Who I Am (And Why You Can Trust Me With Your Mess)

Hey, I’m Andrea – the person who currently has a pretty calm, organized home… but let’s just say that wasn’t always the case.

For the last few years, I’ve been working as a cleaner, so I know what’s really going on in most homes. I’ve cleaned up for busy families, professional couples, homes with pets, and everything else in between.

You learn a lot when you’re scrubbing a thousand different sinks and seeing what really stays clean and what doesn’t.

At home, I don’t have children, but I do manage a busy family life. There’s day-to-day living, lots of “little tasks,” and nieces and a rowdy nephew who can turn any room from calm to total chaos in seconds.

I understand the desire to have a tidy, welcoming home… without the added pressure of it becoming an all-consuming hobby.

Confession: I haven’t always been “the one that’s tidy.”

There was a time when life felt really dark. The housework, the dishes, the laundry – they all built up.

And I clawed my way back from that dark place not with a huge overhaul or a massive transformation. Just with one simple rule:

• Make the bed.
• Wipe the sink.

That was it. Two small places to start in a day filled with endless doing and general messiness. Then I worked other managable bits into my day: a little tidy here and a swipe there.

No Insta perfection, just little practices that were making things a little better among the crazy: the house – and my mind – started to feel lighter.

And now (still not perfect and it doesn’t have to be): but we are a good way there most days.

And that’s the kind of home I hope to create with you.

What You’ll Find Here at Cedar House

Here it’s all about the little, easy things to create more peace at home:

Cleaning & Home Organisation

Those real-life routines and tiny daily habits and little ‘good enough’ systems that keep the chaos at bay.

Plant Care

These are the easy plant-care tips/ways for the plant you (may have) killed.

Home Décor

These are the affordable, cosy décor ideas that are going to make your house feel more ‘you’ and less ‘showroom’.

DIY Projects

These are the little fun craft ideas and home DIYs you can actually do with minimal tools and effort.

Eventually: Easy Recipes

Simple and easy home-cooked recipes you can rely on in real life.

No pressure. No perfection. Just those little things that build and improve over time.

The name Cedar House?

“And why Cedar House?” I hear you ask.

If you asked me what my happy place looks like, I’d picture a little smallholding where things are mostly tidy and organised, there’s a veg patch tangled up with blooming flowers, and a few chickens pottering about in the background. You can almost hear the kettle going on as you walk up the path.

That picture isn’t far off from my grandparents’ home. Their household was a tight ship with plenty of children to look after, yet my grandma never had a fancy checklist or color-coded planner. She just somehow always knew what she needed to do next.

With the seasons rolling in and out, they had to be sensible with their resources – from what grew in the garden, to the tools in the shed, to how they spent their time. Fruit and veg were eaten fresh, preserved or canned. Boots lived by the back door, ready for the next muddy job. It was practical, lived-in and quietly efficient, not a showroom.

If I had to give that place a name now, I’d call it Cedar House – a cozy, working smallholding that takes care of the people in it.

This version of Cedar House is my modern take on that feeling: a home that isn’t perfect, but runs gently in the background. A home that supports you instead of draining you, and feels more like being looked after than ticking things off a to-do list.

Come Make Home Feel Lighter

So if you’re tired of always being behind on your housework, of “resetting” your home, of looking over at friends’ homes and wondering how they’ve got it all figured out… it’s actually pretty common, and you’re totally not the only one.

You just haven’t found the right approach yet.

That’s why Cedar House exists: for those small, simple steps toward a home you feel more relaxed and at peace in.

So why not make yourself a cup of tea and start with:

• A realistic daily tidying routine
• Low-lift cleaning habits (under 10 minutes)
• Easy guide to houseplants for beginners

And if your house feels “too far gone”… trust me, I’ve been there too – so we’ll take it a sink, a (very small) corner, and then a room at a time.