Beth Ann

P.S.-if you get the chance to check out "Missing Persons" on Court TV, check it out, it's really good ! I watched about 20 episodes one day and became midly addicted to it, and now I can't find when it's on normally, and I don't have Tivo :(

Hey Laurie,

Again, another wonderful post ! I have a lot of mixed feelings myself about cleaning. I love having a clean house, but find that I am exhausted after working all day, when I come home from work I want to relax. So I try to get my "cleaning" done on the weekends, which I find more and more difficult to do since my husband is home on Saturdays now, and I wonder if any one else has that issue, or is it just me ?

Another problem I have is that as I get older I am more easily distracted, perhaps a little adult onset ADD ? ;)

Also, we are in the middle of remodeling our entire house, and I really have no storage at this time, and with all the dusty work going on, I feel overwhelmed !! My worst thing to clean ? Our damn wood blinds !! I wanted them so badly, but now I wish we hadn't gotten them, they are SO hard to keep clean. Between the dust outside our house, and the dust inside, the hair from the one dog and three cats, and two humans, and the ash from our wood burning stove, I could dust them every day !! Which is just not going to happen.

When I win the lotto ;), the first thing I'll do is hire a cleaning lady !!

Well everyone, enjoy your cleaning/de cluttering.

Ciao,

Beth Ann

P.S.-if you get the chance to check out "Missing Persons" on Court TV, check it out, it's really good ! I watched about 20 episodes one day and became midly addicted to it, and now I can't find when it's on normally, and I don't have Tivo :(

This doesn't fit anywhere in with this blog entry, but I think a sale on 'things we can't live without' perhaps warrants a quick note to you and any readers who are also devotees. Nordstrom's is having a sale on Spanx. Their normally priced $34 Spanx items are $25.50 with $5 shipping. (Not sure if this is only online or not.) Not an ad - just a notification - much like your blog entry about ColorStay Lip stuff and Magic Erasers.

Cleaning can definitely be active meditation - once in a great while I find myself home alone in the evening and slowly and methodically clean the kitchen. And I put a lit candle on each clean surface until at the end the whole place is glowing. The combination of light and aroma and lack of clutter and emptied brain is wonderful.

I tried to watch it once and when she (don't know which one) lifted someone else's toilet seat. I hit the channel button. Eew! I don't like cleaning my toilets and I'm pretty much the only person who uses them. I splurged and bought one of those disposable cleaner wand thingies the other day. I feel so decadent! I know, I know, the environment, I'll try to compensate another way.

Wow. I have never really given much thought to cleaning besides considering it a boring mundane task and woe is me but it is part of life (mostly only when company comes over.) You have shed some new light on this thing that I refer to as the bane of my existence. THANK YOU!

Just finished a session with the professional organizer. Yes, I have had to call in professional help as I couldn't get started going through my years of crap I mean stuff. After a certain point it was as though I couldn't bother to be at all neat b/c hey, who would notice if I just dropped the mail on the floor? One of the perils of living alone. I am working on getting it through my head that I too, deserve somewhere nice to live.

I didn't know you sewed! Yet another light you hide under a bushel. And I love How Clean is Your House, I prefer the UK version, I got annoyed with all the product placement in the US version.

Yes, I totally agree. After our last "clean maniacally for two full days in preparation for unexpected guests" episode, the house was utterly sparkling, and I woke up feeling...better than I had in ages! And I thought, wow, there must really be something to feng shui, because I feel like a totally different person in this clean-ass house. Just like so many things that seem like impositions or chores (eating right, exercising, etc.), cleaning house really is a gift you give yourself.

When I had cable tv I loved watching that show. Those women are hysterically funny. They were on Oprah a year or two ago and went into some homes that were too disgusting to describe. Made me feel good about my clean clutter.

I'm one of those weird people that gets great satisfaction from cleaning. And not just cleaning but disinfecting. It's just great to sit back and look at (and smell) your fresh clean home. Ahhhh!

I don't get BBC America at the moment, but I may check out the book!

I know the feeling tho - Clean Sweep and Clean House always motivate me to declutter.

I am always a day late and a dollar short. I finally start watching 'Dirty Jobs' and 'Deadliest Catch" and you are onto something else!
I have a feeling that show is like a train wreck-you don't want to watch but can't look away!
I started my decluttering process this week, before I lose my mind in the mess. The deep cleaning is going to have to wait though. One thing at a time. :)
and am I the only one who thinks the clean freak on the left looks like a man in drag???

Laurie, check out Flylady.com
Believe, me--you're Flying!

I totally love this show and I can eat dinner while watching it (of course, I used to eat lunch and type op/clinic notes at work).

Between that, Clean Sweep and Clean House, I really have the urge to really clean, declutter and organize my apartment. This lasts about maybe an hour or two but something gets done.

What's interesting is that most of the people on these shows are really fairly depressed, overwhelmed by something else, etc. I can think of only two people on "How Clean" who really didn't care how their house looked and admitted it would go back to the original state most likely (I'm looking at that woman from Scotland!).

Laurie, did you ever see "Life Laundry" on BBC America? It's a bit like Clean House but the woman doing it seemed like a psychologist. She actually touched on the psychological reasons for hoarding.

Just wait until you see the other version they do... If I recall correctly it's called 'too posh to wash' and is about people who can't even keep themselves clean, let alone their houses... (really, I kid you not!) we rechristened it 'how clean is your a*se' ;-P

I asked my (English) husband to say "poop sandwich" and it does sound just like "poop sandwich." Maybe his accent's gone bad?

Yes, I love the show too and it does wonders for my house also.

The best weekends are where I have a How Clean is Your House and Clean House marathon going on and I sit and knit and enjoy the show and during commercial breaks I am WAY inspired to jump up and clean something or organize something (or throw things out).

I get so much done and I'm practically purring with having my surroundings not remind me I have
THINGS TO DO. I think that is why it helps me relax, I don't leave work into a house that feels like more work is waiting.

Hi Laurie
You've inspired me to do a lot of things. Let's hope you can inspire me to clean my house too. :)
I'm going to Tivo this show. I've seen bits of it before but never sat down and paid close attention. I hope it works, my house would thank you.
Have a good weekend!
~AmyL

I love that show, too. They even did a few in America that used to be shown on LIFE channel on my cable. I keep thinking that these ladies also need a psychiatrist to come along with them. But they do that too! These folks need a kick in the *** and then a firm and loving assist to a clean lifestyle. Have you seen any were the people start decorating, or they start to loose weight, and stop smoking? Anyway...there's always hope. When I think I'm a lousy house keeper, all I have to do is watch that show. I get up and start cleaning the house. I have the same reaction to Clean Sweep and Clean House. I figure, I might as well get up and work with them!

Laurie, just a gentle reminder to stop and smell the roses(not dog poop) while you are motoring away at cleaning! Remember to rest and have some beauty in each day too.

I'm with you on the August thing but we'll be vacationing for two weeks of it so I'll have to continue on into September. We of the 2 adults, 3 kids, 4 dogs, 5 cats and 6 guinea pigs are constantly maintaining but haven't deep cleaned parts of the house in (dare I say) years! Eeeps! And hubby used to be a professional organizer, he is extremely tidy but doesn't help with things he isn't comfy with(kids' bedrooms, my craft stuff, kitchen) but he does well with the garage, yard, pool area and living room.

I'd love to have wooden pieces with the same color stain in our living room. We go from cherry to oak, dark walnut to blond pine, 8 different shades in all. Looks like a storage room kinda. Crud, I'm rambling again, sorry.

Just remember to take some breaks please!! Hope you post some pics of your newly updated living spaces.

Just remember, dear, some exposure to dirt and germs makes your immune system stronger. Really.

Meanwhile, my guy and I have threatened to send his mother in as a subject for one of those shows...

LOVE this show!!!!!

When today I thought about your previous post, I wondered why you wanted to give a clean house to your cats, and completely forgot yourself. Did you think that you don´t deserve a clean place?
And then I took a look into my kitchen. And realised that I certainly have the same kind of problem. My cats, visitors, guests, okay. But myself? Nope.
And so I made a schedule for tomorrow to start deep-cleaning and redecorating. Just for me, to take care and fill my life with a kind of beauty.
I was so, so proud of this idea.
And then I turned on my computer to check the blog.
Okay. You might as well tell me how on earth you managed to transmit the contents of today´s post all across the atlantic ocean into my brain without using any technical device. Please. Tell me. No one will ever know, except you and me. I promise. Honestly... Happy cleaning :-))

Laurie: Take a look at FLYLADY.net. . . she has helped me get beyond my wildest expectations. My house is neat and fairly organized. Thank you Fly Lady!!!

I love that show! Did you see the one where the woman has something like 15 pounds of lard in her refrigerator?! It seems she just could not part with the extra cooking fat! It is twisted and not good for my cleaning OCD, but I can't stop watching it!

I LOVE Kim and Aggie! After I watch them, I always wind up cleaning something!

I wanna get my zen cleanin gal on. She's totally out to lunch these days. I keep cleaning the Man's house and not mine. Argh. Time for some self love..... uh, not that. I mean self CARE. Yeah.

Ugh now I feel really dirty as I haven't vaccuumed in 3 weeks, and haven't done a deep cleaning for 3 years. All I ever have time for is dishes after working all day, picking up my daughter from school then cooking dinner!! Then there's grocery shopping, picking up all the crap my 4-year old daughter leaves around the house, giving her baths, reading to her and getting her to bed (which is like a 1-hour process itself), a million kids books everywhere, 2 loads of dishes a day, tend to the fiancee (a man has needs too), etc etc etc. GAH! sometimes I just feel like I'm drowning!!

I haven't watched TV since October 1998 ... but this sounds like a show almost worth watching. But then, I'm afraid it would get me back into that scary obsessive-compulsive clean/neat freak binge I was smothered by for way more years than I care to admit to. I got over it and learned to live with a little dust and cat hair on everything. So what if I have water spots on my shower doors? I'd rather be painting, or reading, or quilting, or knitting, or something other than scrubbing the kitchen floor every day until it's clean enough to eat off of ... which is exactly what I used to do. Does it give me any points that when I clean (now it's a one day a week thing) I do use natural stuff like vinegar with a few drops of lavender and lemon essential oils added in?

Oh, I want a deep-cleaned house so bad! Now if I could just figure out how to get there while keeping my 4 dogs, 5 cats, packrat husband, and uber-sloppy daughter. Add the fact that my house sits in the middle of an 180-acre field of corn (currently), has 32 dirty windows, and is under construction on a regular basis.

I'd rather be knitting, and if I'm looking at my work I'm not looking at the dust. Sigh...

rachelq & everyone:

Cleaning cast iron 4 re-seasoning is really simple if you have a self-cleaning oven. While cleaning oven, put cast iron in there too. Will burn off everything back to the "silvery" color. Of course you'll have to re-season, but that's not hard to do. I did this to mine during the winter (kitchen was nice and warm for a while !) They had been in storage (MORE boxes !!!) and had rust on them. Simple simple simple to do.

Cheers on the home overhaul. I started last night. So much junk. Thankfully, there was rum. And a blender. ; )

Hugs to all,
margaritavillian

My five year old daughter is also addicted to this show. Okay, it's really me that's addicted and she watches it with me. You get my point.

Loved the post, feel your pain.

Got to watch that show if it's on BBC Canada. Sounds as if it might make me feel about my grubby house the way Jerry Springer makes me feel that my family's not so bad after all.

PS: Sue ? I thought the same thing about the woman on the left. Ack !!

Hahaha...I did the same exact thing after I watched that show. What appalled me was that people will actually live in "filth" like that. I've been through the "so depressed I've decorated in early american cardboard" phase...but it was just very disorganized and not filthy. You go girl, It's been really nice to watch a new you emerge from your cocoon. I'm sort of waiting with bated breath to see the next transformation.

I love to clean but my stress reliever is

IRONING...........

I must go through 2 irons a year and I have yet to find one that I truly am one with.

love the blog

They actually did a series of shows in America too. A great program with a bunch of surfie boys amongst them - too grubby to be 'really' funny - but good to watch!

I find it hard to believe that people could live like some featured on these shows...Makes my "almost - but never totally clean" house seem much better.

I too love all the 'natura' remedies they use - great ideas and cheap too!

I love that show!I always go clean my toilet and kitchen sink after watching it.

boy oh boy do I know the state of a house (or in my case- suddenly TINY new apartment that's too small for all the things you really have yet you can't afford anything more or even a storage space) after the divorce!

shows on BBCAmerica are like crack- even if they are airing sometimes years after they debuted in the UK.
I highly recommend the Catherine Tate show- especially the Gran character. I love Gran.
I'm going to BE Gran I can feel it in my old bones.

You hit on a great epiphany there at the end-- change your life by changing your environment, and vice versa. Your self-helpy self would probably dig "Spiritual Housecleaning: healing the space within by beautifying the space around you," by Kathryn L Robyn. I liked it a lot in my post-divorce days.

That show sounds fabulous. I started a natural housecleaning company two years ago, and let me just say to all y'all that it's much easier to clean someone else's house than it is to clean your own. So don't be too hard on yourself. It's also really nice to use natural stuff (Al Gore brownie points, girl!). You can get pretty into cleaning when you scent your cleaners with aromatherapy oils. :) Email me if you'd like book references for those things. They're easy to make and use, I promise (I'm lazy, although I like to call it "efficient").

Active meditation! Yes! That is why I knit to unwind, and kick it up to serious cleaning when stressed. It calms me, it centers me. I am not one of those people who can breathe my way into a calm centerness, though I aspire to do it. For me, I have to do something while breathing. Knitting works for the day to day, mundane need to center. But when I'm really under pressure, the urge to scrub something until it is cleaner than clean and shines like a mirror is the path to calm and focus.

For me, cleaning things cleanses my soul. I think things through while cleaning. I calm down, and make plans and it serves the same purpose as the simple knitting I love too. And I don't get to do it often enough, with those 10 hour workdays, etc. Cleaning is a treat. Yes, I know it sounds sick, but it's true.

you can also clean copper with ketchup. and ketchup will take the brassiness out of bleach blonde hair (in case you decide to revisit sun-in)

Aunt Purl,

OK. I admit it. My name is Sandy, and I have an addiction. I am a clutter-tosser. I hate clutter. Hate it. Want to toss it when it isn't even mine. Don't understand why people need 72 tupperware containers. Hyperventilate when I see it. Kim and Aggie seem very sensible to me. I've seen the show. I love it.

However, my own personal epiphinal moment was the HGTV show called Mission Organization. I was with a friend the first time I saw it, and I swear, I had the same look on my face as when Homer Simspson sees a donut and gets that dazed drooly look? Doooooo-nutttttt. That's how I was. I watched the entire show slack jawed, and then I turned to my friend and said "they PAY people to do a job like that"? She almost peed her pants laughing because she had held it in the entire show as to not break the spell that was me for that half hour.

Truly. They PAY people to declutter people's houses. Real Money. Good Money. And they get on TV.

It's a beautiful thing to know that My Problem is encouraged and totally TV show ready.

I am ready for my close up.

Unless by "scrub brush" you mean "wine glass"

heeheeheeheehee....

Hee hee, we have our own version of this programme here in New Zealand. It gets into your DNA after a while!

I have tried watching thios show but it grosses me out so badly, I jsut can't. I suck as a housekeeper and so, I hire a very nice lady to come and do it for me. That makes me very happy, and it costs less than 7 lattes every 2 weeks. For that, I will make them at home!

That show reminds me of the time I drove another leader home from Camp with a sick child @ 2AM and tried to find a 'space" to sit her bags down. I said "oh, someone trashed your house while you were gone.!!" She daid, no, this is how we live. So embarrasing. There were liteerally clothes tumbling down the staircase and pots with stuff like spaghetti hanging over the edge like string.
There wasn't a cleared spot to be found table, floor, chair!

I love watching Kim and Aggie. Some of the places they visit are so gross I can hardly believe them. I like it when the home owner is defiant to Kim, she really gets going then!

There is a book. I'd buy it, but it'd die of shame in my clutter-fest.

Doesn't everyone use bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and salt to clean? I've never usde lemonade on a toilet, but Kim and Aggie achieved spectacular results.

Oh I know what you mean about the British accents, I am addicted to BBC America, especially Monday nights when Murphy's Law is on, oh I have a severe crush on the actor who plays Murphy!! YUM!

A really great website is FlyladyDOTnet. She has really helped me KEEP my house clean. Try it.

Hi Laurie,

You must have been channelling me also :) I got started on the whole declutter and clean thing today. Im spacing myself out though by only doing a block of things in each room each weekend. Today the living room/kitchen got a good clean and tidy. Next weekend is the bathroom!

Lots of hugs
Nicole

I can't believe you have 128 comments!! I've been a fan of the show for years, ever since I saw my first one on Lifetime. I now record every episode on the BBC, just in case there's a re-run I haven't seen. I love all the British expressions, they're hilarious. One of my favorites is "Flamin' Nora!".

P.S.
Just discovered your blog, love it.

As a nurse, the houses just absolutely KILL me. Kill me right ded. Especially when it's toilets and tubs that haven't been cleaned in decades but people still BATHE IN THEM. EEEEWWWW!!! I'm squealing along with Kim and Aggie and gagging along with them and OMGDONTSTICKYOURFINGERSINIT!!!

I love that show. I make notes during it.

I'm in the process of decluttering, too, and it feels wonderful. It gets put off because we're always busy, deadlines, etc. but I've been amazed at how light, happy and more creative I feel as the clutter goes away. We're clearing out everything, drawers, cupboards, closets, and being ruthless about getting rid of everything that we don't use, don't need, don't like. (And cleaning everything within an inch of its existence)

You can change how you feel by changing your environment. Everything around you is sending you a message, and I didn't realize how those negatives messages were wearing away at me until I started getting rid of them and replacing the source with order. We got rid of the herbal tea and the food processor we will never use, because it's a nice fantasy that I'll drink tea instead of coffee or whip out the food processor to cook a huge meal...but I don't and I don't need the kitchen nagging me about it every time I open a cupboard! Once you get rid of the detritus (awesome word), it is much easier to keep things clean, too.

My husband and son think I am obsessed with cleaning...the just don't GET how zen a clean house can be, and how good it feels to sit down and knit, with furballs on hand, when everything around you is shiny and clean and not cluttery! It's such an awesome feeling.

Now, if I could only convince the cats to clean their own fur up off the carpet, I'd be able to KEEP my zen state. :)

I second (third, fifth, whatever) on flylady. I'm not nearly flying but just the reminders to do something for just 15 minutes have been helpful. Especially for the perfectionist in me.

I cleaned up before my dad visited and although I was not exactly doing it the flylady way, because I had to do it in like a full day and a couple of half days, it still helped to do it in 15-minute batches. Even though I continued for more than 15 minutes usually, the idea that I was only PLANNING to do it for 15 minutes helped me get started. It also kept me from the other thing I do which is in the midst of a major cleaning, stop to do something less urgent like organize my dresser drawers for three hours. Then when I took breaks I would take those for 15 minutes too so I didn't get all sidetracked. Check it out! It's free -- there is some stuff they sell on the website but you absolutely don't have to have any of it.

"You can do anything for 15 minutes!"
"Cleaning done incorrectly still blesses your family."
"You can't organize clutter, you can only get rid of it."

I agree about the cleaning. It happens like that for me too. In my opinion it can absolutely be a meditation and a catalyst for changing internally. Just be careful it doesn't become neurotic - otherwise I think you'll have missed the meditation part.

Oh and you could (if you're feeling adventurous) buy the book "home comforts" by Cheryl Mendelson (i don't know if anyone else has recommended this) but I felt i knew NOTHING about cleaning and as part of my development I started reading it. I'm English so I know Kim and Aggy well and they also inspired me to buy this book and become proficient in keeping house. I haven't told my friends though since I'm only 28 and I think they'd probably laugh. Never mind. At least my house is clean :o)

I just wanted to say that the past few posts you've written have been so moving to me. I'm thinking about you and hoping for a happier, brighter, cleaner, and generally more enjoyable August.

This year I saw a show about cluttered houses on Oprah with Peter Walsh. I was very inspired, and have read his book. Little by little I've tackled cabinets, closets, cupboards, etc. and have gotten rid of tons of stuff. It feels freeing, and very, very good! I now believe that a clean & uncluttered environment leads to a calm mind. (I need all the help I can get...)

Hi Laurie,

I LOVE your blog! I see that a few others have already mentioned this, but I just want to add my 2 cents worth: FLYLADY.com is the website for you! Clean your house & keep it clean 15 minutes at a time. For YOU. (FLY means Finally Loving Yourself and is all about keeping a decluttered home because YOU are worth it.) You go girl!

I also feel more calm in a clean house, but I don't know that giving up a beautiful summer day to deep clean anything is worth the exchange. Those of you in temperate climates probably have so many beautiful days that you don't mind giving up the odd one here or there for the purpose of beating back the mess. But here, where summer is short and blessed, and winter is long, cold, and depressing, I feel the house must/can wait. For now, I vacuum when I absolutely can't see the pattern of the rug (with dogs, keeping the hair managed is a Sisyphusian task anyway!) and try to keep the bathroom clean enough so the health inspectors don't come a-knockin'. Come January, I'll get caught up again!

I love that show too. I wonder are those new episodes or repeats? There have only been a couple of them that I truly had difficulty watching. The worst and most difficult for me to watch had to be the one where a lady NEVER cleaned her cat's litter box, and the cat was puking all over the house from stress. Ugh! But I too love that show.

Enjoyed the show. Inspiring. Have you ever visited www.flylady.net ? Flylady worked MIRACLES in my life. I accidentally picked up "Sink Reflections" by Marla Cilley and learned how to slowly take babysteps, integrating routines (previously a dirty word) into my life. Routines that once begun free up so much time for light and laughter and the things I LOVE to do because I'm not weighted down by a messy, messy home. I sometimes slide, but it is so easy to pick up and start again when I've already got the routines. She even offers a daily email with suggestions of what small things to do every day to keep your home healthy and happy. =) Enjoy! ... and thanks for the show recommendation. I'm thinking about doing a little housework now... as soon as I finish my art. =)

I see I'm not the first in the blog to sing Flylady.net's praises. Hello fellow Flybabies!!!

cleaning can be such a defeating task for me with my 3 little children constantly going behind and uncleaning everything.... to everything turn turn turn....*sigh*

I love How Clean is Your House! Biological powder. I like to tell people I am using some biological powder now. I am a very bored person with not much to talk about.

LOVE that show - also try Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - same channel

Oh, I LOVE that show!

And did you try the trick where you pour the baking soda down the sink drain and follow it with a cup of vinegar??? It foams and you can HEAR it! So cool! Very mad scientist. Also works on litterboxes!

Janet, it must be nice to live in a place where you have beautiful summer days and not hot, blasted, opressive ones. Me, I get a lot of cleaning done in the summer because it's too miserable to venture outside.

Unless I brave the sweltering inferno to go to the afrkemr's market, which is what I did today, and which is why I have posted twice in one day -- they had --

ZUCCHINI!!!

Janet, it must be nice to live in a place where you have beautiful summer days and not hot, blasted, opressive ones. Me, I get a lot of cleaning done in the summer because it's too miserable to venture outside.

Unless I brave the sweltering inferno to go to the farmer's market, which is what I did today, and which is why I have posted twice in one day -- they had --

ZUCCHINI!!!

I have this quote, sorry don't know who said it first..."Keep nothing in your house you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." I thought of it while reading your blog and I think of it often when I look around my house, the first step is the most difficult

that show gives me panic attacks

I love that show!! I think cleaning helps calm me when i am upset. In college whenever i was stressed i cleaned. Oh big test tomorrow, Stephanie is cleaning the kitchen. My roommates loved it!! To this day i like a clean house but never have the time.

I watched this show when they carried it on Lifetime (at 11 freaking pm!!) and loooooved it! I love the way the blonde one (sorry can't remember which is which) would flirt with all the cute men!

It is nice to know that I am not alone! I was laid off my job in June and since then, I have gotten absolutely hooked on Kim & Aggie! I love 'em!!!!! The people they help makes me feel so much better about my homekeeping. I just need to know where to purchase the American equivalent of biological washing powder??????

Thank you for your clarity...even if it is through the bottom of a gin and tonic. ;)
Seriously, I love your turn of mind and it always makes me think 'A-ha'.

I am gonna Sixth or Seventh WWW.FLYlady.net.

Marla Cillie will change your life 15 min. at a time. You are already "Shining your sink", and it is true that you can do anything for 15 min.

Blessings
Paula Lynn
Flying in Michigan Co-Mod, (to find a local FLYbaby support group, please feel free to email me and I can direct you to a local FLYbaby support group in your area. Please put Looking for a group in the subject line.)
paulalynnpatyahoodotcom. (change the "at" to @ and the "dot" to .)

You should check out Fly Lady!! She has plans for doing just what you're talking about - day by day and bit by bit, because she knows we working folks can't do it all at once after super long work days. I saw her linked on a friend's blog, and I'm totally going to sign up. My sister tells me that once you do, you're considered a 'fly baby' and will get emailed daily tips on what to do that day - just two or three little things. It seems a very cool system of decluttering and getting things cleaned, I think. It's on my agenda too!

Oops. URL would be good, no? Fly Lady is at:
http://www.flylady.net/

I, too, love this show. It totally reminds me that while I may not keep the neatest house, I'm not actually that bad off, compared to those folks!

PS, after watching the show sometimes, I, too, find myself in the midst of a cleaning spree!

That show scares the crap out of me, mainly because I'm afraid that's what I'll become if I don't get a handle on the current state of CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). When I was first dating my husband, there was a period of three weeks where I couldn't get up to Montréal to see him, and when I finally got there, his kitchen was in the state that you see on that show. Unfreakingbelievable how fast it got that way, but if you do absolutely nothing at all to clean, it ramps up fast. Our mere work-related slovenliness now already does hefty damage...three days of neglect and the kitchen makes me want to hurl.

Thanks for pointing out the self-care aspect and reminding me of how good it feels once it's done. Keeping it that way is, for me, a far bigger challenge.

I'm a long time reader who has never commented. Have you gone to flylady.net or read her book "Sink Reflections"? It's a must read and you'd be SO into this from what I am reading right now. She will help you clean and declutter a lot faster - it changed my life when I read it!

I get such a laugh out of Kim-
my sister calls her "Hair by Chrysler" because of all the hairspray she uses.

Love that show. Don't get to see it since Lifetime isn't showing it anymore and I don't get BBC America. *pout*

There are several shows I would would come to my house: Clean Sweep, Clean House, Extreme Home Make-over, While You Were Out....

I love love love Kim and Aggie. One, they are freaking hilarious. Two, they show you how a REAL house looks when clean, and make it seem somewhat achievable (with a cleaning crew of 8). I've been watching them a couple of years, and I totally agree, it's one of those shows that keeps you "honest" with your housecleaning. No way no how would you want Kim showing all the "pee pee and poo poo" crusted onto your toilet. And the other horrible stuff. Egads. Yep, totally addicted.

You are soooo right-

"I think that cleaning can be a form of active meditation"

I know that whenever I have to deal with extreme grief (like enduring the painful passing of my three, dear rottweiler children all at different times in my life)I completely tore my house apart and cleaned as if my life depended on it. I use it as a coping mechanism and it serves me well. Normally, I wear the badge of overachieving neat freak with pride and so does the husband, but nothing assuages grief like a complete tear down and shine up. Also, ZZ Top at Texas roadhouse volume is EXCELLENT music to clean by.

I love ,love ,love those gals! I'm hooked too. Did you know that you can clean copper with ketchup as well? Yup it's true!

I just got my carpets clean this weekend. I just love a clean carpet. I don't want to move my furniture back in! But I guess eventually the people will want somewhere to eat dinner.

Woops that was me up there. I forgot to sign my name.

The other week I stumbled accross Squalour survivors. Seriously, google it. I felt so ill, and a little smug. Then I went home, looked through my stuff, and threw a whole lot of it out. Why did I need a pile of newspapers? I didn't. Why had I kept all of those cooking magazines that I'd never cooked anything out of?

I like Merlin Mann's 43 Folders. He's been doing the decluttering thing, too. His take is, while that clutter might not cost you dollars, it still has a very real cost. I believed him after I chucked out that stuff, I felt so good! And it also felt good to be able to see the stuff I *did* want to keep, and to use it! Why did I have nice stuff if it was all burried under my not-so-nice stuff?

Congratulations on catching the cleaning bug. It's something I try to keep myself motivated to do. It's easy to let it slide when you live by yourself, but I happen to think that I am worth cleaning for, that I deserve to have a sparkling clean place. And if that means I have to put in some extra effort, it just might be worth it.

Isn't is a great show!!??!! Totally grosses me out though. I have complete faith that my housekeeper watches the show and looks for hints to get rid of all the germies!!!

I guess we're quits then Laurie. I'm a Brit completely addicted to House with Hugh Laurie....but then, he's a Brit, with a phoney American accent, filming in America and being sold back here in Britain. Yeah, right. Still love him though. Give me an LP, stat....whatever that means.

Hi Laurie...Spooky, I was only watching one of their episodes yesterday, and it was a 'one-year-later' special. Sadly, it was a failure, and I watched in disbelief a kitchen floor covered in sheep dung being restored to its former glory and then returning to its poo-ey state...
We do have tons of 'declutter/clean/pay your mortgage/reduce your debt' programs, and I believe they have only one aim: to reassure (most) people of their normality! (ie not the people who spend £1000 a month on designer sportwear and accesories...whilst being unemployed!)
You clutter story has inspired me but I know deep down that it's not just 'stuff', but that it is about learning to let go and be 'vulnerable'... good luck with the moving in, and keep us updated with your progress!

LOL.......I have heard of the show but never seen it, I'll have to check this one out.
Gotta go!
I need to get off here and clean! Thanks for the laugh on an otherwise dull Monday (I was forwarded to your blog by my frien in N Ireland).

What a great post! I'll have to try to catch this show. I am a Marine - and I remember all the tricks I had to learn to pass a base housing inspection (or pay the fine or NOT be allowed to move until it passes inspection). Another blogger showed me this site - http://www.flylady.net/ - which focuses around always having the kitchen sink clean and then moving out from there. It's a great mental trick and it really works. If you train yourself with the sink - then the rest follows. I am a clutterer and a neat freak - so I'm a bit of a schizofrenic cleaner. Speaking of which... it's time to clean up the kitchen counter. Good luck and thanks for the tip on the TV show.

August 8 = Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night!

Story here:
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Sneak-Some-Zucchini-Onto-Your-Neighbors-Porch-Night/Detail.aspx

You made me laugh because while I am nowhere AT the exact same spot you are with this decluttering. This summer (I'm a teacher) I have a list of things that I MUST get done before I go back to work on the 20th. Go through the piles in the garage and trash the junk. Go through the guest room/storage room. Go through my closet. Oh yeah and finish fixing the guest toilet (which just might mean throwing it out!)

I LOVE that show. It's a big hit here in the UK.

I also love their reactions when they walk into the house - and touch all the dirtyness with their bare fingers! *yuk!*

I read this post, and felt the divine inspiration (or perhaps it was guilt?) to clean. I used to be somewhat of a neatnik, but since moving from a 1500 sq ft house into one half the size...there is TOO MUCH STUFF! I am working on getting rid of some of it, but with a 2 yr old, sometimes it is easier said than done. He means well, but sometimes Mommy could definitely do without a helper!

Anyhow - thanks for the inspiration. Killed some time, burnt some calories....it's all good!! Now, if only a magic genie would load some of this crap into my van for a run to the Goodwill Store...

Two words: "Clean Sweep." I was on a kick where I started recognizing the people from their clutter. And after thirty minutes I just had to get up and throw something away that I didn't need.

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Thanks so much ! I NEEDED to read this today !

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Cleaning is hugely therapeutic and it feels so good when everything is tidy and organized. Why I don't do it more often is beyond me. I'm very worried my mother will see this show one day and sign me up. She'd WILL those women over the Atlantic to clean my house. Christ on a cracker, I'm very afraid now.

Thanks for the kick in the pants. I watched the show on Saturday, remembered my flylady routines and went to work. I did a deep clean in the kitchen and the lightly blessed the rest of my home. I feel so proud on the tidy place I left behind this morning, knowing that I will have a nice place to return to tonight, as well. There are still a few areas needing help, but like Flylady preaches, I can concentrat on one "zone" at a time and sooner than you think, the whole place looks great. Another thing is, after the housework I blissfully spent time making handmade cards and loved guilt-free "art" time because my other work was done. If I will just keep things clean, using my routines, I will have MORE TIME TO CREATE!!! =) Thanks for the inspiration!

I'm going to second another commenter's reference to flylady.net. I've not been doing a great job of sticking to the system, but you can sort of pick & choose what works for you.

What you'll probably like is that she has each week of the month scheduled for deep cleaning in a specific part of the house, so you always get around to it. And you don't spend more than 15 minutes a day on it. Weekly cleanings are limited to 1 hour or so, about 10 minutes per item on the list. It can really help you structure your housecleaning so you don't get overwhelmed--if you stick to her system, your entire house could be deep cleaned in a month, maybe 2 or 3 if you have a lot of clutter to clear out first.

Just a thought. Thanks, Laurie!

I just bought a shredder to take care of the paper clutter, before I read the post and now I'm really inspired!

You are right on the money!!! Cleaning is not just about the act of scrubbing a floor or the sink. Decluttering + Cleaning becomes a state of mind, I think. Thanks to flylady.net, my attitudes changed, my feelings about clutter changed, I started wanting to get rid of anything that did not get used or loved, and in turn, I became 400% more conscious of what I was buying in the first place. Now, I can spot potential clutter in a store a mile away! As Flylady says, "You are never behind. Jump in where you are!" And pardon the sap-fest, but she says that the FLY part means "Finally Loving Yourself." Hallelujah! Laurie, you are there.

Have you ever heard of the 5 S Program? Not a tv show, some Japanese step-by-step (or s by s) manual of how to live in a healthy way by organizing your environment. The Program is a hit at big companies right now, but it can be applied to houses - homes - as well.

Actually, you´ve already put the first S in practice: Utility (of course, the word begins with S in Japanese!!), meaning you get rid of everything you don't need.

Anyway, I totally agree that you live better in clean, organized spaces. It seems that by decluttering your environment, you declutter your mind too. Good luck!

OOh, claim to fame, I used to work with Aggie. She is undoubtedly the most energetic woman I've ever met. She used to get up stupidly early to bake her own bread before cycling to work (and this with a husband and two kids to look after). Thoroughly lovely person, though, and always the first person with the latest gossip on any given situation. Maybe that was the MI5 training (see previous poster).

Me, I hate cleaning. Always have, always will.

thanks for the new take on cleaning....i am now officially inspired. you are so right about how it's something nice for yourself, you deserve a clean pleasant place to be.

You are a person to be honored,I moved into my old(1925) house,and bought it 6 months later,to the dismay of all I know.I haven't done alot to the inside,but the yard is my domain.... my haven,my sanctuary.I have put in a pond,while the gutted bathroom sits,I have a newer one to use....my plants give me peace,and remind me of my mother,who was not always in my corner.I have some of her lilies she gave me in the pond,and the birds,dragonflies,toads,and lizards remind me that this is my home,I can do as I wish.
I have 3 rescued dogs,my 2 cats I brought back from Alaska,and a friends 2 cats I just inherited on her death,hoping to find them a good home like they had with Darla.
So,you make your home as you like it,it is your haven......

Ahhh...I love this post. I am so addicted to that show and I watch it right before starting a furious cleanin project.

Also hoping by end of August to have a decluttered living space that I'm sure will bring positive attitude adjustments.

Keep it up girl! I love your site!

I had always thought of house cleaning as a thankless chore; thank you, Laurie, for describing it as a way on honoring oneself. It will be a lot easier to motivate myself to clean the bathrooms (my least favorite chore) from now on!
To Melissa and others whose homes seem to get cluttered/dirtied by little ones as soon as you're done cleaning: As long as your home is clean enough to be healthy and neat enough to be safe, the rest can wait. What your children need most is your time and attention. Look them in the eyes, listen attentively to them, show them the wonders of nature, art, music, literature....Please don't let their childhood slip by, leaving you regretful.

I couldn't sleep because my cat thought that if he could not sleep on my head he would just die,but, that's not why I am writing. I found this site by chance and for the last few days I have not been able to find anything because my house is so full of stuff.MY 13 year old walks around the house sighing and tells me when I go out she is going to throw all my stuff away and that she hasn't been able to find her brother in years.So, anyway you have inspired me to clean and I'm sure my daughter would want me to thank you.

i like the show as well, and i must say they are courageous to go in someones home to smell and take in so much filth. I was also amazed with the idea of natural cleaning products they use like salt, baking soda, and vinegar. wow, i'm planning on trying it myself. by the way i also was interested in the gloves the ladies wear on the show so fashionable yet safe for the hands.

Amen sister!

Hi~! I'm new to your website, I stumbled on it when I was googling "big purses" and found your entry "Can a purse be too big". I've enjoyed what I read so far and find you witty and facinating! ^_^

Introduction aside, I absolutely -love- How Clean is Your House! My mom got me hooked on it earlier this year. It amazed me to see how messy some people's houses get and it totally makes me nervous about my own room.

And Bicarbonate of Soda is baking soda? Wow! I've been wondering WTH that was every time they brought it up. I thought it was something only available in England, too. Hehe.

I love that show! It totally freaks me out every time that people live like that. The guy who blew his nose on tissues and left them ON THE FLOOR FOR YEARS! He was worried about using cleaning products because of his dog. Seriously. They showed him how to use all those natural things. He looked like a totally different person when they were done. He could actually have people over to his apartment. He had such pride.

I totally get the zen of cleaning. I really hit my zen when I am getting rid of things, though. Stress me out and I'll start throwing crap out. Feels great.

OMG I love this post. Thank you for this. It is all too apropos as I procrastinate YET ANOTHER DAY of not cleaning my bathroom...or any other room (or floor) in my apartment. Problem is, I'd rather knit than clean and being home has meant knitting these days. But it's outa control and I just want to THANK YOU for inspiring me to clean my bathroom TOMORROW! My clutter is also beyond words yet, in true OCD fashion, all piled up neatly but clutter nonetheless. So tomorrow I will first get a pedicure, and then CLEAN UP.

Laurie, you sound just like me! I am sooo addicted to this show. I watch and during the commercial breaks, I have to go and clean something! I am not kidding! What motivation! I love Kim and Aggie, and how they have opened my eyes to seeing that my house may not be as clean as I think it is!!! Scary thought! I am good at straightening, keeping down the clutter, and the obvious, but forget it when it comes down to the deep cleaning! I had to laugh after watching the ladies scraping off the scum from the windows where the dogs have licked them and made a mess. My windows were a mess due to my two dogs--a golden Retriever and Black lab mix as well! During the commercial break, I put the dogs outside and proceeded to wash the inside glass panes of the French doors. As I washed the inside windows, there they were, helping me on the outside, licking them as clean as they could be! I had gotten tired of washing all of these windows (and there are a lot that overlook my screen enclosed lanai) that I ignore them until they are such a mess that I can't stand it! Now I try to tackle the windows and French doors once a week! Thanks to Kim and Aggie for opening my eyes! I will be very sad if this show ever gets canceled! It also makes me feel good to know that there are messier people out there than me! I found their book at Amazon and am going to order a copy so that I have all of their cleaning tips right at my fingertips!

This is one of my favorite shows to watch. Of course, it starts at the same time I sit down for dinner. I usually watch the horrifying intro before eating, and then enjoy the ladies over dinner. One thing it has taught me: No matter how messy my house is, there IS far worse out there. FAR WORSE.

It's astounding to me how you and alot of us are on the same page at near the same time! What with your various razor sharp observations over the last few months. Including decluttering and deep cleaning. I've tried to declutter and simplify over the years but lately I've really been getting serious about it. Doing quite well, too, I think, so far.

But the deep cleaning? Not so much in the past but it's dawned on me lately that I have never deep cleaned our place since we've been here about six years. And I hate to clean! I do the perfunctory light duty, passive cleaning I guess you could call it. But with stepkids here two weekends a month and an actively sheddy cat, I do need to step it up. I'll have to watch out for that show, I've never seen it before. I love English shows!

how can i be on this eshow can you please respond as soon as posibile i want it to be a suprise for my uncle in california.
so can you please responce as soon as posible
thank you

My husband happened onto this show about a month ago and Tivo'd it for me and the two of us have been hooked on it ever since. I work the evening shift and he is retired and when I get home @ 11:30 p.m. every evening, we sit and watch it together and laugh our heads off...
Your blog about it was so great!

Just wanted to let everyone know that biological washing powder is laundry detergent. I think they usually use the dry stuff. Love this show also. I get so disappointed if the house isn't clean when they go back after 2 weeks.

I found this show about a month ago, and I am totally hooked on it too. Althought right now it seems they are showing re-runs. As someone said earlier, everything I watch it, I get the urge to clean something!! I have just started cleaning homes this week, and one of my clients is from the UK and we were discussing HCIYH and everything. Today after I was done cleaning her home, she told me Kim and Aggie would be proud!! I also made my own window cleaner and all purpose cleaner tonight. The window cleaner actually cut thru the grease on the front of my stove that no commericial cleaner could seem to get thru. Had to be the vinegar!!..