Gulf Coast Family

We can get so stuck in a rut when our homes are in bad shape. The best remodel is to get rid of the clutter and start to really see your home.

Did you know that when I got my home in order with all the clutter gone that I started to love it? I mean I really liked my home even with the ‘70s green shag carpet. It is amazing what you can see when your eyes aren’t glued to the clutter everywhere.

When clutter is on every surface you can’t feel comfortable. We need clear areas to feel peace. Clutter causes that closed-in feeling, and we have to get out of our homes to feel better. Wouldn’t you like to enjoy being home? Get rid of clutter and you will find you don’t have to move to find the “perfect” house; you already live in it.

I know you don’t believe me, but the cheapest way to remodel your home is to eliminate the clutter so you can actually see what needs to be done to spruce up your living areas. A little paint or soap and water can drastically change your outlook.

With the clutter gone you can see and enjoy the forest without all the trees getting in your way. We have had members who no longer needed to move because all of a sudden their home got bigger without wall-to-wall clutter taking up every corner and flat surface in their home. Try this little experiment; go clear off all the clutter from your refrigerator. That one clutter clearing exercise will make your kitchen feel larger.

Look around your home and see if you can open up some space by cleaning out a hotspot.

Some of you complain that you don’t want to clean when you have such yucky furniture. Decorators like to call this eclectic. We have seen those TV decorators take out half the furniture and add a pillow or two and change a whole room. Did you know that you can do this too? (But not until the clutter has left the building.)

We get to feeling sorry for ourselves because we can’t afford this or that, when all we really need is to be happy with what we have and clean it up a bit. Don’t get stuck in a rut of “ole poor me”! Bless your home with a little tender loving care. You have neglected it for long enough.

Each day we do the same things over again: wash clothes, do dishes, fold clothes, dust and sweep. It is a never-ending procession of things that need doing. When you look up these chores as work, you start to dread them.

Change your attitude. When you do things for your family and to your home to help your family, you are giving them tender loving care. I like to call this blessing our home. As you pick up a dish to wash it, be thankful that you have food to feed your babies and nourish your bodies. As you fold that pile of laundry, your hand loves each and every member of your family.

Let go of the martyr attitude and nurture your family with love and kindness. I am not saying that you are to do all the work. It is up to you to set the example and they will follow. It is all about your attitude toward your home, family and your life.

I want you to FLY. It is hard to do if you are stuck in a pity party. You can change this by letting go of your way of thinking and putting a new happy spin on your life. Blessing your home is much more fun than cleaning house! Making it fun will get the job done!

For more help getting rid of your CHAOS; check out her website and join her free life coaching at www.FlyLady.net, listen to her channel http://www.blogtalkradio.com/channels/flylady show or read her books, Sink Reflections published by Bantam and her New York Times Best Selling book, Body Clutter published by Fireside. Copyright 2008 Marla Cilley Used by permission in this publication.