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Originally posted by amaryllis:
My main detriment to keeping clean is my roommates--they tend to let stuff pile up (it's not me, I swear! I'm at work for most of the day, while they've only got four hours of classes!) I hate feeling like I'm picking up after them, so I tend to let it slide, but one way I motivate myself to pick up after them is imagining their shock/horror when suddenly all their clutter disappears.... I'm thinking jackets on the backs of chairs and saucepans left on the stovetop.

True, they might not freak out the way I like to imagine, but if they can figure out where I would put these items (the hall closet and pots-'n'-pans cabinet, specifically), why haven't they put them there themselves? (I'm hoping I'll only have to do this a couple of times before they get the hint.)

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Originally posted by yam:
or 2 towels. greatest mop method ever: make a towel wet and soapy. take off your shoes and socks. step on the towel and walk it around the floor. your bodyweight+towel gives the floor a better scrub than any mop. then throw a dry towel on the floor and walk it around to buff+dry. tada! then throw the towels in the laundry.

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LOL, I was just reading this thread and this reminded me of when i was in college and we used to all put on sports socks and spray Pledge on the floor and "skate," usually resulting in a very shiny floor, and one or more of us falling on our bums.
Hmmm....I have wall to wall hardwood again...pledge-skating, here I come!

nottooriginal, that is a GREAT story! I'll have to remember that one!

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Originally posted by nottoooriginal:
OK i too want to be clean & i'm a chronicly messy but hate it. Since i found digs about a week ago, i've laughed at myself till i've cried more than i guess i ever have. I have the 'p' method. whenever the mess gets too overwhelming, i tend to avoid it... by any virtual reality available, books pc tv nothing gets my attention except basics of food drink & you guessed it the need to P. Well, it's offically a rule as of last weekend, at my house now, when you go pee, pick up 2 things you aren't using and put them up (lol my lil girl has to doit too!) then on the way back you have to find 2 more to put away. So far it seems to be making a BIG difference. For the first time in forever, Monday morning came & i could walk through the living room without amillion toys and dirty socks underfoot, i could set my coffeecup on the desk without moving R's leftover wrappers, and I only have half the guilt about being here....and ya know it didn't hurt a bit! Now, if we can just keep it up, maybe the 'rule' part will help it stick.

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Originally posted by nottoooriginal:
OK i too want to be clean & i'm a chronicly messy but hate it. Since i found digs about a week ago, i've laughed at myself till i've cried more than i guess i ever have. I have the 'p' method. whenever the mess gets too overwhelming, i tend to avoid it... by any virtual reality available, books pc tv nothing gets my attention except basics of food drink & you guessed it the need to P. Well, it's offically a rule as of last weekend, at my house now, when you go pee, pick up 2 things you aren't using and put them up (lol my lil girl has to doit too!) then on the way back you have to find 2 more to put away. So far it seems to be making a BIG difference. For the first time in forever, Monday morning came & i could walk through the living room without amillion toys and dirty socks underfoot, i could set my coffeecup on the desk without moving R's leftover wrappers, and I only have half the guilt about being here....and ya know it didn't hurt a bit! Now, if we can just keep it up, maybe the 'rule' part will help it stick.

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When you unpack, be equally as ruthless. Consider that you will likely be getting housewarming presents to replace old outdated things. If you don't receive housewarming presents, you will probably find yourself buying a lot of things, since you only want new lovely things to go in your new lovely house. We had this ugly blue platter that the boy finally tossed the other day. Yeah it's nice to have a platter, but he said he'd rather have no platter than one so ugly. So now we have no platter! C'est la vie-- I'm sure one will pop up on our wedding registry some day.

The not-so-good aspect for us was (and still is!) the finding a place for everything. Luckily, we moved from a one-bedroom apt to a giant four bedroom house, so everything is not as cramped, but now everything is very spread out. We still haven't found places for everything, which means that it's difficult to put everything away. Some things are just difficult in nature to find a place for-- like headbands, or gloves, aprons, etc. Be creative, go find esoteric things from Cont@iner store, but you must find a place for it or it will clutter up your house.