Living in squalor

Aha! I've just discovered why I (and oh, so many men) don't clean the house until it's filthy.

If you put off house cleaning long enough, it crosses the line between house cleaning and home repair. Home repair: good, fun, creative, big change when you're done. House cleaning: bad, unredeemingly boring, house looks about the same as it did when you started.

Example: If I let the kitchen floor become so filthy that I have to strip and wax it, the job is more like home repair than housecleaning.

Home repair makes you a hero. Mopping the kitchen floor makes you a patsy.

Now, how do I change my lousy attitude so we're not living in squalor?