Eliminating the Housework from Your House

I passed this sign as I walked through the neighborhood recently and had a pang of regret that I had never met this homeowner. I want to shake hands with the person who can merit an "Immaculate Inside" sign from her realtor. Imagine the pressure even now when a prospect comes to tour the empty house!

An immaculate home isn't my ambition; I'd happily settle for plain everyday clean. Though I emphasize having all family members clean the house, I am always looking for ways to minimize the nagging that seems to accompany housework.

No wonder I was intrigued with Make Your House Do the Housework by Don Aslett, a professional cleaner, and Laura Aslett Simons, an interior designer. This book, first published in 1986, is the father/daughter duo's effort to show how housework can be designed OUT of your home. As the owner of a commercial cleaning company, Aslett understands better than most that cleaning costs money in terms of equipment, supplies and labor. What really resonated, however was the argument that cleaning takes valuable time.

As the authors point out, 5 minutes two times a day = 61 hours a year or 66 weeks in a lifetime (so this is how much time we will spend wiping down countertops). Less time cleaning means more time for other things.

Some of their best tips:

• Surfaces that were once reserved for commercial uses are now mainstream, like granite for countertops and stainless steel for appliances. These are enduring but require sealing and polishing. The authors recommend keeping surfaces simple to minimize maintenance. 
• It's easier to clean one small, extremely dirty spot than a large, semi-dirty area
• It takes four steps to knock dirt from shoe soles; use mats inside and outside entrances to prevent tracking dirt into the house (it's true! matted entranceways to commercial buildings are usually four steps deep).
• Work with the irresistable pull of convenience. For example, people will always set things on the nearest surface, not the intended one. They will sit on anything once a conversation starts. Use this to your advantage.

Aslett's calculating eye sees dust traps everywhere, and some of the ideas would never make it into the annual Decorator's Show House. Vinyl floor covering that extends up the bottom of the walls in the playroom? Great for cleaning, maybe, but not likely to become popular. However, many other ideas are easily incorporated and are extremely practical, from recommended hardware shapes to built-in storage and furniture arrangements.

Maybe my former neighbor read the book and had her house doing the housework. If so, somebody is going to buy a great house.