But look a little harder and start to notice what you're NOT seeing.
There's no pile of laundry in the corner. There's no stack of crap waiting to be taken down the stairs. There are no mismatched shoes/socks/outfits. There is no laundry in the corner. Did I say that already? Well usually there are at least 3 piles of laundry in that near right corner, so I can probably get away with saying it at least once more. There's no laundry in the corner.
Yes, I did it. I found the floor in my upstairs hallway. And I did it with a little help from my friends- purge and relocate. What I'm not showing you is how clean the inside of the two hallway closets are up there (cuz I'm saving that for another day). But I will tell you that their cleanliness is directly responsible for that nice big ol' stretch of carpet you're seeing.
My favorite part about living in a home with 2 stories is that on a casual neighborly visit- people don't see the upstairs of my house. It's not like my kitchen and my living room which are directly accessible from the front door. The staircase has a bend in it, so you really have to act like you have some business looking up my stairs if you're going to see what's at the top. The worst part about living in a home with 2 stories is that on a casual neighborly visit- people don't see the upstairs of my house. So, if I have 3 minutes to spare (minutes that I'm not deciding to waste on facebook), I'm much much much more likely to wipe off my kitchen counters or put some shoes into the entryway closet than I am to worry about what's going on with my upstairs. In fact, sometimes I just throw things in the general direction of upstairs and hope they make it to the top.
I attempt to make a decent effort at housekeeping around here, but I will honestly tell you that it's a rare day when the entire house is clean at once. It's just not possible when every time you turn your back your 2 kids are making a mess in the opposite corner from where you are cleaning.
BUT, the point of this blog post...(What, there's a point?) is to tell you that now that my upstairs hallway is clean it's going to stay that way at least for a little while because clutter begets clutter. What's 1 more thing added to a pile of junk? No one will even notice. But, now that I see all of that lovely floor, I am going to try my hardest to keep it clean. Once you clean that clutter hotspot, you'll WANT to keep it clean, I promise!
I also want to encourage all of you to give a little love to an area of your house that you would normally neglect. It feels good to have something clean just for my own benefit- not for the sake of keeping up appearances. Although, at this point I might be more inclined to invite the neighbors in to check out the view from upstairs!
Thanks for the inspiration. I am working on keeping all the flat surfaces in my home clutter free.
ReplyDeleteOur upstairs landing suffers from the same problems as yours and you are right - clear the floor and it stays clear. A pile here, a sock there, a couple of wooden blocks - they multiply.
ReplyDeleteI can also recommend a stair basket - designed to actually sit on the stairs - I fill it all day long with those things that wander down the stairs. I take it up at bathtime, walk around with it hanging from my arm and return everything to the right room (sometimes just hurled through the doorway - depends on how mad the bathing sounds). I then tend to fill it with laundry and take it back down, laundry into the utility room, basket back on the stairs for the next day.
I'm impressed you gather things to take down the stairs, I just tend to launch them from the upstairs landing, if I'm honest...
Really, really enjoying your blog, thanks!
Karen
(Scotland)
That is great Karen! Glad to know I am not the only one who throws things up and down the stairs, and uses bath time to straighten and put away (assuming kids behave). Thanks for the comment!
ReplyDelete~Alexis