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10 Reasons to Clean and Declutter the House

Someone asked me recently how to be motivated to clean the house. So I started thinking about some of the reasons that get me cleaning.

This post is not written to make anyone feel guilty or intimidated.  My house is not perfect.  I have way too many closets that need to be decluttered.  I have a junk counter that lives up to its name most of the time. Knowing that my house needs work too, I would like this post to serve as motivation for anyone feeling uninspired about cleaning their house.

1.  The home is a refuge and a place of peace, similar to the temple.  The LDS church builds temples and spends a lot of resources keeping them very clean and well-maintained.  We consider them to be very sacred places.  In the Bible Dictionary, under Temple, it says, "Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness."  With that in mind, shouldn't we give our best effort to keeping our homes clean?

2.  The church gets cleaned every week; doesn't a home deserve the same? When our family has helped participate in cleaning our church, it always amazes me how much work is done to clean it when frequently it doesn't seem like it's that dirty.  But by following the same list, everything gets cleaned before it gets out of control. I like that concept of following the list and being thorough.

3.  It helps your stuff last longer.  I'm actually not sure if this is really true, but what I know is that I'm happier with my stuff when it's cleaner. And I'm not in such a hurry to replace it!

4.  The scriptures encourage to organize ourselves and establish a house of order.  See here and here.

5. It brings feelings of peace and order.  When I walk around my house on Saturday afternoon after we have spent some time in the morning cleaning it, it helps me feel a sense of accomplishment!  I really love that feeling.  When my house is in order, that responsibility is not hanging over my head and nagging at me.  It's hard to be at peace when there is chaos around you.

6.  You rule your stuff; your stuff doesn't rule you.  You can find what you need when you need it.  You can enjoy using the things you have chosen to own.  I read on a different blog that if you don't want to clean, just watch an episode of "Hoarders" and it will inspire you in no time.  I have never watched "Hoarders" but I can imagine it would be helpful in inspiring someone to get rid of stuff.

7.  It helps you teach your children that housecleaning is important.  This is one of my favorites.  It's so much easier to clean when it's a group project, especially if you overlook the fact that your children probably aren't working as hard as you!  As you clean together, you help them understand that cleaning is not drudgery and not something trivial but is actually really important and necessary work.  It's part of life and it's part of creating a home. And cleaning together can be quality time (if you can restrain yourself from getting mad at them!)  You can't put a monetary value on your cleaning time.

8.  Your house is a stewardship you have been given by God.  This idea is similar to the parable of the talents.  I really believe we have an obligation to take care of all the gifts we have been given from God.

9.  Your children will be better prepared to take care of their own future houses.  If a young adult has never been taught how to clean a house, it's that much harder to figure out how to clean their own house.  Cleaning is not necessarily intuitive.  Plus, learning how to clean helps them learn how to work.  That is a subject for a whole different post--I could go on and on about that!

10.  It helps you not be embarrassed when someone drops by.  Most people who come to my house don't see most of it so this might not work for me, but if it works for you, then use it!

So there you have it--10 reasons to clean.  Maybe in a future post, I'll get down to more details of how to make it happen.

Happy Housecleaning!

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