Clean As Though Company Were Coming

Today I addressed the feeling that creeps up sometimes that there is just too much junk lying around. The magazines, the papers, and all other daily nonsense that accumulates, threatening to suffocate a room. So I cleaned; I tidied our living room to the "as though company were coming" standard. Let's all be honest that we hardly ever clean as hard for ourselves as we do for our visitors. No wonder, there's a proverb that hones in on the reason (or fear): "A guest will see in thirty seconds, that which you won't see in thirty years."

Recently moving into a new apartment is even more motivating, since it's satisfying to feel like you've eradicated all the dirt from the previous residents, making the place entirely yours. Other people's dirt (or stale french fries, as was the case with our oven) are so gross. And when we learned that a family of 11 had lived in our apartment prior to us (yes, 11, plus 2 or 3 dogs!) the cleaning efforts hit hyperdrive.

Another good cleaning maxim to follow: Never leave a room empty-handed. Certainly there will always be something in the living room that needs to be put away in the bedroom or visa-versa. That's something Isabella Rossellini's mother, Ingrid Bergman, told her when she was little. See, even the glamorous clean. Although I never believed it when Matt Lauer chatted one morning on TV about how much he loves the new Clorox toilet wand. While I'll believe that Ingrid might have picked up a wine glass and taken it to the kitchen (no doubt after some intriguing dinner conversation), I don't think Matt really spends his Saturdays cleaning his toilet. Unless he's way behind Katie Couric on the wage scale. But those toilet wands are pretty nifty.