Messy Condo

So lately I've been feeling pretty frustrated with my messy house. It seems that each week the mess just builds up until I can't stand it anymore and I do a full clean which usually takes me a few hours. I'm realizing that in order to keep our condo cozy and comfortable and to bring my stress level and guilt down to a normal level, I need to do a minor clean each night. So here are my most troublesome areas and my new goals for conquering them. I'm hopeful that if I put this out into blogworld I will feel more motivated to actually achieve my goals.

Living Room Clutter - I always joke with Andrew that he leaves his "papers" all over the place. He tends to open mail and leave it in different spots all over the living room. While this might be my pet peeve about my husband, I'm also guilty of cluttering up our living room. I have a habit of ripping out the pages of magazines that feature an outfit I want, or inspiration for my stationary and wedding designs, etc. These pages tend to land on our sofa or coffee table instead of my file folders that are supposed to organize them, so I'm also to blame for the "papers" laying around everywhere. I also have the terrible habit of eating my dinner in front of the TV and then leaving my dirty plate to sit there overnight because I'm too lazy to get up and put it in the sink. I know you are probably appalled to discover my vices.

GOAL: My goal is to clean up the living room each night before bed. This means putting any miscellaneous papers in the proper spot and removing any dishes and other clutter. I also promise to clean my coffee table if I ate dinner on it...there's nothing worse than crumbs and rings on glass.

My Bedroom: Because our condo is vintage - we have very small closets. So I have my own closet within my studio (formerly our guest bedroom) and Andrew uses the closet in the Master Bedroom. I have a small daybed in the studio and my clothes tend to pile up on the daybed instead of going in the closet where they belong. This drives my husband crazy, and understandably so because he keeps his closet and our bedroom very neat.

GOAL: Put away clothes after wearing them. Dirty clothes go in the laundry closet and clean clothes get put away. Sounds so easy right?

Kitchen: I really LOOOOVE to cook, however I'm a notoriously messy cook. Somehow flour and olive oil and crumbs make their way into every crevice in my kitchen. I also find that after happily working to cook a wonderful dinner, I fall into a coma and suddenly lose all motivation to clean my kitchen and wash the dishes. I really don't have it so bad as my husband and I have pretty equally divided the chores (he does everything I hate doing aka laundry, emptying the garbage, swiffering, and emptying the dishwasher...I cook, do deep cleaning aka scrubbing bathtubs and toilets, and wash the dishes) So I really don't have much of an excuse.

GOAL: Leave my kitchen clean with the sink sparkling each night - this includes the nasty task of emptying the drain of all its gunk (I especially hate this task and cannot wait until I have a disposal). I think I will be a happier person if I come home from work to a clean kitchen.

I think these are reasonable goals and I'm looking forward to establishing a routine. If I can stick to it, I'll hopefully replace my bad habits with good ones!