Is Your Home Ready for Dating?
Is Your Home Ready for Dating?
Monday, 27 September 2010 00:00
Have you ever been guilty of having dirty laundry spilling out of the hamper, dishes stacked in the sink, or the kitchen table piled with mail? Was your bed unmade and your sheets hadn’t been washed in over a month when you left for work today? Was there mold or mildew growing in the bathroom, or polka dots of toothpaste littering the sink?
These are all the signs that you have not prepared your home for a prospective romantic visitor. What does it take for you to get your living space in alignment with your goals to have a great relationship? Listen up:
1. Personal Spaces
Men do not like to visit a woman’s bathroom with all of her under-things and personal hygiene materials scattered or hanging in plain sight. Some degree of modesty is appreciated—especially when a relationship is new.
Likewise, women are even more turned off by dirty underwear and socks, wet towels, and a general clutter of clothes everywhere.
Before you invite someone in, do the following: Develop a weekly habit of doing the laundry, folding it, and putting it out of sight. Several hours a week of tidying up can give you the peace and confidence that you can safely have a guest. Sometimes, we just can’t “see” our own mess. Wipe down the bathroom tile and floor with a mild mold cleanser. Toilets and sinks should be sparkling clean …not scary and growing things…and all items personal in nature should be tucked away where they aren’t the first things seen when you open the door. The same goes for medications, tranquilizers, and personal health indicators that you may not know someone well enough to explain to them yet. If you want a quick make-over for your bathroom, de-clutter it, get some new towels and bathmats, and add a small green plant.
2. The Kitchen
If you have a cluster of clutter in your kitchen, with dirty dishes filling the sink and counter tops, you’ll lose a lot of dating points. No one can feel chipper about knowing you if what they see in your home looks like a potential chore for them. It begs the question: Every time your date comes over, do they need to help you clean up? If so, you may not see this person again soon. Your best line of defense is to get busy with an organizing strategy. What are you going to do and by when will you do it? Then roll up your sleeves and start.
3. Organized Living Space
Has your floor or carpet been vacuumed and cleaned lately? Is the relaxation center of your home welcoming, inviting to the senses, and ready for someone new? If not…why not? Since this is where you are likely to be entertaining your new guest, you want to be able to sit comfortably and talk. I once visited a college friend who had bought a new house and hired a decorator. She seemed proud of her new space, so who was I to complain? But there was nowhere to sit. Every piece of furniture was a work of art—and as hard as a rock. Maybe she didn’t want any company. Or maybe she hauled out the velour-covered recliner after everyone left. All I know is that she’s still single. Which leads to the next point.
4. Does your living space reflect who you are?
Besides keeping your home clean and organized, what have you collected, put together, and decided is important to look at and enjoy? What do you like to read; what textures and colors appeal to you; and what marks your space as being uniquely yours? When someone walks through your door for the first time, how are they received? You’ve probably noticed at the homes of your friends that the emotional tone of a living environment has nothing to do with the quantity or quality of what they put in their living space. It’s all about what you do with what you have and an attitude of caring, warmth, and creativity. Everyone wants to be surrounded by this type of energy.