Please Excuse The Mess...We Live Here

Friends, I am done apologizing for the condition of my home.  The first thing out of my mouth when people come in (unless I've done company caliber cleaning) is, "please excuse the mess".  My house isn't filthy or cluttered to any hoarding standard, but it certainly doesn't look like a magazine.  It also doesn't look as clean as my mom and mother in laws houses.  I find myself measuring up to those standards and see that I am grossly lacking. 

But, magazines are staged and photoshopped.  They show perfection to sell you something.  My mom and mother in law do not have two rambunctious young sons.  They also, being introverts, do not need as much time AWAY from home as I do.   

This year, I am deciding NOT to say "please excuse my house" any longer.  I keep it tidy-ish, sanitary-esque, and vermin free.  Some days that's the best I can do.   I live in a big 100 year old house, that, when it was built, had a staff to go with it.  I do not have the budget for housekeeping services...so, I do what I can.

What's interesting is that I have the sneaking feeling that I am in a silent majority...a large group of home managers who struggle to keep up with laundry, dishes, meal prep, and the like.  We think we are the only ones who don't have it together...but I think we are wrong.  Now, I do understand that for some home managers, house cleaning is a TOP priority.  That's great for them.  They are living the way they wish.  Frankly, housekeeping is at the bottom of my Top Five priorities.  And, that's OK too. 

For those of y'all who are with me in this uphill climb we call housekeeping, I offer you photos of what my house REALLY looks like day to day.  I chose this day at random...I have not cleaned it or cluttered it for the sake of being photographed...this is the way it looked today.  This is only the downstairs, because this is the part you would see if you came over.  If I know you well enough to invite you to the 2nd floor, I know you aren't gonna care what it looks like.

• LIVING ROOM: Mismatched Recliners, Pile O' Blankets, Pile O' Dishes, Wii controller on the floor, crooked lampshade.

• ENRTYWAY: Baskets O' Clean Laundry, Pile O' Junk on the Entryway Chair, Random Extra Chair waiting to be taken up to the attic...for about a week now.

• LAUNDRY NOOK:  Pile O' Clothes waiting to go into the wash, cluttery laundry storage.

• KITCHEN SINK:  So many dishes...always so many dishes.  We have a portable dishwasher, it only cleans dishes about 70% of the time, so there is a lot of rewashing.  Also, when we run the dishwasher we cannot use the sink, the washing machine, or take a shower...it needs optimum water heat and pressure to do its best work. 

• KITCHEN COUNTER:  The ONLY kitchen counter I have.  Cluttery mess.  Yesterday's soup pot still sits on the stove because it wouldn't fit in the sink with the other dishes.  We have a limited amount of storage in our house, so we have to use some of the teensy amount of counter space we have to house stuff.  PS...Please know that, if you receive meals from me, I tidy and sanitize my workspace before I prepare food.

• THE BACK ROOM:  Again, we've had to get creative with storage.  Also, on the left you can see our lovely recycling bin.  There is not a good place to keep it outside, so here it is.  This space also serves as a mudroom and dog crate area (not pictured).

• DINING ROOM: Dishes from breakfast...it is 3:00pm.  I left the house around 10 this morning and hadn't tidied them up.  This happens most often when I am gone for the day.  Our desk also lives here.  It's where we stack mail and other copious amounts of crap.

• THE 1/2 BATH:  This is where my rambunctious young sons wash their hands after playing outside.   If you see a larger version of this photo, you will notice a nice film of mud on the inner basin as well as muddy fingerprints along the outside.  The light switch (not pictured) and the walls are stained with wet, dirty, drip stains.

• THE 1/2 BATH POTTY:  It is what it is. 

 So, there you have it.  My house as it looks on a random day.  It has gotten a lot tidier since we stopped allowing toys on the 1st floor (though the odd handful of Legos still finds their way to the middle of the rug and subsequently to the arch of my foot).  When you come over on a random day, this is what you'll find...and I won't apologize for it.