What is the most common phrase you hear when you enter someone’s home?
For us it’s, “I’m sorry about the mess, this is so embarrassing!” and “I should’ve cleaned up before you came!” There are two scenarios where we hear this:
1ST SCENARIO: hiring an organizer. We hear this all the time when we first step into a client’s home, especially during their in-home consultation. DO NOT be embarrassed! The state of your home is not a reflection of you at this point. The reason your home is messy or cluttered right now is that the systems in place are not conducive to your lifestyle. You’re hiring an organizer to regain control of your space, so don’t be ashamed of that.
As organizers, we LOVE coming into a messy home. The messier the better! You might get anxious or overwhelmed, but we see the clutter as an opportunity for a bigger transformation and as a bigger incentive for us to help your well-being. (And we honestly hope it looks like a tornado came through the space, so our before and after photos look better)
2ND SCENARIO: being a guest. We also hear this when we go over to our friend’s houses. We’ve stepped into the most spotless home we’ve ever seen and still have heard the host say, “I’m sorry for the mess." We’re guilty of this too! We want to give the impression that we didn’t have to lift a finger to prepare for guests when in reality, we have spent the last two hours panic-cleaning before they came over. Even if we did not clean before guests come over, we still find ourselves apologizing for the jacket left on the chair or the plate in the sink.
We are here to tell you to STOP apologizing for the state of your home! This is where you live, it is OKAY to invite people into your home when you haven’t spent hours scrubbing it as clean as a hospital ward. We are all real people, with real, busy lives, and your guests realize that. Your guests will enjoy being with you in your home and will most likely not notice the little things you’re stressing over. So leave that jacket on the chair, or that plate in the sink, and own up to your messy home because the truth is, you will probably have more fun when you’re less worried about what other people think!
When you think you’re about to apologize to either your organizer or a guest, stop and rephrase it to, “Thank you for coming over, so glad you’re here!”