At some point while we were in the process of buying our house I completely freaked out. Like, breathing in a paper bag-style freak out. I think it might have been after the home inspection because that was the experience that slapped me in the forehead and said "Hey! You don't know squat about maintaining a house. And this eighty year-old pile of bricks you're buying requires a ton of maintenance. What are you thinking????" That's when I did what any girl who devotes her life to books would do: I hit Amazon.com and started searching for the experts. Apparently there are millions of bonehead homeowners like me, because there were plenty of books that met my needs. I bought three: Home Maintenance for Dummies, Renovating Old Houses by George Nash, and, my personal favorite of the bunch, Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home.
I think Martha is my favorite because, as per usual, she is completely comprehensive and helpful and a wee bit amusing. Here are the household tasks she recommends doing every day:
1. Make the bed
2. Manage clutter
3. Sort the mail
4. Clean as you cook
5. Wipe up spills while they're fresh
6. Sweep the kitchen floor
I have to confess that at least one of these things I do not do EVER, let alone every day. I aspire to do the other things more often. But, every day? Our house is still in post-holiday chaos, so I'm wondering what you do every day to keep the chaos at bay? Do you have anything to add to Martha's list?
1 comment:
Do you think picking up large clumps of dog hair counts as sweeping?
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