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So, here are some images of my house...
Above, my horrible mess of a foyer.
Above, two images of my kitchen (please pity me for having to deal with honey oak)
Above, my living room.
And above, a bird's eye view from the balcony, which I have taken a minute to label for you.
I am sharing these with you not to cause disgust and horror, but to be real. My house is clean 45% of the time. I spend most of my days trying to stay on top of the mess, mostly failing miserably. The dishes get done, and the laundry gets clean, but it seems that I rarely pick up all the toys or have a mess free flat surface in my house to speak of. Mind you, I have four children. Their ages are 10, 8, 4, and 2 1/2. Now school is out. My house was neat about a week ago. As soon as school let out, it was like an explosion went off. Keeping up with their needs and wants is a hell of a job, let alone keeping the house clean. When I photograph images in my home, I do it in very particular areas. I take the images at angles where you can only see what I want you to see. The white table that I do a lot of my still life images on is rarely ever free of crayons, papers, glue, and a random plate that had cereal, or crackers, or chicken nuggets on it. I wanted to be honest. I have regular responsibilities and a mostly normal existence. I have 5 people to look after besides myself, and 3 cats. I take time in the evenings, or at nap time to do things like crochet, draw, or take photos. I schedule photo shoots on the weekends, and you can usually hear my dryer running at midnight. When I see home tours on my favorite blogs, I can only assume that the owners of the spectacular spaces don't have any kids- and if they do, they have help with cleaning and such-- or, my favorite option, is that they spend a crazy 2 days before the photos were taken cleaning like madwomen (or men) to make their home look perfect.
I would love to have my house in perfect order at all times, but that would mean it wasn't lived in. And that's what are homes are for right?
So there you have it. A humbling, slightly cringe-worthy look into what my house looks like most of the time. The secret's out. I'm not perfect.
June 8, 2010
A post on being open, honest and real. (and my personal quest to end perfectionism)
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11 comments:
Love it. You're honest and brave. Those who take photos of their homes looking perfect, is obviously staged. With kids, its nearly impossible to keep things organized. And personally, who cares, there are more important things to do than to constantly clean up.
Your a gem...its lived in..as it should be...if it were "perfect" looking I would be wondering wheither you had a life ..that you actually intend on enjoying with 5 kids and 3 cats.
My living room looks like that on a daily basis ..and I only have a 20mnth old boy..who totally demolishes the place in seconds.
You are a REAL mum..and a brave one :) x
i love it! my house is very like yours, but i don't look after nearly as much - husband, 4 yo son & a black Lab. oh, and a mouse.
I absolutely love this post. It makes me sad when people feel bad about their lives because their favorite bloggers seem so perfect - which is hypocritical because I feel sad about it sometimes, too! My apartment is usually messy, and I don't even have the excuse of kids. Thanks for being real.
the random black plastic bucket in the living room is perfect~ such is the life with children. I do believe if you try to keep a home "neat" with kids around you will drive yourself and them completely insane. Because you know that when you do clean it up and make everything look just the way you like it only lasts 10 minutes! I strive for starting the week with a clean kitchen counter and fresh laundry, and sometimes I achieve this! Thanks for sharing your (everyones) reality :)
You are a brave woman! Great post. Thank you for sharing. I will pity your honey oak if you pity my black painted cabinets (with a layer of mint green and pink under the black).
Love. It. And, welcome! It's not so bad here. lol
Hello there camper! I'm also enrolled in the RVA Summer camp class and I thought I would pop by and say hello.
I really enjoyed this posting.It's easy to turn into a perfectionist and be more into organizing and cleaning your life more than actually living. Thank you for sharing! Oh, and my home is rarely spotless for more than a moment either and I don't even have kids for the reason!
Keep being real, it's something that is too rarely seen!
Thanks everyone for your lovely comments. It felt good to show you all what my life really looks like. : )
Bless you for being so honest and real! While I love reading blogs, sometimes I end up feeling really rotten about my life because they all seem sooooo perfect with all of their ducks in a row. Hats off to you for being true blue. I know how hard it is to keep everything tidy when you don't have kids, so I know it's a pill if you do have kids. Thanks for posting this!
Beautiful house! God bless
visit my bog if u would I would LOVE your appinion on stuff! My blog is. Victoria-pets.blogspot.com
Thanks!!!
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