A More Inviting Home In 5 Easy Steps
May 14, 2009 by Michelle Smith
Filed under Relationships
My boyfriend is flying in to see me next week. I’m very excited, but also in a little bit of a panic. My apartment is filled (I mean filled) with stuff. 
I’m not exactly “Clean House” worthy, but I do have a lot of stuff. (Actually, daughter Sarah’s room and my closet could use the help of Clean House, but shhh, please).
I want my home to be a relaxing haven for him. I want it to be inviting. I want him to look around and think, yep, I could happily live here with these people. I’d actually like to feel that way myself. The clutter has got to go.
Here’s what I’m going to do:
*Purge, purge, purge. I’ve got way too many books, magazines, etc. I have a load to take down to the library already. They do a Saturday book sale there as a fundraiser every weekend. I need to clean the extra clothes out. If I’ve had something in my closet for 5 years in the hope that I will finally fit into it, it’s time to give up.
*Not that I plan to stay in bed all the time, but I do need to examine my room from the bed-angle. Get all those cobwebs out, dust the blinds, etc. I don’t want my room to look like a nightmare-inducing mess.
*I need to clear the excess beauty products out of the bathroom. I don’t want to appear too high maintanence. I have a ton of stuff, products that I sampled for my other blogs, many bottles of moisturizers due to my constant search for The Perfect Product, etc. Clear it.
*I am going to clean all those high surfaces. For example, the top of the fridge. I’m 5′4″, my boyfriend is 6 ft. He’s going to see all those dusty places that I miss. Can’t have that.
*I want to clear the pantry. I have a couple of teens and they tend to put back empty boxes. Scarlett told me yesterday, “It’s just what teenagers do.” Yeah, I know, but the clutter is going to go. If my guy wants a pretzel, he needs to be able to find a non-empty bag of pretzels.
Any other ideas?
Image credit: SXC.hu
You go girl!!! 5 years is a long time to hold on to clothes that you’re hoping to fit into again (yeah, of course I’ve done it…who hasn’t?)…so it’s good you’re lettin’ it go. Hope you don’t wear yourself out too much with cleaning! Gotta be able to have energy to enjoy the visit.
Leah, so far I haven’t got to it yet. Ack! I hope I’m not running around like crazy on Tuesday night.
My goodness. Sounds like have a lot to tackle. I hope you’re boyfriend isn’t reading this post. lol
I’m not sure if he read it or not, Karen. ;D My family has been in this apartment for 6 years now, so we’ve spread out into every available inch. Yikes! He told me that my home was comfortable, so I’m pretty sure I accomplished what I set out to do, but I’m going to have to get rid of a whole lot more stuff if he’s going to have room to move in with us.