Think Like a Hotel

Our birthday treat at Robert Restaurant

My husband's birthday and mine are a month apart, so every spring we like to celebrate both by treating ourselves to a weekend in New York City. This year's trip, taken a few weeks ago, was especially fun.  

"Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy" and Mindy at Hamilton

One more pic, this was the view from our room, and if you zoom in you can see my husband waving at me from Times Square!

Anyway, back to the point, we stayed at our favorite NYC hotel, the Crowne Plaza Times Square, where I was reminded of a handy tip I share in The House That Cleans Itself. 

The lobby for the Crowne Plaza is on the second floor, accessible by elevator or escalator. To get there, however, you first have to walk down these two ground floor hallways...

Notice anything clever here from a housekeeping standpoint? How about in this pic of a different hotel lobby?

That's right, it's the floor mats! As I say in the book...

"The next time you're at a hotel. pause for a moment near the entrance and take a look at the elaborate system they have set up for getting dirt off of your shoes as you come inside. Chances are good that there won't just be a simple industrial mat inside and out like you'll find at most businesses, but instead they'll have huge, elongated, roughly textured supermats that start well before the door, extend through the entryway, and continue partly into the lobby. This is because they know that the more thoroughly the bottom of your shoes can be scrubbed off on the way in, the less work they will have to do to keep the place clean. This is the kind of fix that does the work for you, a technique you should employ throughout your home."

Makes sense, right? Of course, I don't have 40 feet of floor matting in my house, but I still make a point of keeping an outdoor mat plus an indoor mat at every entrance. I think it really makes a big difference in the cleanliness of our floors and helps our house to clean itself.

So what's the doormat situation in your home? 

Use Logic To Solve the Messes in Your Home

 

The House That Cleans Itself now available on audio!

 

Great news, at long last, The House That Cleans Itself is finally available in an audiobook version! Get your copy at audible, amazon, or iTunes.

If you're new to this blog, please excuse the mess while it is being updated. (Talk about irony, a blog about a housekeeping book is messy haha.) Check back soon for new posts, videos, and pics. And in the meantime, be sure to scroll down for tons of previous posts all about how to keep your house twice as neat in half the time!

Today's the Day

I've had one eye on the clock all day, waiting for the show to air at 1:30 pm, my time, which is coming up very soon. Hope you'll be a able to watch as well!

Until then, I thought I might take a moment to explain the difference between the first version of The House that Cleans Itself, which came out in 2007, and the revised and updated version, which came out in 2013. I’ll make it quick, though, because I have an appointment with my television in just a few…

The original version of The House That Cleans Itself centered around what I call the CONVERT system, a specific (but somewhat time-consuming) step-by-step approach for turning a messy home into a house that stays so clean it almost feels like it’s cleaning itself.

The second version of The House That Cleans Itself contains most of the same information, but this time it's presented in a way that allows you to implement the system in smaller, less intimidating increments. Instead of the CONVERT method, this version features eight different steps that you can take—on a small or large basis—to accomplish the same ultimate goal.

More on this later, right now it’s six minutes to air time, and there’s a spot on the couch with my name on it.

Blessings to you!

It's TV Time

Q - What am I doing in this picture?

A - Getting all made up to appear on the show Lifestyle Magazine to talk about The House That Cleans Itself!

The episode was pre-taped but will air this Thursday, Dec. 5^th, at 10:30am Pacific Time (which of course means 11:30 am MT, 12:30 pm CT, or 1:30 pm ET) on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

You may also be able to view it on alternate stations and times, depending on your location, as well as via webcast, satellite, radio, or your mobile device. Use these links, below, to find out how and where you can watch:

• Locate your local TBN station in the US
• Locate your TBN station outside of the US
• Locate alternate stations and times for the show 
• Watch via webcast
• Watch via satellite
• Listen on the radio here or here
• Watch the show on your mobile device with the TBN Mobile App (available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile)

I sure hope you have time to tune in. It was a lot of fun doing the show, the hosts were great, and we all had a lot of laughs. Hopefully, if you watch, you'll find yourself laughing along as well--even as you're learning more about how to have a House that Cleans Itself.

Enjoy!