apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

partner....what partner?

If there are no roaches and rats running around, we're all good. Actually, I've found the secret to cleanliness is less stuff. I've been purging my possessions in the last few months and It has made the world of difference in how easy it is for me to maintain everything. In round one, I purged my clothing down to only the things I love. In round 2, I plan to narrow those down even further. Most of my books were given away or donated and almost everything else I owned, but didn't really need, is gone. I love it. I feel free without all the stuff I used to think I had to have.

I waver between "clean enough" and "not really quite clean enough." I rely on my boyfriend coming over and being bugged by dirt, and cleaning it for me (his place is usually half way between "clean enough" and gleaming). There are just so many things that are more fun than vacuuming...

Ha ha, clean enough... barely. I can get it clean enough for company, though.

I do most of the housework... the huz is in school part time and working just short of full time. I seriously doubt he does even 2.5 hours worth of housework a week. boy, will I be glad this is over...

I'm not sure, though, how this standard of housekeeping can be called 'new.' It may not have been in the magazines, but it's been around. Or maybe it's just my mom and my grandma... both worked and both had kids, and though Mom gets into big scary cleaning fits, she really never had time to keep everything sparkling. (That's not to say I don't stress about my place looking like crap when family comes to visit.)

Clean enough. Thank you so much for posting this, it's nice to see others are of the same mind as me. For years I felt embarassed when people dropped my to my somewhat cluttered (lived-in) abode. But a couple of years ago I came to the conclusion that, you know what?, I am a messy person - and I'm OK with that. My house is not dirty, but it's not a museum. This is a house where creative people live, and there's always projects underway. Deal with it.

I'm glad to see there are others who are ok with "clean enough."

Working moms always knew about clean enough!

Oh to answer the question... These days I (the girl) tend to do most of the cleaning. The boy does the yucky work - garbage, litter boxes, etc - and also spends a lot of hours working on house projects (tiling the bathroom floor, etc). I'd say it's basically even.

My Mom lived "Clean Enough" - as a working mother, she didn't have the time/energy for "Spic & Span"

I try to clean better too - but sometimes it just gets the best of me.

Houses are made to be lived in, they are not museums or holy shrines. And life is too short to spend all of my time cleaning. If it gets to the point of "Nobody should have to live like this." it's time to clean. If I put off having people over until things were exactly as clean and neat as I wanted, I would never have anyone over.

Having said that, I can't wait until I'm down to one house and can afford to have a cleaning person again.

my beau keeps talking about how now that we are moving into our own place we will be able to keep the ENTIRE apartment spotless... sigh... goodbye saturdays...

meh, he's worth it.

My apartment is usually in some state of wavering organized chaos. There are piles of mail/bills/receipts on the table, but they are organized as to what I need to shred/file/pay. There are clothes in my bathroom when I wake up because they never made it to the hamper the night before, but they're folded and relatively well contained. All the dishes are clean, but they're still not put away. I haven't done laundry in 2.5 months, but I also haven't run out of clean clothes yet either and except for the ones from the night before in the bathroom, they're all in the hamper.

As soon as they figure out how to make a 26 hour day or remove our need for sleep I think my apartment will be sparkling.

(Who am I kidding, I'll probably still just end up watching Bravo/TLC instead of doing my housework because I'm too tired.)

My boyfriend does more work than me, but he actually enjoys vacuuming. He is also our dishwasher and does the garbage... and shoveling in the winter. I still pick up around the house more, do kitty litter, and bathroom cleaning. I do enough to be clean enough and comfortable, but he needs it a little cleaner D;

oneformybaby - niiiice, so *he* can keep it spotless! While I feel no one should have to live with someone else's mess in their faces, I think having the "entire apartment spotless" is a little extreme. There should be a place where you can close the door on your mess.

Since people keep mentioning it... how do those of you who have partners of different cleaning styles deal with it? My mom always gripes about my dad's piles of papers around the den which he insists he needs but refuses to organize. I suggested an ultimatum: clean it or lose it, but that may be extreme... Is there a way to lay on some tough love without wrecking a relationship?

The NYT had an article about this awhile back and their are tons of sociological studies about the division of housework. In general women usually do more of the housework - the social norm is that cleanliness reflects the value of the woman and as women we are socialized into this. So women *generally* feel the need to keep the place cleaner (however maybe not on this blog and my sister in law definitely does not give into this pressure).

I consider my house tidy, but not super clean. I don't like to see a bunch of clutter around and I like the horizontal surfaces clear of stuff (this cracks up my partner), but I could go months without cleaning the shower. Therefore, my partner cleans (sinks, bath, etc) things and I tidy and keep things neat and orderly (vacuum, laundry, dust, etc.). When it comes to home repairs and remodeling we share that together.

we have maids come twice a month and we do a light cleaning on the weekends they do not come. this was a compromise made after living together for 4 months and almost breaking up over myself doing all of the cleaning. it is money well spent considering that we save a lot because we go out much less, as our place is more comfortable, better decorated and cleaner than most restaurants. the food is better too!

My boyfriend was a complete slob..it was like having an overgrown child...I prefer a clean home...but don't want to end up a 1950's housewife who also works full time...so that is why he is now an EX bf! My new place was kept 'clean enough" and it was such a relief not to have fruit flies buzzing around three week old garbage bags because the lazy slob wouldn't take them out....

And then.....I started operating my own cleaning service...and seeing firsthand the absolute filth people choose to live in because they "have better things to do than clean", i have become 10x more fastidious about keeping my place clean. It might get cluttered from time to time with papers, deliveries, new toys, and such but vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing, and wiping up are near daily occurances. I even scrub the bottom of the sink stopper.

3 kids make it hard to be clean at all. but lately, welcome our new member of the family:

iRobot Roomba

it helps.

Yes! My house is generally clean, but often messy - not dirty. My boyfriend and I do a relatively good job of keeping things free from dirt. But we're both artistic people, and when I'm in the middle of sewing a dress, I have better things to do than vacuum the fabric scraps on the sewing room floor.
My partner does have what I've termed the "Kipple gene" - he seems to generate piles of clutter which he's irrationally attached to. Handouts from a class two years ago? You do not need it! But he tends to stick it in a box and try to hide it. In an apartment with little storage, we've had clashes where I've tried to throw away these useless things and he's tried to hold onto them... we're reaching a balance, but it's kinda hard. And his desk is still completely covered with papers and pens and books and electronic mess.

I also am a convert to bringing in the professionals. We are not swimming in it, but we realized that removing the pressure to clean house from our nights and weekends was more valuable than not. We're willing to sacrifice on other things. It is an investment in sanity.

We're currently at "every other week" with our house cleaner and I'm seeing if we can find a way to justify a weekly visit. It is that good for our home life.

Clean enough. With two hairy dogs I can only dream of spotless (and hairless)!

I view 'cleaning' and 'tidying' as two different things. I have a cleaning person come every other week, which forces me to keep things tidy. I tidy up (put stuff away and de-clutter), she cleans everything.

just "clean enough" is the least of the worries of "some mothers and grandmothers" today.

I've always struggled with cleaning, although I'm new to coping with fruit flies (thankfully in amie's past). My bf tosses apple cores and peach pits everywhere, and no amount of complaining on my part, or threats from outside (his dialysis nurse) can change his ways.

My mom worked before it was common practice, and I grew up with "clean enough."

I can handle a lot of clutter but not a lot of dirty.

The SO is anti clutter and has zero concept of cross contamination. I once caught him on his way to the kitchen with a sponge he had just used to clean the bathroom. He thinks nothing of buffing his shoes with a dish towel and tossing the towel back on the counter.

So yeah, I do all the cleaning and he has to accept my clutter.

I try to keep everything squeaky clean. And I do pretty much everything myself. That's what living with a messy person (who doesn't care) does.

When you have fur children, sometimes even "clean enough" is not attainable.

I limit my "clean days" to the weekends. During Fridays, I clean up and promise myself that I would enjoy and maintain the cleanliness during the weekend. It works for me. I always look forward to my clean days and don't go crazy during the rest of the week because I know things don't have to be that way everyday.

I'd rather live then clean but I also need my home to have a certain level of cleanness or else I can't enjoy it. It's just about finding that level and for some it has to be cleaner then others.

My condo (1,100 sf) is always clean and neat. I admit, I'm a freak about it, but what can you do?

My bills/papers are kept in boxes with lids, my countertops are wiped down and spotless, my kitchen/bath sinks & bathroom shower/toilet gleam. The condo is loft-like with hardwood flooring, no rugs, which makes it easy to keep the floors clean. I like a minimalist look, so don't have lots of furniture, just what's needed. (But, my place is lived in. I flop on the sofa with my cat and watch TV, just like other people. I just don't leave things laying around.) Closet is tidy.

Takes me maybe 1 1/2 hours, one morning a week to keep it this way. No big deal. But, as I've said, I'm a nut and I admit it. I get twitchy in the presence of mess. Can't seem to live any other way. Probably need therapy...

I grew up in a terrible messy environment. My mom only cleaned once a month, if that, and tried to put all the chores on me when I got older. I wised up and said if she won't do it, I won't do it either. She still lives in a mess, and now I come over there to get the ball rolling and have her sort through her stuff and clean.

I took what I was raised with and lived like that at my dad's too. It drove him and my stepmom nuts because they're fairly clean. Then I met "him." Mr. OCD. I ended up dating him and moving in with him, and I still tend to glaze over the almost non-existent problem areas like hair on the floor or spots on the mirror, or magazines I read a few hours earlier still being on the coffee table, but I'm not messy by any means anymore. He does almost all the cleaning, cooking, dishwashing, laundry and yardwork, he does all the trash, kitty litter, and we split feeding the cats equally. As soon as we're done with any activity or eating, it's picked up and put in it's rightful place. He even scrubs pans and trays after cooking before we sit down for dinner! The house is always near spotless (it's always my fault it's not perfect, but I don't care) and always ready for surprise company.

omg i am a PSYCHO when it comes to cleaning.we have a maid who comes in once a week, and then i normally do a huge clean on sunday afternoon... wipe and dust the whole house, load of laundry, dishes, wash floors, polish down water marks on our parquet flooring etc etc. i love sitting down to a clean home on a sunday evening, with the smell of fresh laundry and the knowledge that it will pretty much remain like that during the week :)

my boyfriend thought i was nuts initially, but now he loves it. and he pitches in with minimal nagging. The truth is that i would clean with or without his help - so when he doesnt i get him to buy me things. very feminist, i know.

The areas that people see in my house could be defined as "clean enough". Well, they are to me anyways. My mom comes over once or twice a month will complain about how dirty some things are. She likes to clean my guest bathroom and my kitchen, as they usually aren't clean enough for her (I encourage to clean as much as she wants).

My bedroom on the other hand... if it wasn't so cluttered (I'm slowly working on that) would be presentable. I just need to get rid of about half of my clothes that I never wear, and probably a few other things as well that I've been holding onto for who knows why.