Why we’re grateful to have a messy house

This blog post goes out to all the people who live with other people. There are a lot of us out there. Maybe you consider yourself an organized person, or maybe you're trying to get organized, but…you live with someone else. We hope you find some humor in it and solace in knowing that you're not alone! Even my husband got a good laugh out of it.

A box of crackers in the basket clearly labeled "granola bars". Pasta boxes stacked and crammed into the top shelf of the pantry while the airtight container labeled "rotini" sits empty. And the final clue: a crumbled plastic HEB bag stuffed into the corner that comes rolling out like a tumbleweed when the pantry door is opened.

Yep, my husband has done our grocery shopping for the week.

As a professional organizer I'm often asked about how organized my own home is.

Well, as you can tell, it's not just my house. It's our house, and that changes everything.

Just the other day I went to grab a fresh bath towel and behold - as I pulled it off the shelf, I found 3 washcloths hiding behind it. "Washcloths don't go here!" I thought to myself as I removed the crumpled squares, refolded them, and placed them on the correct shelf with the other washcloths.

If I lived here by myself, a lot of things would be different! All the towels would be uniformly folded. The laundry would actually be sorted by colors (whites, darks, lights, reds) rather than four labeled bins with every color of clothes inside each. I would have granola bars in the basket labeled "granola bars" and crackers in the basket labeled "crackers".

And there would be no dirty socks on the floor. Ever.

It would be a beautiful space, and I would be…miserable. Because I lived there by myself. No one to share dinner with, no one to quote Michael Scott to make me laugh, no one to help unload the car from a Costco trip. Actually, I probably wouldn't even shop at Costco because I would never be able to finish anything in bulk before it expired.

Everything would be exactly where it belonged and there'd be no surprises. Our monthly conversation about travel toothpaste would never happen. We literally have this conversation every four weeks:

Him: "I'm leaving for a work trip tomorrow and I don't have any travel toothpaste."

Me: "Did you look in the bottom drawer in the bathroom? That's where we keep travel toiletries."

Him: "No."

*He goes to look inside the bathroom drawer*

Him: "Oh wow! Look at that! A travel toothpaste."

Realizing an alternative to my present situation has helped me shift my mindset to one of gratitude. How lucky am I to have a husband who does some grocery shopping! How fortunate we are to share a roof over our heads and the need for travel toothpaste. How creative he is to figure out how to fit all our towels into one bathroom shelf! (Sometimes it's a stretch…)

Although to his credit, I did catch him decanting the tea bags into our tea box one weekend morning. And that made my heart so happy. I know he's trying his best. Aren't we all?

All this to say that having a messy house is not a bad thing. It usually just means you have other things - or people - to prioritize.

And for that we're very grateful!!