‘This is filthy, it needs a wash!’
My mother held up my strawberry motif tea towel and screwed up her nose.
I tried very hard not to get cross. She wasn’t to know that it was brand new, right out of the packet, and had never even been used.
Why then would she make that comment? It was new, didn’t smell and was completely clean.
Well, my new tea towel did, in fact, look dirty.
The designer had unfortunately decided that it would look good if the tiny little brown seeds from the outside of a strawberry were represented all over the place. Little brown dots literally everywhere, even if there were no strawberries in that particular spot. Trust me, it didn’t turn out so well.
What made me the most grumpy about the whole thing was the fact that I knew she was going to say it.
I had noted the pattern myself and knew it made it look dirty. What I did however was ignore that little voice. I knew it was not dirty, it was clean and that fact made me leave it hanging up in the kitchen.
It took my mother noticing it and calling it out for me to fully appreciate how bad it actually was. I solved the problem by putting my brand new tea towel straight into the rag box and when I did it I felt immense satisfaction.
Now maybe you are thinking, what does it matter, why should anyone care?
Perhaps they don’t, but I do. I care if I go to someone’s place and the tea towel being used in the kitchen looks like it’s been there a month. It makes me wonder about all sorts of things such as the cleanliness of the glass I am being offered for my drink, what that glob on the table actually is or whether I should brave a trip to the bathroom on this visit.
If I think those things, chances are visitors to my home will do the same.
As much as we would like to think differently, appearances matter.
Sometimes it’s the smallest of things that make the most impact.
Did you know that your house will look cleaner if there is nothing lying on the floor even if you haven’t actually gotten around to vacuuming or washing it?
Did you know that the same thing applies to the the kitchen countertops and the bathroom cabinets? (OK, the bathroom cabinets probably will look like they need a wipe down but how easy would that be if they were clear? Very!)
This is such a game changer!
A house looks so much cleaner when it is tidy, so use this to your advantage.
My challenge to you to see how many surfaces you can get cleared of clutter. Feel free to then clean it if you wish or not, it’s up to you.
You will see a big difference.