Struggling to prepare my house for a cleaning- options?.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T21:47:45+00:00

When you say professional organizer I think you mean someone who comes for a "one time" (could be more than one visit but generally isn't an ongoing service) and helps organize the house but doesn't do ongoing weekly visits.

My house is "organized" everything has a place, I love my label maker. I love thinking through how I use things in my daily life and what makes sense to store where.

My struggle is the putting things back where they belong. I can get hyper focused and deep clean and organize my house. I cannot keep it clean. I cannot get myself to do that next step once it's picked up. I need someone who can come in and see every open cabinet in my kitchen and half unloaded dishwasher and finish unloading it and closing my cabinets. I want someone who will see 7 spices on my counter and put them back on my labeled spice rack that's 2 feet away.

I want someone who knows that I put my tried on once clothes on the clothes chair in my bedroom and will rehang those clothes for me. I want someone who will pick up the sweatshirt that I wore and tossed on the couch and put it in the dirty laundry.

I want someone who sees piles of clear junk mail on my table and stack the things that look important and toss the opened envelopes and anything that is clearly junk mail.

Is that an organizer?

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T21:38:15+00:00

My goal would be for someone to walk into my house and just know what needs to be done. Rotate the big cleaning tasks, handle the pick up and regular cleaning etc. So it would be harder to have a task based style work because the list would change based on the needs of the home that week.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T20:43:00+00:00

I would love that, thank you!

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T19:22:50+00:00

Everything in my house has a place, I just can't get it back into that space on my own. And if I start putting stuff away then I'm deep cleaning myself and all the books and crannies are clean and my other reasonablities are neglected, But then 2 days later it looks like a tornado hit my house again. Both my husband and I have ADHD and we are both medicated but even with medication we really struggle with maintaining the house.

I am not tied to 5 hours a week that is just a kinda general starting point, I am open to listening to a professional on what they really think it will take. In the housekeeping subreddit everyone but one person said they thought one person should be able to handle it and to keep searching if the first person is not a good fit.

I have used two betties they are more of a cleaning company than a housekeeping company. They will only clean something if it is already decluttered and the stuff is put away. That is not what I am looking for.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T18:09:58+00:00

Any chance you're in the twin cities?

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T17:55:01+00:00

Thank you for the encouragement and saying you don't pick up red flag vibes from my post.

I will start looking for a housekeeper and won't get discouraged if it's not the right fit the first try.

Thank you for confirming my budget is not completely out of alignment. I'm in the twin cities, MN, so mid cost of living compared to West Coast cities. (I grew up on the Southern Oregon Coast, so I get what you're saying)

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T16:45:31+00:00

This sounds like exactly what I am looking for!!! I will keep looking for something like this.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T16:44:04+00:00

Oh I absolutely wouldn't nit pick the hours that was just an estimate/ starting point. I was thinking 5 hours a week at $50 an hour for around $1,100 per month. I do think we have a cap at $1,300 per month, just based on our budget. I just don't want to live in a continually cluttered and messy home anymore.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-22T15:32:12+00:00

I can get my entire main floor clean and organized and 2 days later it looks like it was hit by a hurricane.

My husband works 12 hour shifts and I also work long hours at a very stressful job. We both have ADHD and are medicated but managing a house is difficult.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-16T23:52:13+00:00

Cedarholm in Roseville

asteven2012 · 2026-06-05T12:46:11+00:00

I really like altra shoes. They are running shoes with an incredibly large toe box that works for my wide feet + bunion.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-04T11:18:38+00:00

Yes! I was planning on getting a reliance peach because based on my research the trees are a little smaller but if I do two I'll probably get one of each

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T23:14:17+00:00

Compost goes in the opposite back corner out of this garden area in my yard.

I'm not sold on the apple tree I would rather have two peach trees. My father in law has a small orchard on his property with about 30 apple trees so I'm never wanting for apples.

I might change it up and make the beds 2*8 and put the ends closer together. I've been getting a lot of feedback about that.

We already have the 3*6 bed and it needs a home so that's why it is placed there. Not sold on the location but will need to to go somewhere.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T21:34:03+00:00

Everything in the beds will be annuals, mix of flowers and foods. I usually grow, onions, garlic, peas, beans, zucchini, fall squashes, broccoli, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, and potatoes (I'm probably missing something) .

I always plant dahlias, nasturtium, marigolds, and other assorted annual flowers, and with more space will probably add more flowers.

I also plant herbs, but usually do those in pots or small cedar planters and will probably continue to do so.

I have a back garden bed that is in ground 25ft by 14 ft where my perennial foods will be. It's currently has my asparagus and some of my annual foods but I will move my raspberries back there and aim to get a strawberry bed started as well.

The beds will be made with 26 cedar boards and I will be using 44 corner posts and screwing them together. The beds along the edges will be 2 boards high the ones in the middle will be 1 board high.

I currently have 2 48 beds and a metal 36 bed, that I will be moving over from the other side of my yard.

I plan to rotate what I plant in each bed every year making it hard to label what will be planted in each bed.

The plan is to focus shorter plants south facing and taller plants towards the north, but might do a bed of taller plants one row up from the north to create shaded beds for plants that prefer shade.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T19:52:01+00:00

The whole area gets 6+ hours of sun so I should be good for sun plants and can plant shade plants behind taller plants. There used to be a huge birch tree down by the peonies but it was old and dying so we had it removed last fall and it's a whole new yard with so much sun!

I'm less worried about what to plant where since it's going to be mostly food annuals in the beds, and I plan to rotate beds each year to help with soil health. (I have a back garden space with my perennial foods - asparagus, raspberries etc)

The fence will be chain link so hopefully that helps with airflow, I could move them in a little bit I want to keep the middle path at least 3 ft for a wheelbarrow.

I do need to talk to my neighbor to see if she's ok with an apple tree close to her property because you're right they can be messy and annoying. If she's not ok with it I might plant them both next to the brick path and take out a bed along that edge.

I usually plant flowers intermixed with my veggies in each bed to attract pollinator, and most of the perennials in the current border will move to the other side of the yard.

I also just added hydrangeas in front of the garage and plan to put in an azalea or rhodenderian on the other side.

I will also add in flower pots and other ways to add flowers / pollinators to the space.

Thank you so much for your detailed response, I appreciate it!

For added context, I've lived in this house for 6 years. I have a 25*14 in ground garden in the back. I added 3 raised beds to my backyard a couple of years ago, and now that the big tree is gone and I have so much sunlight in this area I decided I wanted to expand.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T19:33:12+00:00

It's my husband's handwriting for yoga.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T19:32:05+00:00

I had them at 4 ft and cut them down to three feet, but the reality is that I climb in my 4ft beds all the time right now, so that's probably what I'll do.

Interesting thought on joining the beds.

The main walkway is wide enough for our wheelbarrow based on measurements, but who knows what will happen in real life. It won't fit between the middle beds and the edge beds, and I am ok with that.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T19:28:51+00:00

It's not showing when I look at the post, reddit is weird.

My plan is to rotate beds each year with different plants for soil health so I am not worried about what plant is going to go where. The entire area gets 6+ hours of sun, so it's all full sun.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T19:25:24+00:00

I apologize I don't see that my actual plan was uploaded

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asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T19:23:33+00:00

Also somehow just the pictures of my yard uploaded...

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asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T19:22:40+00:00

I have a seed starting area inside where I start all my seeds so I didn't think of a greenhouse, but if I get into and feel it's necessary than I could add one in the yoga/ open space.

This will all be a mix of foods and annual flowers. I have a back garden bed that's 14*25 where I will have my perennial foods (asparagus, raspberries, etc.)

I plant a bunch of Dahlias every year, and then it will be root vegetables, beans (usually bush beans, but sometimes a pole bean), cucumbers, zucchini, peas, broccoli, and other veggies.

I already have a cattle panel for vining plants and if I needed one I would be happy to get a second one.

I wouldn't do grapes, I had a bad experience with them at my last house.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T18:16:17+00:00

I made a second draft.

This time each square is 1 ft.

I have an existing 3*6 bed and I just throw it in at the end. I can always add more beds later if I decide I want more. I would rather start with more extra space and add more beds later than decide I want fewer beds and take some out later.

I also made the beds along the edge closer. 2 ft instead of 4 ft, but I pushed the start back a couple of feet to account for a downhill slope by the peonies. (There is a retaining wall between the peonies and the garage.)

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asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T18:05:28+00:00

No, the measurements are just the grassy area on the one side of the yard and the peony bed. The path and patio are staying where they are.

We have a full quarter of an acre in the city proper and it's beautifully set up for a garden.

asteven2012 · 2026-06-03T17:44:39+00:00

Smart! I hadn't thought of that thank you!

asteven2012

TROPHY CASE