As Long As It #SmellsClean …Right?

This is my house.

You can’t tell it from this angle, but she is durrtty.

No joke, Thanksgiving snuck up on me this year.  Just…I can’t even begin to figure out what happened.  Seven started school like, 2 weeks ago it seems, and then – Bam, there are 6 in-laws sleeping in my house ALL THE SUDDEN.

I barely remembered to even text my housekeeper.  Really.

Luckily, she came Tuesday, a mere hours before the first of the in-laws arrived.  Unluckily is that if you live in MY house, you have to CLEAN YOUR HOUSE before the housekeeper can CLEAN YOUR HOUSE.

Truth.

Something has happened in here that I can’t get a grip on.

There are ALL THE THINGS on the EVERYTHING.  There are baskets on my counter full of odds and end snacks and for whatever reason, hair care products and Neosporin.  In the KITCHEN.

I don’t allow this, and yet, here it is.  And I AM THE CULPRIT.

Because I am lazy, it would seem.  And my cabinets are packed to the gills. Overflowing.  Every cabinet I own looks like a Tupperware cabinet, and don’t even pretend you don’t know what THAT is like.  The “ThrowItInAndSlamTheDoorFAST” Cabinet.

Yeah, they are ALL like that.

Every drawer over the past two months has become “The Junk Drawer.”  My refrigerator?  I can’t discuss it.  My Laundry Room? I can’t even take dirty laundry down there because there is no room to put it prior to washing it.  Suitcases line the walls.  Bags from this August’s trips to the POOL are still unpacked.  Summer clothing is just hanging out, waiting to be stored, while winter clothing is piled every single where.  Seven’s bedroom is a disaster area, especially the closet that I can’t begin to think about because it gives me a throbbing headache.  The guest room slash office slash room we just close the door to?  My own bathroom?  My CLOSETS?

Again, I just can’t.

The entire house needs to do over.

This week it is getting that DO OVER.

I’ve decided it’s time to let go.  Just LET GO of all these things.  I’m tired of having no place to store things – my GOOD THINGS.  Of having no idea where anything is.  Of taking an hour to find my favorite jeans, because the closet is so packed I can’t even get enough light in it to see them.

I want a SINGLE JUNK DRAWER.

I want to know where my sauté pan is immediately, and NOT have to move 517 heavy pots off of it to use it.

I want to know where my freaking seasonings are.  When I want Star Anise, I don’t want to DIG.

Yes…a DO OVER. 

Just in time for the Christmas decorations to come up from the cellar.  Just in time to bring a giant tree into my foyer.  Just in time to bake cookies and decorate cakes and candy and hang stockings.

I am going to have a CLEAN HOUSE.

This WEEK.

It will happen.

But for now, it SMELLS CLEAN.  That’s a good thing.

My secret?

When I’m at the Walmart, buying the pudding and Diet Coke and toilet paper, I sneak into the cleaning aisle.  I love candles.  I love smelly things that smell clean and fresh.  Like Linen.  or Sky. Or River or Clouds or whatever.  Just fresh.  And I’ll take that candle home and close my eyes.

It smells clean in here.

Try the plug in things too.  Those I swear by.  Every time you walk past, you’ll get a whiff and think for a moment – I don’t even smell that the dog puked here and I stepped in it in the dark.

Fact.

Trust me.  Candles, those waxy melts, plug ins – these will be your saving grace, especially if you don’t have time to actually CLEAN your house before the company arrives.

And kids, that company?  They are arriving.  Just like Thanksgiving did.

ALL. THE. SUDDEN.

Stock up, and put a lock on that Tupperware cabinet before Christmas.

Good luck!

Oh…You can always find more ways to make your own house smell clean by following the #SmellsClean hashtag on Twitter!

Disclaimer: Acorn sponsored this post.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.