How to Fake a Clean Room

Hello Everyone!

I hope you're all enjoying the last Sunday of the year! I spent mine cleaning out all the junk I've accumulated this year. I'm determined that I'm going to turn my life around in 2013, and in order to do that, I'll need to be rid of every useless thing in my "old life." I'm not going to replace everything in my old life, but I'm definitely throwing away everything I don't need, and anything that has too many bad memories associated with it.

You see, I've always been a messy person. No matter how much I clean my room, within a week, it'll be in disarray again. Now, being a messy person in a family of neat-freaks, I've learned a few quick tricks about "faking a clean room." If you don't know what that means, allow me to explain:

Have you ever been in a situation when you don't have much time to clean, but you NEED to tidy up a room, or house? For example, suppose some friends were coming over to your place in 20 minutes, and  your place was a complete wreck. I'm talking clothes all over the floor, your running shoes on the dining table, magazines on the sofa, dishes overflowing in the sink, dining table half covered in unopened mail and the newspaper you never read. How do you make a place like that look presentable? Easy.

The rule for a bedroom is: as long as the floor is clean, and the bed is made, the bedroom will look clean to most people. Only really picky OCD mother-in-laws will notice that your hairspray is on your nightstand.

A similar room applies to the living room: if the sofa's, chairs, and table tops, and floors are clean, the room will be clean. And the only table tops that really matter are the coffee table and dining table. The best part, is that it is SO easy to pick things up off the floor. It you set up a couple trash bags (hanging from a drawer), one for trash, and one for things that aren't where they belong, and run around the room, picking things up and sorting them, you'll have a clutter free room in less than 10 minutes depending on how messy the place was. Then all thats left to do is take the bag full of trash out, and hide the bag full of misplaced items (you'll sort through them later).

I went all out in cleaning my room this morning, because I really want a fresh start this new year. And I realized that having a clean room (or clean house), really lightens your overall mood. I've been walking around feeling a little happier because a small load has been lifted off my shoulders. When my room was messy, it was like there was a little voice in my head, constantly nagging at me to go clean it. I'm going to work hard to keep my room clean this year, because I know that if I can manage that, I can manage anything.

I hope you've all had an equally productive day!

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