Hello, the book I'm looking for is old, most likely from the 50's or 60's. There is an old woman (skinny) who lives in a cottage or house that is messy. She starts out cleaning one thing and then obsessively has to clean the rest of her house, and there was a picture of the kitchen with a blue checkered tablecloth.
This sounds like ‘The Magic Geranium’ a story from Read Aloud Funny Stories by Jane Thayer. You can read a summary of the story on this blog: riedger2.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/the-magic-geranium/
And copies of the book are available through Amazon and other vintage book sources.