Kin's Home

Having rented for most of my adult life, rental inspections come with the territory.

For the most part I don’t mind them. They give me an excuse to get the house cleaned up – a deadline to get it to someone elses standards. Not just my families.

Sometimes they’ve felt like an assessment of my housekeeping ability. Our last agent told us we were the worst tenants she’d ever had. I found that difficult to believe, but it’s that judgement on your ability to keep the house to their standard that really gets up my nose.

Our current agent, and the one before last, were understanding of life with children. If there weren’t holes in walls, or drawings on carpets, things were pretty much ok. Our current agent, unlike most we’ve ever had, actually HAS children, and understands the nightmare of keeping a clean house with children, let alone working full time (as an aside, I’ve never figured out what was harder: keeping a clean house when home full time with children, or keeping a clean house when everyone’s out all day, and you have no time at home….).

Our last inspection she wrote two things:

*toilet seat in ensuite cracked
*weed

No comment on the fact there were still unpacked boxes 3 months after moving in. No comment on drawings my children leave in the bathtub with their bath crayons. No comment on the fact the back patio could do with a hose off.

My focus these holidays has been to get the house up to scratch. So it’s kind of a relief to find an inspection note for next Thursday. My house is already a million times better than when holidays started. A quick vacuum, mop and clear some flat surfaces and it should pass most standards.

There’s certainly no holes in walls, and the toilet seat has been fixed. This weekend I might even weed the garden….

School holidays always give me the illusion of a fresh start. I get to give each room a thorough cleaning – a foreign concept during term time. But there’s one other thing I do, without fail, when cleaning out a room:

Rearrange furniture.

There’s something about a new layout to a room that inspires hope. Hope that this time they’ll stay clean. Hope that the organisational tools put in place, might actually work. I know, the horror.

Invariably they don’t, and I spend the next holidays putting furniture back how it was, or trying some new layout. But I have to keep trying.

Because otherwise it feels like I’m giving up. And that’s not an option.

Yes, I’ve been cleaning (and rearranging) the childrens’ rooms. The actual contents of M&M’s bedroom are quite small. Kiki and Miss Moo’s bedroom, however, is over crowded with furniture, crying out to be dealt with. Bunk beds, chest of draws, desk, dollshouse and shelves. Eeep!

Flylady always says to start with a shiny sink. The kitchen is the one place I NEED to be tidy. I can’t work in there, or concentrate if it’s not, so no matter what’s been going on, the first thing I do is head into the kitchen and get it, if not sorted, then bearable.

Over the last 4 years it has been the first thing I do, and sometimes, the only thing. I’ve learned it only takes 15-20 minutes to empty the dishwasher, restack it, wash up the few bits leftover, take the rubbish out and put things away. And really, isn’t that all there is to do?

I’ve even discovered, in my crazier moments, that I actually enjoy washing up by hand. And often times it’s quicker too.

And as a kind of follow on from my last post, a clean kitchen provides endless opportunities. For baking, cooking, bulk cooking (still a passion – although a necessity these days), being creative and so, so much more.

Last night, before bed, I took 3 loads of rubbish to the bin, emptied and re-stacked the dishwasher, and did a load of dishes. Today, everything can get put away, I can give the benches a good scrub down, and my kitchen will be filled with possibilities.

Or, I’ll probably note how clean it looks, and ban anyone from setting foot in there for at least a couple of days.