I’m trying to be a better Messie. Now that I have created enough good, healthy cleaning habits, I’m trying to relax about the rest of the mess. I want my kids to bring their friends over without me having a heart attack. My house will never meet my imaginary standard of how a house is supposed to look, so I need to accept that sometimes, there will be mail on the table, a few dishes in the sink, some books by my chair. I think I need that book. It might help after a steady diet of Anti-Mess books.

What do you think? Is a little bit of messiness a good thing?

I don’t know why it took me so long to get this book. It took years for me to decide to order it, and another three months to actually read it. Do yourself a favor if you haven’t read this one and read it as soon as possible.

Sandra Felton is one of Us. As I was reading the book, I kept feeling flashes of recognition. She pegged me exactly. In fact, at one point, she mentioned how a Cleanie would pick up a speck of lint from the carpet, while a Messie would pass it by and decide it was time to vacuum (with the unspoken assumption that she would not get around to the vacuuming.) As I read that, I remembered the tangled ball of thread on the living room floor that I hadn’t bothered to pick up because I was going to vacuum (eventually.)

This book is inspiring, not necessarily because of her tips and advice, but because she acknowledges one thing that so few others do: this will always be a battle for us, and most of us will never be Cleanies. Most of us don’t even want to be Cleanies! We just want to be average. It is refreshing to have a book tell us how to be an average housekeeper.

The book goes over both the Mount Vernon and the Mount Vesuvius methods of organizing. Don Aslett might shudder at the very nearly dash-and-stash method of Mount Vesuvius, but Felton also reminds us to DO something with the boxes. I plan to use the Mount Vesuvius method on my bedroom and the Mount Vernon method on the public areas of the house, more for maintenance than for core decluttering (most of the clutter has already ended up in my bedroom anyway.)

The New Messies Manual doesn’t really focus on the cleaning aspect of housecleaning. You’ll need another resource for that. But Felton does give tips on how to schedule cleaning and how to organize your day so you can get the cleaning done and still have a life.

Getting Organized by Stephanie Winston is the very first organizing book I ever read. My dad, who is a bit of a messie, had that book while I was a teenager. After I moved out, I bought my own copy. I love the ideas this book has, especially for kitchens and small spaces. This book is just plain fun to read, too.

Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell and the Clean Team is truly a great book
if you want to get very good and very efficient at cleaning. He can clean
a house from top to bottom in two hours, and so can you when you follow
his instructions. If you can only buy one cleaning book, this should be
it!

The tips in this book will be difficult to put into practice until you have decluttered pretty significantly. Campbell’s methods resemble Sandra Felton’s Mt. Vernon method, although her method is for decluttering only, while his is for cleaning only. It would make sense, though, that if you work well with the Mt. Vernon method, that you would also work well with Campbell’s methodical, but fast method.

Campbell gives great advice for what sort of cleaning supplies you should have. Since he is a professional cleaner, he would know what products get things the cleanest… the fastest. I believe the concept of the popular Swiffer mop resembles his Sh-mop, although the Sh-mop heads are washable and reusable. One thing I want to put into practice is the cleaning apron. I think that alone will make a big difference in my cleaning speed.

If you’ve read this book, feel free to comment below!