In actuality, the entry for Day 28 is longer – “think of your home as if it were a boutique hotel,” but I trust the gist gets across in the title.
The idea Mme. Ferris is setting out here is a sound one – straighten your house! Things will be easier to find and your home will be far more inviting.
For me, this is a GREAT suggestion! During the holidays, I try extra-hard to keep things neat, but it’s hard to keep that momentum going. We live in a comfortable, but small, house and it’s a constant battle to keep it tidy. Over the years, I’ve found a few tips that help and Mme. Ferris has now given me some new ones. I hate hiding things away in closets or in the attic because, if I do that, I never deal with the issues presented by the boxes, bags, or armfuls of stuff. What that means is that I have a couple of “projects” taking up space right now – I’m trying to figure out what to do with a number of boxes of CDs – do I rip them to Google Music and then discard them? as well as sorting through a rather extensive collection of comic books, many of which I’m ready to let go, but some of which are autographed and valuable. So right now, it’s all about the sorting. We also both have bicycles which stay in the house and that certainly isn’t something you’d see in the lobby of a boutique hotel!
Mme. Ferris provides some sturdy tips here, including the benefits of giving up perfectionism. Do a little something each day – don’t worry that you haven’t dusted on top of the door jambs. She mentions FlyLady, which is a system I’ve used (at least in part) for several years now. In fact, I’ve internalized her “morning routine” so most days (it doesn’t have to be perfect, remember!), I unload the dishwasher, make the bed, start a load of laundry, and do a “Swish ‘n’ Swipe,” which is a quick wipe-down of the bathroom mirrors and fixtures. The whole thing takes about ten minutes.
After reading Mme. Ferris’s entry for today, I feel better about my house. Yes, it’s not perfect, but yes, it is (mostly) tidy. I need to make an appointment with myself to do some de-cluttering and a bit of scrubbing in the kitchen. However, we’re scheduled to leave shortly to spend the weekend with my family (we stretch Christmas out here!), and when I began to fret about not doing more before we packed, I remembered that perfectionism is a disease that kills joy faster than bleach.
It’ll get done soon. Promise.
Leave a Reply