How to Clean Your House & Fast: Pretend Your Place is going to be in Apartment Therapy!

I was so excited when my friend Kat Yore found time in her busy schedule to come on over and shoot my apartment for Apartment Therapy (will post more photos from this great shoot soon!) But when she said, in the beginning of last week, "I can come over Friday," I thought I had several evenings to futz about and get ready...

Well, yeah right, guess what? That did NOT happen!! I had projects due, people to see, things to do...Just kidding, but I was a little bit busy, it's true. Friday morning rolled around, and I had to go into work early- no time there! I had scheduled to be home a bit before she was due to arrive, (we had to capture the best light, duh!) so, somehow, even though I had almost an ENTIRE week to prepare, I ended up with only 45 minutes of straightening-up time...Yep. That was it! 

So....Uhm...What did I do? Well, man... I just blasted through my place! Like this:

 I took all the work/paper clutter, and stuck it into an IKEA file box...I swept the floors, vacuumed my two little bedrooms fast, wiped down the bathroom, kitchen counters, "ice-skated" over my hard floors with rags on my feet and Trader Joe's All-Purpose Cleanser, and you know what? I DID it! And the place looked pretty good, if I do say so, myself...

No maid, no help at al....I realized, too, that all weekend, I kept the clutter at bay, because it felt so good. Note to self: Someone is always coming over! Just say that to yourself, true or not. Sadly, this is often JUST the motivation we all need! 

So, that's the secret to quickly picking up and straightening your home/apartment: Pretend you are doing a photo shoot for Apartment Therapy (or actually DO one! They are actually looking for great Home Submissions, right NOW. Send in your pics!)

Here's a little sneak peek at the shoot: 

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