This post was written by a woman with many children. Her blog is no longer active but I thought many of you would enjoy her words on keeping a clean and tidy home since many struggle in this area. She doesn't have much money but she has learned to use it wisely and is efficient in keeping her home beautiful; for a clean home is a beautiful home and it matters not at all how much money you make!
When I had a household full of
little children and had almost nothing in my hand, I learned that order came
first. Having things clean, even if they are old and worn, is so very important
to one’s sense of well-being.
I remember how over-joyed we were to live
in our first “house” {we had been renting apartments before this}. It was so
spacious–with our own yard. It was just cheap enough for us to afford the rent
every month–and this meant that inside it was not “new” looking. Whoever had
rented before did not have a handle on cleaning. The stove was 20 or so years
old and had grease and grime caked in every nook and cranny. The cupboard
fronts were a definite “soil brown” around the handles.
But I had learned from all of the run-down
places we had lived before just how a little cleaning and order could transform
even the worst of hovels–much how Christ takes and transforms the worst of
sinners!
Not having the extra money for expensive
cleaners, I used what I had. I did have some baking soda and some dish soap,
along with a rag and an old toothbrush. So I mixed the baking soda and the dish
soap together into a paste and tackled all of that greasy grime. The toothbrush
helped me to get into even the small cracks.
Before long, that whole kitchen was above
respectable–with a large bay window looking out to the backyard–I dare say
it was pretty, at least to me. It was not the latest and greatest–it was
old and out-of-date, but it was blessed. My dear children and I spent so many
hours in that room–with meals and homeschooling–it became a very special place
to all of us indeed.
I remember watching a documentary about a
mother living in a hut in Haiti whose husband had either died or abandoned the
family. Even without a pan to cook her food in, the camera showed her carrying
her baby about on her hip as she swept her dirt floor with a home-made
broom–everything she owned was neat as a pin–I would have felt very comfortable
visiting with her there. Being poor, or at least feeling poor, is not an
excuse. We must overcome the evil of this world with good–especially when
dealing with the filth that has been unleashed because of the fall of man.
Bathrooms are also extremely important. If
the toilet looks dirty and smells, it makes the whole house seem out of order.
Where there is hard water, it sometimes takes some Lime-Away to cut through the
deposits at first, but afterwards just a little maintaining can do the trick.
The whole porcelain unit needs to be scrubbed and disinfected–including the
surrounds at the bottom. I try and use bleach on these areas on a regular basis
to keep odious bacteria to a minimum.
I developed the habit early-on of
maintaining the bathroom every time I used it–I often only had a few minutes
between my other responsibilities to my family, so I used what was in the room
instead of hunting all around for cleaning supplies. I got so good that I could
clean a whole mirror spotlessly with just a little water on some toilet paper.
I used some toothpaste on toilet paper to scrub the ring around the tub, and
even gave the toilet and surround a quick wipe {sometimes I used a little
mouthwash for its disinfecting properties}.
I have also learned over the years to get
rid of the “eye-sores;” those things that make your eyes ache every time you
see them. Among this list are piles of worn shoes, stacks of mail and other
business, drawers with clothing sticking out of them, toys that are
out-of-control, rows and rows of partly-used bottles of shampoo and other
solutions, beds that are never made.
For one thing, we don’t use dressers for
the most part–we hang up everything except for small items and underwear. This
has done wonders for our clothing–it keeps them from being shoved behind and
under so that we never see them; it keeps them nearly wrinkle free and always
presentable; it provides us much more space in the bedrooms; it keeps things looking neat and tidy. Today you can find many closet
organizers–some are available at quite reasonable prices–the main thing is to be creative.
My grandmother had the most fascinating
house, especially for a child. I used to spend hours and hours just looking
through her things {she used to call this “prowling”}. She had lived through
the Great Depression and so was prone to collect and keep things around,
especially crafting supplies and antiques. Even though it was great fun to me,
it was a horror to look at day after day. It was also a major operation to
prepare for guests, and the weight of it all caused a lot of frustration and
anxiety.
When we refuse to throw things out {or
give them away to someone who could use them} we are actually wasting more
time, energy and money than we are saving. Unless the things we save are
actually useful to us {or are a family heirloom}or if we hold on to them
indefinitely they are more prone to ruin {dust, moths, water damage, etc.}, and
we may not even be able to find them at the time we need them most–so we will
have to go out and buy new anyway! There are exceptions to this: seasonal
clothing, seasonal decorations, children’s clothing and the like. I use the
“six-month rule” for pretty much everything else; if I have not required an
item in the last six months, I probably don’t need it.
A lot of our effort in saving things
actually is rooted in a lack of trust that God will take care of us, even if
the future should turn bleak. Along with being frugal, we must learn to always trust
in His provision. Giving to others, however, ensures that we have treasure
stored up in Heaven, where nothing can touch it. Also, if we plant seeds and
help meet the needs of others, God tells us we will reap a harvest that will
bless us in our times of need.
Lay not up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also. {Matthew 6:19-21}
Keeping inventory of what one has and
using it up, buying only what one needs, and keeping from impulse buying of
products we don’t honestly need will keep us from warehousing a lot of
half-empty containers all over the house. If the shampoo is mostly gone,
adding a little water to it and shaking it will ensure that it is completely
used–then the bottle is tossed–hurray!
And sentimentality needs to be kept in
check–we can’t keep every little scribble our small children make; by now I
could have filled a couple of garages with all of the incredible things my
children have created! Except for a few fine examples for our memoirs, we
need to remember that the greatest things, the things we can all cherish for
the rest of our lives, are the acts of kindness and love we give to one
another, and let God keep these for us. Often, at the end of life, these are
the things that matter most–not even jewelry or family heirlooms survive such
things as flood, fire, or war. Keeping this perspective will free us from a lot
of the weight that sentimental clutter piles on us.
Along with order and cleanliness, there
must be beauty and comfort. No matter what my means, I must attempt to create
an environment where people can feast their eyes and rest their bones. The venerable attitude of the
Proverbs 31 woman applies here. She is described as being at the business of
beauty and comfort for her household. She was “gathering goods from afar.”
There is a reason that women like to shop–it‘s a large part of our
gifts and talents as females. Of course, this is often perverted by our
own sinful tendencies and can become a monster that can ruin us. But,
in the right place and time, our skills at spying out deals can greatly benefit
our families and friends.
With God’s blessing, even $5 worth of
goods bought at garage sales can give us all sorts
of amazingly creative possibilities. Old curtain valances can cover
worn table-tops. Sheets can become curtains. Washing old pillows and sewing
covers for them from cast-off clothes is another way to spruce things up {even
if we don’t have a sewing machine–hand-sewing is not only cheap, but
therapeutic, especially while sitting watching a movie with the family}. I received
as a Christmas gift this year–a fantastic reading/sewing LED lamp–that I can
hang around my neck for just such a time as this!
I love buying stoneware–a piece here and
there–and putting them all together; lots of times sticking to a certain
color-scheme, such as blue or gold. Everyone seems to have a set that has pieces
broken, so I can usually buy them up for a song.
Even if you don’t feel naturally
“creative” God is, and He will help and guide you. I once had a friend who had
grown up in the streets of LA; definitely not from a nurturing, Christian
environment. But she became a devoted Christian with a family. I was so very
blessed when I entered her home; so lovely in every way, with wall-paper
accents, her furniture all in order and well-maintained, cute aprons
hanging merrily on the side of her kitchen {this was a rented
house; her husband was in the Army}. When I complimented her, she was quick to
tell me that she had no idea how to keep home, but she had relied on the Holy
Spirit to guide her. My favorite homes I have visited
were first neat and clean, then filled with the personalities of those who
lived there.
A pastor and his wife once had us over to
eat. This couple and their five children had returned from the mission field
not too many years before, owning only the clothes on their backs. The wife had
scoured yard sales and purchased wicker furniture, repainted it, and recovered
the cushions to match. The coffee and end tables had a rectangular piece of
hunter green contact paper placed in the centers to cover the scratches and
then were embellished with flowers, etc. We ate at a long table covered with a
pretty flat sheet that had been saved for special occasions. All of the rooms
were neat and clean. More than this, the children obviously loved the parents,
and vice-versa, which made for a delightfully peaceful environment.
Last year, when we thought we were to move
closer to my husband’s work, we visited many houses. The most charming was a
home that was full of creativity; there may have been even a few
mid-century-modern pieces there, but it was obvious that the mother who lived
there was not driven by self-importance. She had filled each room with the
beauty that was from her heart. It was an older house, but so much care had
been taken that it was more impressive than even new construction. Everything
said to us, “Come and sit a spell!”
On the contrary, we also visited a vacant
home that was full of pretension; the entrance boasted a vaulted ceiling and
real wood flooring making it seem cold, with every sound reverberating
throughout the building and that’s what it was, a building and not a home. But
that was not all. The master bedroom measured approximately 20 feet by 30 feet,
and at one end was the most ostentatious bathroom I have ever seen. It was
divided from the rest of the room by a 3-quarter height wall of late 1940’s
glass blocks, and behind these was a tub the size of a small swimming pool, and
a shower that was bigger than some kitchens I’ve cooked in, with spraying
nozzles mounted in every direction! It made us wonder if the house had been
built for a family of penguins! It had a definite “style,” one that had since
been abandoned for the next series of new ideas, so that it just
seemed plainly repulsive to us.
Bringing the outdoors inside is a
wonderful way to reflect on God’s beauty. Using real or silk plants and flowers
is a good way to begin. This Thanksgiving our son, Ryan, walked to the nature
preserve by our house and put together a huge show of fall grasses, etc. arranged neatly in an old flower vase and placed it in the dining room. At the
close of this last summer, he also gathered Russian sage and made one wreath
for the dining room, then made another with sage combined with peppermint and
lemon balm from our own garden for my office. The girls also have lemon balm
and peppermint hanging in small bouquets on their walls, and a bird’s nest
filled with “eggs” {small, smooth stones} that was found abandoned in our yard
on their desk.
Having children around, especially small
children, does limit some of the types of furnishings, colors, etc. that can be
utilized. For one thing, we do not have white carpeting or white couches! Our
coffee and end-tables corners are all rounded–no sharp edges for small ones to
fall against!
We have purposely chosen fabrics and
coverings for our furniture that are well-suited to a lot of traffic. Leather
is always well-wearing, if we are careful not to allow sharp objects around it.
Dark, repeated patterns seem to keep wear and dirt from showing up, making
things look newer much longer. Putting covers on arm rests will help them to
last longer. An industrial-type carpet with area rugs is a way to have
longer-lasting carpeting.
So many of the items I see every day were
not bought at all; many were found, given to us, or were created from what we
have had on hand. And, of course, we have also needed to buy the best of what
is available, within our budget; often not our hearts’ desire, but we have
learned to be content and thankful, which makes everything we own {stewards
over} covered with the beauty of godliness!
