With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, it’s time to think about giving a little loving to your house.

Home maintenance is an oft boring topic, in addition to being all too darn time consuming!

But after working recently with a couple planning to put their house on the [very bad real estate] market in the fall, it reminded me of the importance of keeping up with the very dull & time-consuming reality of home maintenance.

My clients have lived in their 50+ year old house for almost 15 years. Over time, they, like many of us, have kept up with the big-ticket repairs, which are important to the upkeep of any home, but have forgotten about some of the smaller things.

Now that they’re planning to put their home on the market, they have to scramble to fix years of minor neglect – nothing earth-shattering – just time-consuming, at a time when they have plenty of other things to do.

Not to worry about them, because after a marathon four-hour pre-staging appointment, I have given them an exhaustive list of everything that needs to be fixed, cleaned, changed, or somehow improved to get the most money in the shortest time when they list their home. Especially important in a downright lousy real estate market. And they are on-task and on-target to make these improvements by the time spring rolls around.

The time I spent with them got me thinking…unless you’re a clean freak (and I’m not…remember, I have a dirty little secret), you may be letting these little things go too.

I know the drill, because I’m an expert at it myself. With work, kids, family, dogs, activities, and whatever else you have in your personal mix, there’s not a lot of time.

And besides, you’re not planning to sell your house soon anyway, right?

At least that’s my thought process…and as a professional in the decorating & staging business, I should know better!

Sometimes, unless you’re one of the 596 remaining clean freaks that live in North America, you let it go.

How about a different perspective?

When we sold our last house, and I was completing the laundry list of things that had to be cleaned, tidied, or shined before the for sale sign arrived, an amazing thing happened…

I realized that my house looked beautiful, and that I loved it.

Then I wondered, “Why the hell didn’t I ever do all of this grout cleaning, lime build-up removing & generalized spit shining for myself? Why only do it for some stranger that might buy the place?”

So, I vowed to do more of that minor maintenance for myself in our new home.

Of course, much of that vow has gone by the wayside.

However, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m proclaiming February as Love Your Home Month! Instead of thinking of all the things we don’t do for the homes we love, let’s do a little something for the home we love.

For my home, February will be clear the clutter month. How about you?

Ladies & gentlemen, get out those scrub brushes and love your home!

And someday when we decide to sell this home and move to our next space, whatever or wherever that is, maybe, just maybe, we won’t have to spend precious time undoing years of living.