5 Secrets to a picture perfect house

I have one teenager and one pre-teen boy and because I was raised in a house where, things were picked up after you (India –where are maids are affordable), my sons are not too regimented. I am often amazed at how things end up where they do like for instance, when I am cleaning the house on the weekend, I will find TV remote inside the sides of the couch, pencils, erasers under the table, sock under the couch you get the picture, and papers –tons of loose ones, some flyers, some notices from school and the much hated junk mails. And not to speak of tons of shoes, just when you enter the house, in spite of having a closet and shoe rack to keep them. Some are mine and some “blessings”, neighborhood kids just hanging out!



I have been to houses that always look like they are show homes, absolutely clean and organized. The boys – including my husband, dread the “lecture “ about how the house was so much cleaner and neater than us and how everyone has to pitch in . I am not even sure if anyone listens to it anymore.



The fact remains that, I would rather have pairs of worn out shoes of different sizes greeting me, than a perfect foyer with exquisite artifact hanging on the walls. Yet, whenever I visit a perfectly organized house, I wish for my house to be picture perfect too.



Although my house is still not perfect – it never will, I am sharing some of the observations that compile the secret of a well-organized house.



1. Everyone in the family pitches in EQUALLY. This includes the kids, and the husband and all other members of the family. This is definitely not a one army show.

2. Jackets in cloakroom, shoes on shoe rack and plates in dishwasher – it is as simple as it sounds. All follow the rules of the house and use the garage to come in unlike my house, where the doors are open for all and an occasional run up the stairs is overlooked.

3. Train the kids when they are very young and be consistent, till the task becomes a habit. It’s too late for my house.

4. Plan your meals and limit your daily cooking to simple foods and stick to it. I can at times go crazy in the kitchen and end up cooking for 2 hours. At the end of two hours, I am too tired to clean up well and not to forget the disorganized pantry.

5. Most of my friends who are well-organized, also have help from outside sources like maids too – some regularly, some occasionally. Nothing like the good old strong scrub to sparkle your home.