I love the reality show Clean House.  As I sit and watch the families that the crew led by Niecy Nash it makes me think about lisitng homes and just how can I use what I see here to help my clients and future clients.  They all make it look so simple to declutter the homes and make them look like show homes.  Even their yard sales are well attended and they make lots of money.  When they are done the home is beautiful and ready for the family to enjoy.  Of course, when I see the homes I think about how great it would be to walk into a home and it be in this condition. 

However, I also wonder if my clients are thinking, most voice this, that this home is not lived in, it is too neat.  Is that necessarily a bad thing?  Does it really matter if everything is perfect in a home?   I think not and here is why.   I believe that a home should look lived in not so put together that my clients are afraid to look at it for fear that they may dirty it.  Don't get me wrong a clean home with nice smells is great but it does not have to be picture perfect.  Most people are not looking at how clean a home is or how put together or not the current homeowner are.  They just want to see a loved, taken care of home.  They want to be able to picture themselves in the home. 

So, does a home need to be declutter, by all means.  Removing all unnecessary items and clutter makes the home look neat and clean.  Does it need to be picture perfect, to a point.   Do the closets need to be cleaned out completely and you living out of your car so you don't have so many clothes jammed in it?  Probably not, as long as it is neat and organized.

What is your opinion?  Is it really necessary for a home to be so neat that it doesn't look lived in?  Does this make it stuffy and forgetable?  The reality is that most people are not that neat and clean.  We all have busy lives and unless we have Alice from the Brady Bunch living with us it is impossible to keep our homes that perfect.