May is Spring Cleaning Month

Spring cleaning month continues here at AT-SF, and that means not just the big scrub-down, but all the work that precedes it. The sorting, revisiting, waxing sentimental, trashing, donating, organizing. I know, with weekends like the ones we're having these days it's tempting to give it all a pass, but imagine how great it will feel to slide into Memorial Day weekend with your house all in order?

Years ago I had a roommate who did not know how to vacuum. She'd grown up with a maid and had never had to. What's more, she had no intention of starting.

I thought about her this weekend as I pushed our heavy new Dyson around and watched it easily vanquish some tiny pieces of blue laundry paper my daughter had gleefully shredded during morning play time. There's a lot of fun to be had in making messes, and there's also satisfaction in restoring order. Even though I often lack enthusiasm for housework, I would miss its brief "before/after" journey if I suddenly had a staff to do mine for me. Very few things in life yield as easy a reward as a small cleaning task. Organizing and cleaning seem like pretty basic things to know how to do in life, and not just metaphorically. They're fundamental to peace of mind and pride of place.

Speaking of which, we invite you to open your home up for an AT-SF house tour. If you're interested in having your work of domestic art photographed by one of us and featured here on AT, send us a few pics (maximum 4) and a few words (maximum 200) on how you turned your space into a place you now really like to come home to.