a confession
09.24.2012 
Confession: I find the idea of attending a school for the domestic arts hopelessly romantic. Not because I really want to be a maid, but because I like to know the correct way to clean things. By correct, I mean the “old-fashioned” method my great-grandmother would have used. It’s one of my strangest guilty pleasures. I’ve only told my closest friends this for fear of being judged, but few things bring me more joy than fancy laundry detergent…! I devour books like Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson the way that others might devour 50 Shades of Grey.
Knowing this, you can imagine how thrilled I was to rediscover this old Domino article. Covering an instutituion like the Starkey International Institute for Household Management is sort of my dream project. Dropping in on bed-making 101 held in “chintz-happy guest suites”? Yes, please.
Cynthia Cling, the adventuress behind the article, mentions how one class period was spent discussing various standards of “freshly-cleaned”. To some, freshly-cleaned means vacuum marks on the carpet. To others, it means the faint tinge of lemon wafting through the air.
To me, it means a bed made up with new linens and a yummy Jo Malone candle burning on the bedside table. Indulge me: what does “freshly-cleaned” mean to you?
Reader Comments (7)
Oh I know what you mean! I would love to take a few classes myself. The old-fashioned way is romantic and nostalgic, but I bet very efficient too. Love this post!
Love this whole post! Can't wait to read the article. Freshly cleaned in my mind is... visibly clean floors and counters and a lovely scent in the air!
When my sweetheart and I first started dating, we'd spend Saturday morning with rubber gloves on–he'd tackle the kitchen while I'd scrub the bathroom, and I knew then I'd found a keeper.
love this post and this was one of my favorite domino sections!
Absolutely! I completely understand the intoxicating pleasures of a simply and thoroughly cleaned home. Clean, in my home, comes about through baking soda, vinegar, gentle soaps and a multitude of rags. I love to know the "right" way to do things and have, on occasion, fantasized about going to a home-keeping course! I HAVE spent more than one hour of my life reading about linen and why it makes superior sheeting, and longing for a linen set to test myself. Dark secret revealed! :) Thanks for sharing; this was a fun post to read (it's nice to know I'm not alone in this "abnormality" ;) ).
Ah, friend, I think we are sisters, switched at birth. I, too, would love to attend a school for cleaning. For me, freshly cleaned means NOTHING clutter-y on the surfaces of the house, and a gleaming sink and countertops. I love that you write about these things, many of my friends wouldn't approve of my interest in this area either. I suppose "educated" and "modern" women are not supposed to pontificate on such subjects, but there is comfort in connecting to the generations behind us who did.
This! I've felt the same way for quite some time now, but I haven't been able to put it in words as eloquently as you did above ^_^ I'm going to clean now, write a few hundred words of my essay, and then on my break I'll treat myself to some tea, and a read of the article in the picture. Thanks for sharing!