Five Domestic Guilty Pleasures


Sarah is a compulsive traveler, currently driving her big ole hippy van across Canada. Her travel stories and confessions of all the stupid and embarrassing things she accidentally (but somehow always) manages to do are shared on her blog, Raggedy Threads. Along with lists, she is addicted to books, americanos, vegetable gardens and the ocean.


I'm surrounded by super driven women with amazing careers and ambitious life plans. Which is wonderful. But it makes me pause before mentioning the little domestic chores that bring me joy. I should be beyond this, I know. In theory. In reality, I love homes. And puttering in them is truly the best. Thing. Ever.

Vacuuming a dark carpet that has light coloured lint on it. Watching the carpet transform from obviously dirty to wonderfully clean in a few swift movements of the arm is so satisfying. I also enjoy hearing crunchy things get sucked up, like cookie crumbs or dried mud.

Emptying the dryer lint trap. I especially like cleaning it before I dry a load, and then checking it immediately afterwards to see how much lint my clothes produced. It's extra satisfying to launder items that have been around pets (dog hair shows up like a hot damn in the lint trap) or items that were particularly dusty (blankets left in the car for several years come to mind).

Re-organizing the fridge. It always looks so dark and crowded in there, and yet I can never find anything to eat. If I pull up a chair and start sorting I can usually find several mystery tupperwares, a few pounds of inedible vegetables, and three or four packaged items long since expired. I also usually unearth some exciting treat I'd purchased and forgotten about. So I end up with a clean fridge with lots of space AND tasty food to eat.

Cleaning the bathroom mirror. Take some spray cleaner and a couple of paper towels to all those little fingerprints and toothpaste/flossing flecks and just scrub the heck out of it. Usually this involves a good dose of what my dad called “elbow grease”, so I feel like I'm getting an upper body work out as well. Fun!

Watering houseplants. I love slowly pouring the water on the dry soil and watching it hover there for a few seconds before it gets sucked in. If I'm really lucky then moments later it starts to collect in the little tray the plant sits on. I realize this probably means I'm not watering my plants enough, but hey, I never claimed to be a botanist. I don't love keeping plants alive and healthy. It's just the water absorbyness that fills me with glee.

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE CLEANING THE LINT TRAP! That's probably the thing that makes me most sad about not having a dryer. Having to wait for clothes to air-dry, I can deal with, but not getting to try to peel the sheet of fur and fluffies off the lint trap in one piece - that's just depressing.

Herself said...

Woah! It's like you read my domestic mind... I LOVE all those things. Particularly the plant watering one. x

magnolia said...

oh yeah, it's ALL about the lint trap. it's always so satisfying, especially when i wash bed clothes.

Sarah Gignac said...

Thanks for your comments! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one...

Anonymous said...

LINT TRAP! Even better if I can get it all in one pull.

Anonymous said...

I'm definitely with you on the bathroom mirror and the plants, but you can have the other three!

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