No need to alphabetize the spice rack, but please place it far away from the stove. Otherwise, your spices will go stale and tasteless very quickly.

I am a spice rack alphabetizer, and a closet arranger. The clothes aren't organizer by color but by type (skirts, pants, jackets, blouses) and then by use, (work pants are separate from blue jeans, dressy skirts from casual skirts).
I made the boyfriend use the separate closet because I kept finding his sweaters shoved into my 'short sleeved work shirts'.

wow, I thought being "embarassed" by my clean freak was a me thing - my sister is always saying I have OCD and she laughs when she says it, but I think she secretly believes it, so I try to avoid overfluffing the pillows and re-adjusting the knickknacks on the shelves when she comes over.

I would like to point out that there's a difference between "clean freak" and "neat freak". I know people who are exceedingly neat in how they organize things and yet never dust, mop, etc. And a clean freak, while generally neat, may not organize by color or alphabet and yet always make sure that someone could do a white-glove dust test in their home.

I'm a clean freak. I couldn't care less about the order of the books on my bookshelf of the arrangement of spices, but if there's any dust starting to settle or soap scum building up, it won't last long in my place.

I work best when everything is in its place, I organize my closet by color and items, like skirts, pants, etc., my clothes in my drawers are folded nicely too, in the kitchen the glasses are lined up according to what type they are the coffee mug handles all go the same way and I love my label maker! My friends tease me and call me Monk, even my junk drawer is organized!

I have no upper cabinet doors, so my kitchen cabinets are always perfectly organized. The cans are arranged by type with the labels facing out. My closets are organized first by type (skirts together, etc.) and then by color.

No one can touch my grandmother, however. When my dad was in high school, he once woke up around 6:00 a.m. to a silent house and stumbled to the bathroom. By the time he returned, his bed was made. No sign of my grandmother anywhere, but she was there. Her whole life was like that. Amazing.

I absolutely can't cook dinner until the sink is empty (from breakfast or lunch dishes) and the counter is wiped-down.

The spice rack is arraigned in alphabetical order or I'd never find what I want when I wanted it. I don't organize my closet by color since it goes to hell once I've done laundry - but I do manage to keep it in groups (skirts, t-shirts, jeans, slacks, long sleeve shirts, sweaters, etc).

Everything else can go to hell and not bother me - but those two will drive me nuts if it's not right.

I love being a clean freak. I'm the only person I know who doesn't overspend on clothing or food because I can always find everything --heh heh.

My living/dining room is pretty spartan. I only use that space when I cook serious meals and/or I have guests and that's pretty much only on the weekend so it's easy and simple to clean-up right after they leave. It makes me feel good about my place since it's the first thing I see before I go up to my bedroom, where I really spend about 90% of time when I'm at home (which is rare, typically either work or the gym).

This post is me. And my whole family is guilty of the same transgressions. My Fiance calls us the Clean Nazis. We even organize our dirty clothes (different baskets for whites, lights, darks, reds, towels, and jeans) Arrangements in my house are done in threes. It almost killed me when I mixed my dimes and nickels together so that my spare change jars would be a set of 3 (pennies, quarters, and the offending nickel/dime combo). And of course i do the regular organized closet by color, perfectly folded towels, bookcase by book-size things.

My only proof that I am not legitimately OCD is that my painting studio is a mess. My brushes are only organized into short and tall, and that is so i don't lose the short brushes at the bottom of the tall jar. And you know what? I like my house this way.

Katzamboni, that story is so cute (and hysterical). Well, I knew something was wrong with me when I saw "Sleeping With the Enemy" in the theater. When the husband's OCD kitchen cabinet organization scene came on, I thought, "awesome!" Meanwhile, everyone else in the theater was screaming "Run, girl, run!" to the screen. My neatness tendencies haven't gone that far, but they've come pretty close. I can live with clutter, but it makes me feel terrible. I never feel as content and relaxed at home as when everything is organized and where it belongs. I wish I could be more laid-back about it, I really do.

Total neat freak here. I'm not a clean freak regarding anything but cat hair, but I like to have everything in its space. I rearrange my toss cushions immediately after I get up from the sofa, my table centerpiece is perfectly lined up with the light fixture after a meal, and I can't stand to see clutter on the kitchen counter when its not in use.

Its not that everything has to be perfect all the time, but when I finish using a room, I like it to go back to the way I found it. I think its drives my husband a little nuts, so I've been making efforts not to clean up quite so quickly.

The only place I'm not guilty of this is in the studio - its a mess. Most of my friends wouldn't call it a mess, but its not nearly as tidy as the rest of the house.

@ Cashew. I believe I have just found a sister soul.

I'm a selective neat freak. In my old house, we had a huge pantry/utility room right off the kitchen that could be seen through a French door. I always kept my stores very neat. Cans and labels all fronted and in straight rows. When my father saw it, his only comment was "how anal is that" and when it was on the market, we got several comments that we "over staged" in the pantry because "no one really lives like that."

no one should EVER be embarrassed about being a clean freak... or a neat freak frankly.

I don't think it's a virtue to be unable to relax if there's dust in a corner or an item out of place. But that said, I SO wish I had a little clean/neat freak in me.

It takes an enormous effort to get myself to make the bed on a regular basis, let alone hang up my clothes. I don't know why. I also haven't the vaguest clue how to organize things, other than basic big stuff--"Everything in its place" is a mystery to me. My dream is to be able to afford a professional organizer and a regular house cleaner.

I'm not the cleanest/neatest person but one thing I'm very weird about is how the bottles are arranged in the shower. I always adjust them so the front labels are facing out and so that matching bottles (i.e. shampoo and conditioner) are angled slightly towards each other.

Oh I am neat, neat, neat. I love "like" things gathered together, same size things, same height things, but my best is anything folded: I love a folded pile of anything: blankets, t-shirts, dish towels, bath towels, swimming towels, rugs whatever... folded!

Guilty--I'm a neat and a clean freak. I just find it less distracting and less trouble to clean as I go and put things back. The thing I don't like though is when people assume I expect them to be that way--because I don't. As long as I don't stick to their apartment floor and there's TP in the bathroom that's plenty. :-)

Ohhhh..... I am a clean freak and a neat freak BUT only recently have I given up the neat freak since the BF moved in. I have decided to not spend my says off cleaning and being neat, instead we do things together outsie the house lioke go to the museum or ride bikes. NO matter what, you can eat off my floors, but there will be a sweatshirt or unmade bed to look at. OH LORD, what about the piles of unopened mail?!?!?! *sigh* I have to learn to not be controlled by the messes, enjoy time with my honey and live life. I will always love my friends, mr. bleach, miss amonia and auntie borax, but the piles of paper and the dirty clothes at the foot of the bed are my new unwelcomed friends!!!

I aspire to be even *more* Monk-like in my freakish obsessive neatness and attention to organizational detail. I have quite a way to go, but I work on it daily. One day at a time.

A thing that has no place, has no place...

Awesome post! I myself just love organizing: particularly my kitchen and closet. The shower and laundry room, not so much. But the areas that I do like to keep clean must be clean for me to be productive. Sounds like a lot of people operate that way, too!