I am a slob. Unfortunately, so is my Significant Other. Add to this fact that neither of us like doing dishes and you have a situation waiting to explode. In short, a bucket load of clutter and mess and short tempers and bad moods galore.
I should have taken a "before pic", because I don't think anyone will believe the transformation otherwise.
About 6 weeks ago, Significant Other decided he had enough! He arranged with his mother to bring her household helper (yes, we are blessed to have such people here in South Africa!) to help sort out our apartment once a week. It costs me a lot, as I pay her a good daily wage, but I factored this expense into my own annual increase and don't feel it as much. Rather, I see it as an expense similar to what other women would pay for a monthly hair cut and manicure. A bit of luxury to keep me sane. (I don't do either expensive haircuts or manicures, so that's a saving in itself!)
Bessie is short. I mean really, really short. I am 1,64 m (5 ft, 5 in) in length, barefoot. She takes me just under my collar bone. And she is petite. But she has a presence that fills this apartment. In fact, she even gets Significant Other to help her sweep and mop and reach high places.
The real reason why I had never before thought of getting help in the flat was equal parts stubbornness and shame. That sense of "I'll do it myself" and "No-one should see this mess".
The problem with that is that I fed my own stress in a big way. The environment one lives in contributes greatly to one's state of mind. The messier the place is, the worse one feels, which leads to even less motivation to clean up and more depression, and so on, ad infinitum. (See, I actually know some Latin!) It becomes a vicious cycle that totally destroys in the end.
The opposite is true, as well, fortunately. When a person's environment is clean and neat, he or she feels good and that motivates them to keep it that way or even to decorate the space more, which in turn leads to feeling better... you get the picture!
I love my place, now. Significant other and I don't have half as many fights as we used to, because I can actually see the bathroom floor! It's tiled. And a light mushroom beige color. 😉 The sink isn't as cluttered with dirty dishes, either, as he does his part to keep it tidy as well.
There is still work to be done, as I need to declutter one or two corners and take some soap making stuff out to my mom's place. We are also going to make the living room a bit more - well - liveable, with some more art work and framed posters, and maybe even some pictures of us!
It will never be a Pinterest pic, but it's getting as close to that as a "normal household" can!