Feel the soul of the house...

When you get home how do you like to feel?
           Get to know how your client would like to feel too!

 

One person's idea of heaven might be all the laundry done, where as the next might be the house smell clean and fresh.  Figure out what your client wants!

I have one client who wants the house pulled completely back together, everything put in its place so they can pull it all out again.  Another wants to feel like they are at a hotel and not have to make their bed, be pampered and taken care of.  One needs Quantity and not as much quality...This one is hard for me to swallow but their carpet is kind of trashed and tiles scuffed and broken.  The more that can get picked up, the better and the back corners aren't a big deal.

So now...it's homework time!  Go home and look around.  What makes you crazy in your house?  What little areas bug you to no end and which areas are your favorite areas to be in?  Do you have a little corner that you would spend all your time in and an area you avoid at all cost?

Now...Every time you go into a clients house, "feel" the house!  What you feel is what your client most likely feels too about that trouble area or that favorite area.  Try to turn more of those "UGH" areas into "Ahhhh" areas instead!

(The photos above were a before and after of a porch.  I found a few cozy items in the clients house to bring out and make the porch feel welcoming and wiped away the cobwebs and dust.)

Creating Peace

 As a cleaner it is your job to clean and maintain your clients house but it is also your job to make suggestions and help your client create peace in their home if they need it.  Many people don't see the small changes that can be made to make their home function the way it should.  Moving a toaster to the counter closest to the peanut butter or putting the knife set close to the food preparation area can make the biggest difference in a clients life.

Have confidence in your decision...make a little change for your client and stick to it.  If it doesn't work for them, they will move it back but 9 times out of 10 they will keep it there and realize that it makes more sense.

How do you make a change?  

Get to know your clients needs and patterns.  The more you are aware of these things the easier it is to see the small changes needed.  Most of the time it is a matter of common sense.  When a person moves into a house things get put where ever there is room and it might make sense.  But as you live in your house things change, you become more comfortable and things don't move to the most practical place.  This is when a fresh pair of eyes helps to see the obvious.

Things to consider...

*How tall the clients are.

*Clients ages (older clients may need things more in reach)  

*Do the clients have children that need to get at items or may need to be kept out of items.  

*Space or storage issues.

*Special needs.

For example....I have a client...She must be 6ft tall and I am only 5'4.  All of her plastic storage bowls were in the under cabinets but she uses them more than anything else in the kitchen.  After discussing a plan, we decided to move some of the unused dishes down, we moved all the plastic storage containers to the upper cabinets.  We also threw away all the mismatched items and kept it simple...3 sizes of bowls, only one brand of container so that all the lids in that size will fit that size bowl.