Like I've mentioned before, we've been frantically getting our house all set to sell in the last month or so. We're not normally dirty people, but after being in a house for several years, things start to get a bit unorganized. Stuff gets stashed in weird places at the last minute when you are tidying up for guests. Closets get packed full of crap you don't want. The shelves in the garage and basement fill up right before your very eyes. You also get used to accepting things for the way they are, such as the usual nicks in the paint here and there, or the strange stains in the carpet, or the toilet in one of our bathrooms that we never bothered to fix for the last three years (yes, we are really that lazy).
As you can see, these types of things don't typically bother me. However, once I set my mind to doing a job, my OCD tendencies magically turn on and I kick into full-blown Freak Mode.
Before I will let people traipse through our house with such judgmental eyes, I wanted everything to be perfect. In the linen closet, each blanket and sheet and pillowcase and towel had to be folded just so and grouped by color. All of our clothes had to be hung on matching hangers, and all imposters, such as those from our dry cleaning, had to be confiscated. We donated at least eight trash bags of old clothes and probably 20 pairs of shoes to the thrift store. No windows were left unwashed, no set of blinds un-scrubbed. Each closet was cleared, and all of the items taken to the basement for our big garage sale.
I then entered into a whole new level of OCD when it came to the garage sale items. We had to buy matching moving boxes so that they were all the same size and style. Each price was written with the same pen on the same type of sticker. The items were then put in the boxes and the boxes were turned the same way so that the box logos and wording all faced the same direction. They were then stacked to the same height in the same corner of the basement, and all was calm in my crazy head.
And if you think that's bad, I hit an all-time low this past weekend when cleaning out our bathroom drawers and organizing them, even though I've been told people looking at our house won't be rifling through our drawers. I actually removed an entire trash bag of old lotions and shampoos and soaps and whatnot that always accumulates faster than we can use it. But that's not my confession -- I'm actually rather proud of that. I mean, an entire trash bag! Can you believe it?
What really proves that I have a problem here is that while I was using an old toothbrush to do some heavy duty cleaning around the faucet and the grout between the tiles, I suddenly got the idea to use that old toothbrush to clean the handles of our current toothbrushes. Yes, I actually cleaned toothbrushes with a TOOTHBRUSH.
So please, someone, come buy our house so that I can stop being so insane. I'd like to sometime be able to have a wrinkle in the bedspread, a canned food item in our pantry turned to whichever direction I feel like, or if I'm feeling really carefree, even a pair of socks placed haphazardly on the floor.
As you can see, these types of things don't typically bother me. However, once I set my mind to doing a job, my OCD tendencies magically turn on and I kick into full-blown Freak Mode.
Before I will let people traipse through our house with such judgmental eyes, I wanted everything to be perfect. In the linen closet, each blanket and sheet and pillowcase and towel had to be folded just so and grouped by color. All of our clothes had to be hung on matching hangers, and all imposters, such as those from our dry cleaning, had to be confiscated. We donated at least eight trash bags of old clothes and probably 20 pairs of shoes to the thrift store. No windows were left unwashed, no set of blinds un-scrubbed. Each closet was cleared, and all of the items taken to the basement for our big garage sale.
I then entered into a whole new level of OCD when it came to the garage sale items. We had to buy matching moving boxes so that they were all the same size and style. Each price was written with the same pen on the same type of sticker. The items were then put in the boxes and the boxes were turned the same way so that the box logos and wording all faced the same direction. They were then stacked to the same height in the same corner of the basement, and all was calm in my crazy head.
And if you think that's bad, I hit an all-time low this past weekend when cleaning out our bathroom drawers and organizing them, even though I've been told people looking at our house won't be rifling through our drawers. I actually removed an entire trash bag of old lotions and shampoos and soaps and whatnot that always accumulates faster than we can use it. But that's not my confession -- I'm actually rather proud of that. I mean, an entire trash bag! Can you believe it?
What really proves that I have a problem here is that while I was using an old toothbrush to do some heavy duty cleaning around the faucet and the grout between the tiles, I suddenly got the idea to use that old toothbrush to clean the handles of our current toothbrushes. Yes, I actually cleaned toothbrushes with a TOOTHBRUSH.
So please, someone, come buy our house so that I can stop being so insane. I'd like to sometime be able to have a wrinkle in the bedspread, a canned food item in our pantry turned to whichever direction I feel like, or if I'm feeling really carefree, even a pair of socks placed haphazardly on the floor.
8 Comments:
Ooooooh, this kind of post makes me salivate! I LOVE this kind of deep-clean, super organization. And if your house was, say, 1,000 miles closer to me I would seriously consider purchasing it. ;o)
Well, while you may be going overboard for house hunters, at least it will make your move a heck of a lot easier.
And actually I watch enough Designed to Sell on HGTV to know that you really aren't going overboard. I mean they aren't going to go through your dresser drawers... but if it's a kitchen or bathroom drawer... that could one day belong to them... well you never know.
Oh man I am such a cleaning nut too. I would have a field day cleaning up your house, haha.
I wish I had your energy, dear. Doesn't it feel good, though? You won't be bringing all that stuff to your new place!! If you're still crazy cleaning in a month, then we may need an intervention.
Angie,
which thrift store did you take the stuff to? LOL!
Vusala
this is hilarious. It will make a difference though, speaking as someone who recently house-shopped and saw a lot of not so clean places!
I feel your pain! We're packing up all of our worldly possessions and the cat and moving to a new house in ten days (OHMYGOD). My brain is set on the All Moving All the Time channel, and it's bad.
I also have to agree with Janet...having seen some SCARY houses while we were on the hunt, I guarantee future buyers will really appreciate your hard work :)
I really shouldn't be commenting, because I read this and think... OOOH, CLEANING A TOOTHBRUSH WITH A TOOTHBRUSH? I never thought of that! Brilliant!
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