A Home For London: 365 of 30: Day 5 Clean your closet!

I've found that when I'm feeling like I just can't relax in my own house, or that I'm just feeling crummy about life, it always helps to get something clean. It's nice to have things neat and orderly and clean, isn't it?? So why is it sometimes so hard to just get it done? I don't know... maybe because it's never-ending, especially if you've got kids. Life gets crazy and chaotic, but coming home to even more chaos just doesn't help.

I really wish I could say I was one of those super moms who always has clean windows, a tidy kitchen, dinner on the table at 6pm, and a magazine-ready, orderly, clean house. But I'm so NOT that person.

And after a while, the chaos always starts to get to me. I can't find things, there are no clean dishes, the kids are down to thread-bare socks that are a size too small, and there's clutter on every surface throughout the whole house. And when it gets that bad, it's just so overwhelming and I don't know where to start to get things back to livable conditions.

So as I was standing in the midst of what can only be described as a natural disaster confined to the rooms of my house, I knew I just had to start with one thing. Just one thing to get the ball rolling.

So that thing was my closet. I'm terribly particular about how my clothes are taken care of. Things need to be washed appropriately. I can't handle things hung up in what I consider to be the wrong manner. I don't like shoulder bumps on my shirts. My closet desperately needed some attention because I've been living in yoga pants and concert t-shirts for the past 3 months. Shoulder bumps were rampant. Hangers were askew. It was the worst kind of anxiety.

After taking care to rehang everything properly, I went ahead and got rid of some things that didn't fit anymore or that I just don't wear enough. I'll take those to the women's shelter.

There's something satisfying about taking good care of your possessions.

Whether you're like me and you need your shirts to be hanging the same direction, with shoulder seams lines up perfectly on your matching black velvet covered hangers, in order of sleeve length, or if you just like to have your silverware perfectly polished at all times, that satisfaction of keeping nice things nice is undeniable.

We live in a disposable world. I think taking proper care of stuff is no longer a priority for people because when something breaks or wears out, they just go out and buy more and more. I hate that.

Take care of your stuff. Clean up and keep things tidy as much as you can. I know it's hard and sometimes the task is intimidating. I know that it's often times that last thing on our to-do list. I know we're not all Martha Stuarts. I know it's not the more important thing for a mom- our kids come first, always.
But...

Maybe you're feeling less than motivated. Maybe you're just super sad one day. I say, clean something.

What's the worst that can happen? You could be sad with a clean closet or you can be sad with a messy closet. Might as well rid your life of shoulder bumps for the time being and see if it helps.

If you need ideas to get you going, here are a few things I did to keep things nice...