31 Days-Days 30 & 31

Last day already!  This month has gone by way too quickly.

After a full month of using my control journal, my house is not perfect, but it's better.  So much better.  

"Before" picture of computer desk aka home office

"After" picture of computer desk aka home office.  Still needs work, but it's getting there!

"Before" picture of the end of the hallway between the two bedrooms

"After" picture of the end of the hallway.  The vacuum is no longer just a decoration as I use it every Monday when I do my daily checklist.  Do you see the little hand in the bottom right hand corner of the picture?  Little Man was following me around when I took the pictures.

"Before" picture of the kids' room.  *Shudder*

"After" picture of the kids' room.  *Blissful sigh*

"Before" picture of the kitchen counter

"After" picture of the kitchen counter.  All the kids' craft and activity stuff is stored in the corner next to the fridge. 

The bathroom.  I need to learn photoshop so I can add some "sparkles" to show how clean and shiny it is.

The master bedroom (haha).  Little Man ran past me just as I took the picture.  You can tell what side of the bed is mine...I'm always cold and Hubby is always hot.  So I have exactly 6 layers on my side while Hubby has only 3.  And he's usually still too hot while I'm shivering.

The great expanse of living room floor.  Is that Little Man again?  Sneaky little boy... 

My "Hot Spot", the coffee table.  I plan on buying a basket to put the newpapers, mail, etc. in to make it look a little neater.  I didn't get a before picture of this, but imagine the whole table covered in papers, toys, books, junk, etc. 

You wouldn't think that having a clean house would change your life, but it's most definitely changed mine.

Thanks to the Flylady system, I can walk across the living room floor without feeling like I'm running an obstacle course.  I can get up in the middle of the night to comfort a crying child without worrying about stepping on anything or turning on lights to make sure the floor is clear.  I can get my house looking pretty much spotless in less than 20 minutes.  I can have visitors over at little to no notice and be completely relaxed and comfortable rather than embarrassed.  I can spend more time playing with my kids because A: there's room to spread out and actually play now and B: I'm not spending so much time stressing over the mess and trying futilely to clean it.  I can look forward to Hubby coming home from work so much more now because I don't feel guilty that he's coming home to a mess.  I can sit down and read a book without feeling like I should be cleaning something because it's already done.  I don't freak out over messes that the kids make because, instead of just making a disaster even worse, now it's just one mess that can be quickly cleaned up.  My stress level has gone way down and I don't yell at the kids over little things like I used to do.  I don't start arguments with Hubby like before because I'm so much happier now.

How has cleaning your house changed your life?