Cleaning Up the House

Who said housework has no glamour? This gal! I’ve gotta tell you–you can streamline, you can organize, but cleaning your house will never be as glamorous as vintage ads make it look. And, trust me I’ve tried. These gals have a serious case of the clean-up crazies!

There are the ladies that look like they sniffed a little too much cleaning product.

The ladies who seem to be a little too excited about their cleaning products or tools. (If you have ever laid down beside your vacuum like the lady in this vintage Hoover ad, please comment below.)

And then, there are just the women that lie to you.

What’s with the crown?! Have you ever gotten a crown, tiara, or sparkly jewelry for doing housework?

(Speaking of crowns & tiaras, we should probably just take a moment and watch this clip. You know you were thinking about it too.)

So back to the story:

This weekend, when the family all went home and the turkey had been packed away, I went to town. You  might call it my own version of cleaning crazy. I like to call it…

I don’t know what it is about this time of year. Maybe it was the fact that we had a crowd for Thanksgiving in our tiny little dining room, and I got closterphobic. Perhaps it’s the fact that the holidays are starting–that special time of year where we put brightly colored, sparkly things on top of our already brightly colored, sparkly stuff. Or maybe (and this is probably the most likely) it was the fact that we had a photographer arrive at our house at 9am yesterday to do a fun photo shoot for HGTV HOME.

The Great Christmas Clean-up of 2013 | Hannah & HusbandThe point of the story is I went crazy. Two trash cans plus the entire bed of Husband’s truck were piled high with stuff we are throwing away. The back of my wagon has been filled with things to take to Goodwill. The pantry has been cleaned, my studio has been cleaned, and we discovered an extra room upstairs. There were clothes I’ve had since middle school, appliances we got for wedding presents that have never been used, and a pile of videos that I assume were there for decoration because we haven’t had a VCR since 2007.

What does this have to do with crazy vintage cleaning ads? Maybe those ladies aren’t so crazy after all. I got a little high with every bag of trash I took out. We pride ourselves on the things we choose to fill our lives with–the books, the music, the well designed coffee grinder. Cleaning will never be glamorous, but it can make you feel awesome. (Maybe not lay-down-with-your-Hoover-awesome, but awesome just the same.)

If you’re buying gifts this holiday season, consider what you already have in your own home. Get rid of some stuff before you bring more in. Give it away, throw it out, sell it to your neighbors. You’ll thank me later.

 

 

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