Sometimes when I lack the motivation to straighten up my house, I’ll trick myself into wanting to clean.  Usually, all it takes is for me to see a little change that I like, then I want the whole room to look nice.  Like when I brought home a few pumpkins, put them in the family room and I magically wanted to wipe off the coffee table and sweep the floor so that my pretty pumpkins would look even better.  Then, just the other day, I moved the pumpkins around and grouped them on a table, once again, I had the unnatural urge to clean up a little?!

I usually change out my pillows a few times a year,  and since we have new slipcovers this year–new pillows!  But, I didn’t want to put pretty new pillows on a dirty slipcover.  Pow! Instant slipcover washing motivation.  Instead of being a chore, washing the slipcover was fun and I looked forward to seeing my fall pillows on a clean sofa.

This is not an excuse to go purchase something new every time I want a clean house.  But, I’ve found that it doesn’t take much to motivate me.  It could be anything from moving a dish of shells from one room to another to picking some kind of branches from the yard and putting them in a big vase. Moving the chair from the dining room into the family room. Even lighting a candle can help me get motivated to clean up.

Find what works for you and use it.