Converting Zone 2: My Back Entry

This is part of a series of posts on The House that Cleans Itself by Mindy Starns Clark. I will be recording what I'm doing to transform my house into "one that cleans itself." I will also be helping my Mom work on her house and she has graciously given me permission to blog about her transformation, too. You can find all the posts in the series by looking for the label HTCI. Today we're talking about my place.

I just got my own copy of the book and it is the second edition. The information is essentially the same, but Clark restructured it entirely. The whole CONVERT approach has been sidelined into a chapter allowing her to focus on elaborating the principles behind the concept of a house that cleans itself. I am glad she did it: things are much more clear in this edition. However, I loved the approach of the first edition, sectioning the house into zones and converting the house zone by zone , so I'm going to continue it.

My back entry way has been the bane of my existence ever since we moved into this house. I am tired of being tired of its dinginess and disorderliness. In May, I set about to make the area more functional, washing and repairing the pocket organizer, painting the boot shelf, making a flip flop holder from magazine holders, painting and reorganizing the baskets which line the stair well, even installing more coat hooks, and yes, painting the boards which hold them.

But it is still hard to keep clean.

Why?

Short answer: I still hate to be here.

Reading the second edition of Clark's book, part of the reason why became crystal clear. In the chapter titled "Create a First Impression of Clean" Clark mentions four ways to do that:

1. Control your Sight Zones
2. Corral Your Necessary Messes
3. Utilize Camouflage
4. Eliminate Inevitable Invisibles

That was it. I hadn't looked after the first or the last. In my very first blog entry about this area-- way back in 2008-- I'd mentioned my husband had been patching and sanding the walls for me.

Patching and sanding cracks, nicks and so on is, in Clark's words, "eliminating the inevitable invisibles." Repairing that sloppy grout or caulking which is impossible to keep clean, removing those stubborn stains, and cleaning the curtains are other examples.

I've decided it's time to finish the job already!

Thing is, we could be here a while.