An old school source we've turned to when things get kooky starts with the premise that keeping your kitchen sink clean will have a domino effect on the cleanliness of the whole room. We initially scoffed at the thought but discovered that it works. Turns out, there's one item in every room that will give the impression that the whole room is tidy...
- In the bedroom, a made bed will make the entire room feel serene
- Clear and neat counters and bathtub ledges can make up for other bathroom clutter
- In the living room, a neat and organized coffee table will distract the eye from chaos elsewhere
- In a home office (or even "out there" in your office or cubicle), an organized desk not only makes the rest of the room feel that way too but clearing off your desk at the end of the day is a good way to make the transition from working to relaxing.
- The dining room's focal point? The table. Keep mail from piling up here and suddenly the room is inviting
- In the entranceway, a neat landing strip gives a great first impression and sets the tone for how you feel about coming home; it's also a calming to have this be the last image of your home as you leave for the day.
[image: Victoria and Hans' Indoor/Outdoor California Bungalow]
Must-See Small Cool Homes: Week Two
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shaw's Original Fir...
How To Make Perfect Bacon in the Oven
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
The bed comment is so true. I was never a bed maker, but started doing it while my previous apartment was being shown. Now I make it every morning and I feel so much more relaxed when I come home to a made bed, even if the floor is covered in clothes from a mad dash morning wardrobe change.
More generally, one of my personal mottoes when feeling overwhelmed is, "If you can't do a lot, do a little." Being strategic about it as suggested here is a great idea.
I always thought that kitchen sink saying was intended as reverse psychology. I mean, if I took the dirty dishes out of the sink, stacked them on the counter and then cleaned the sink until it sparkled, would the kitchen really look clean? I think not. No, the point is that the sink is intuitively the last thing that gets cleaned in a kitchen so if it's clean, that means you've tidied up the rest of the place too.
lurker2209, I think you're being too literal about the clean kitchen sink. I don't think the tip means that your sink should be sparkly, I think it means that it shouldn't have dirty dishes in it - if you clean up your dirty dishes it'll go a long way towards making the room seem cleaner.
I agree with this totally, and the rest of the tips too. Of course, it's not as simple as it seems, because all of the places mentioned (sink, bed, coffee/dining tables, etc) are the places where the most stuff seems to gather, so they're the places that require the most effort to keep clear. Still, it's worth it to do so, if you ask me.
I highly recommend timing yourself doing these tasks as a form of motivation. For example, my most loathed common household chore is emptying the dishwasher. I had blown it up in my mind into this horrendous chore. One day, I decided to time myself emptying it, only to find it took 4 minutes. I was procrastinating for DAYS something that took 4 stupid minutes.
Now anytime I hate doing something I time it to silence my inner whiner. It works in reverse too. Take a hated chore and tell yourself you'll work on it for 15 minutes and then you can stop. I'm always amazed at how quickly most household tasks can be completed.
i have a rule to go through the house and tidy/wipe down/put away for only 10-15 minutes a day, so that cleaning never seems to feel like this huge marathon event. now it's just a habit to clean a little bit everyday
Can I ask about the light? I want to put one of those over my dining table (which also doubles as a catch all so I bet if I had that lamp, i would keep it tidier) but wonder if it will cast enough light. We have a ceiling light and are disappointed every time we turn it on and try to read the paper under it.
About the Light... are you wanting to use it as the main light source in the room? I have a vintage Nelson bubble lamp that has yellowed quite a bit, but it casts the most amazing glow through my bedroom. I have it hanging as my only cieling light, but have three other table lights in the room. It does not cast much direct light. If you want to read a paper under it, it might work, but I would suggest an alternate light source like a great floor lamp. The nelson Light is more of a general light source but is absolutely great.
LilyC - that's so true! My maligned task is cleaning the floors, and my apt is only around 250-300 square feet!
It may take a bit of effort at first to get the coffee table or sink or bed clear, but once you have, upkeep is really easy, providing you do it at least once a day. It takes me a minute, tops, to make my bed in the morning.
And don't keep anything on them. Clutter has its own gravity field, so it seems. If one thing gets left on the coffee table, all of sudden, next time I turn around, there are ten things. It's like, once permission has been given to put things on the coffee table, everything goes on it.
The flylady's kitchen sink theory is not so much about reverse psychology. It's more about doing the one single thing in that room that will create the most impact, while being a finite task that can be done in a short amount of time. In short, something that can be accomplished. A lot of people who sign up for flylady just don't know where to start or for some of them, how to clean at all.