Since going through our home and removing the unnecessary clutter, I’ve started to notice a few things. There has been something lurking behind the clutter of our home. I haven’t noticed it as much until now. It wasn’t until the clutter was gone that I realized there was hidden DIRT lurking in our home. This dirt is the kind you only notice when you no longer have distractions blocking your view of all the nooks and crannies around your home.
Hidden Dirt
My daughter was playing with a hand towel the other day on the kitchen floor in front of our stove. Part of the towel found its way under the stove and when my daughter pulled it out, a pile of dust bunnies and crumbs came along for the ride. It was gross. We got out the vacuum cleaner and sucked up all the dirt but it got me thinking about what other nasty stuff was hiding under my stove that I couldn’t see on a daily basis. So, we decided to pull out the stove and have a look. Here’s what we found.
It was pretty disgusting. Not only did we find a lot more dust and crumbs, we also found a dead bug that was stuck to the wall. My kids were as intrigued as I was and were also eager to help me clean up the mess. I’m not too surprised as to what we found since we recently cleaned behind our fridge (because my daughter accidentally spilled some juice so it needed to happen) and found a similar looking situation. Now, as gross and messy as the floor was, I felt such a feeling of satisfaction seeing how dirty it was and now knowing how clean it is. I love seeing those transformations – Dirty to clean – Nasty to pleasant.
Respecting Your living Space
I used to watch the TV show Consumed where families living in overstuffed, cluttered homes would have help removing all the non-essential items and lived with less for a month. Afterwards, they would go through their stuff and decide what they would keep, sell or donate and their homes would be transformed into organized useful spaces. I found it interesting that after the families started to live with less clutter, they seemed to start respecting the space they lived in more. They were able to see the dirt in their home and started to clean regularly. Since the clutter was no longer distracting them from the dirt, it was more visible and easier to maintain a clean and tidy home. It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion. Once that layer of clutter is gone you’re able to see the layer of dirt.
Cleanliness + Clutter free = Good luck
In Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, she talks about how in Japan, people believe that keeping their home clean and orderly will bring them good luck. Yet, if they have a clean and cluttered room, the luck will be limited. So the idea of having a clean, tidy space will bring good luck to those that respect their living spaces by keeping them spotless. I love how her book walks you though putting your house in order to drastically change your life and brighten your world. Have you noticed that when you start to declutter, a deep cleaning is often required as part of the process.
If you’re like me and haven’t peeked behind your stove in a while. This is your friendly reminder to take a look, and have your vacuum and mop at the ready, just in case your floor looks like mine did. I’d love to hear from you so leave a comment below and tell me what you found lurking behind your clutter today.
Have a great day!
Jillian
