My house doesn't feel clean if...

So it's mostly a major home makeover issue
and not a cleaning issue?

I am in the middle of one of those crisis too.

We need to repaint our walls.

And I keep telling hubby that I'm fine with plain
white paint, nothing fancy, but he still thinks
it will cost too much money.

Good grief, it's $12 gallon for plain white wall paint!

We spend more than that every week on library fines and cookies!

What's so expensive about it?

Anyway, that's another gripe for another day!

Then consider yourself lucky you are not married to my husband. He spent 3 years working in the paint department of Home Depot. We can't go with a $12 gallon of paint. We have to use a primer and sander and get the Behr paint and give it exactly 2 coats, yada yada yada. One room would end up costing closer to $100.

Oh, good grief! I had no idea.

I guess I'm pretty lucky then.
I thought it was an easy process.

For me, I'd be happy just to slap up some cheap
paint and call it a day.

I'm the one who painted our other house, inside
and did a pretty good job of it.

I would be the one painting the next time around.

Well, I would have to say that I always have clutter and so that doesn't bother me. I would have to say if my dishes aren't done and if my toilet is not clean. I hate clothes on the floor so that is a biggie in my house!
I put this under katsmeow as I was going to give her a piece of advice for the crayon and marker on the wall, use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and those marks will come off! I love that item and use them all the time!

I have used the magic eraser... unfortunatly there are sooooooo many marks on the wall, one sponge only lasts for a small section. I really just need to repaint, but I have a 2 year old and a newborn... so I'll wait untill after they're coloring on the walls days are done. Plus, like I said, the rest of the house is nasty too, so fixing the walls won't help much.

My daughter went through that coloring on the
wall phase.

Don't let anyone fool you.

Those washable crayons don't always come off the wall.

We got her some washable crayons and she used them on
everything.

Little did I know that our walls weren't painted very well.

So when I washed off the crayon, it exposed some hideous
light blue paint that was beneath.

I guess the landlord only used one coat of paint.

As you say, best to wait until they're out of that
phase to even repaint.

Lucky me. She's out of the phase and writing on paper.

The other day hubby promised to buy paint this winter.

So I guess we'll be repainting when the weather is cooler.

Yippee!

P.S. About the magic eraser, I've heard some bad things
about that.

I heard that one little kid used that on his chin.
And he got chemical burns, cause they impregnate
the cleaning sponge with chemicals.

It was a very sad situation.

He's OK now, but he did have to go to the hospital.

Ditto! If I know someone is visiting my home, I turn
into a cleaning monster!

Maybe it was the way I was raised.

Our house always looked cluttered growing up unless
we were having company. And then the whole house looked pristine.

As for the maid service, look into a home grown operation.

You can get some pretty good deals if the maid service
is unicorporated or a mom and pop type small business.

The big name corporate style maid services always charge
the same high prices for the same stuff a local person
could do for half the price.

Best of luck!

Ditto on the toilet thing!
As for friends homes, don't worry.
I don't judge!

Like I was saying, that's my ideal of clean.

But my house is NEVER EVER that clean.
It's more wishful thinking. What I wish I could do.

I have unrealistic standards for myself.

It keeps me on my toes, though.

Usually just before I collapse after a cleaning
spree, I get a big compliment on how good the house
looks and then look around and come to my senses.

It's OK to get things half done and they still look
pretty darn good!

My standards are fairly simple. If the house doesn't smell, there isn't mud and dirt and gobs of Lacey hair on the floor, and I can't write my name in dust then I am doing ok.
My house is so old and dusty that it is very hard to keep clean. Plus the kitchen floor is p1$$ yellow( I didn't pick it, still from when dad-in-law owned the house) with cigarette burns all over so you can't even tell when I mop it or not. Just smells nicer after I do.

You're too funny!

Oh I forgot to add I try to at least clean the bathroom twice a week as it can get the germiest and dirtiest.

Yep! That sounds like me.
Not that I always get around to my gigantic list
of things to do all the time.

But if it's not clean, I'll clean it!
Especially kitchens and bathrooms where germs
build up.

I try to keep toys up off the floor too for that reason.

My daughter loves to skip around inside the house and she usually
ends up stepping on a doll or toy.

We have stone tile floors. And they are super slippery
with any kind of papers or books or kids toys.

Usually she is the one who puts them out on the floor.

I try to keep toys confined to non-walk way areas
like her bedroom. I'm always picking up one thing or another.
No complaints though!

Today she helped me vacuum! Who knew kids like to vacuum?
She insisted on it.
Mama is very proud!

I think new mothers are always the same way.
At least it was that way for me.
I was (and still am) so concerned about keeping
up appearances of clean.

Of course, I do sanitize the house a lot, but
not too much.

Atleast now that she's almost nine months I can able to tell her what to do and the good thing is she knows now to listen even just a bit and I can even say to her to pick her toys and luckily she's doing it.

That's true!
Children do make the cleaning job
harder.

But there is good news.

Today my four year old daughter asked
to help me vacuum the house.

She insisted on it!

And would not take no for an answer.
That made me very proud.

I guess she will grow up knowing how to
keep a clean home. Or, at least clean her own room.

This is why having a daughter is better