Before I met my wonderful hubby my house was finally, well, in my eyes, perfect. Everything had a place and I was pretty diligent about making sure stuff was in its place too.

Then I met my guy and well, he subscribes to a slightly different theory than I do apparently.

He is notorious for leaving piles everywhere and I really can tell how long he's been in one spot by how many coke cans are next to it. UGH!!!!!!!!!!

I love him dearly but can't seem to get him to realize the chaos drives me up the wall. Ideas? Subtle ideas? Not so subtle ones?

 I'm open to them all! I want my kitchen counter back!!! :)

 

I've been married since I was 18 and honestly good luck LOL. I finally just started doing it myself and it really doesn't make a huge difference since I am cleaning up after the kids all day anyhow. I realized that his socks will always be on the floor in the morning and that his plate will sit in the same spot until he is planning on sitting there again and I love him for it. That’s him; I love him and all of his idiosyncrasies and once I realized that it actually made me much less frustrated with his habits. Every once in a while I will say something like “thanks babe for leaving your plate on the table I was worried I would run out house work” and he smiles and then there is no way I can want to change his silly little messy habits.

Hi Amy, Maybe it's time to sit down and talk to him and let him know how you feel. He probably won't change overnight, but it will make him more aware. If it is in the budget, I would also suggest getting a housekeeper, if only to keep your sanity.

Amy, 

It sounds like your husband may not have his own space in the house. There's the "yours, mine, and ours" rule where he has his space where he keeps his mess, you have your organized space, and then you have ours space where things mingle. Perhaps if he has his own spaces, he'll respect your organized space. 

I am in the same boat as you. I will even leave out things..for example I will leave him a clothes basket in a place he typically drops his clothes and he still doesn't use it. He does the same thing with little things around the house. I will leave out bins and instead of putting it in the bin..it goes right next to it. It certainly is driving me nuts! I will be looking for advice on this.