Easy Ways to Keep Your House Clean

10 SIMPLE WAYS TO KEEP YOUR HOUSE CLEAN AND TIDY

Do you struggle to keep your house clean and tidy? Do you waste your weekends trying to stay on top of it?

Well stop! There's an easier way.

Now, I'm not going to sugar coat it. Cleaning isn't fun. I hate it. I mean, most people do.

But there are some tricks to making it So. Much. Easier.

So let's take a look at 10 incredibly easy ways to keep your house clean and tidy.

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. This means that I may make a small commission off any purchase, at no additional charge to you. I only recommend products and services that I use and love and will totally help you rock the #momlife juggle. You can learn more and read my entire disclaimer here.

DECLUTTER

So first of all, the less you have, the less you have to clean.

Because of this, the first step to simplifying your cleaning is to declutter.

I have an entire article that walks you through the whole process right here.

But taking a little time now to declutter will save you loads of time cleaning going forward.

[convertkit form=880514]

KEEP STUFF IN THE ROOM WHERE YOU USE IT

But decluttering alone isn't enough to simplify your cleaning. And in the case of keeping your home clean and tidy, a little organization goes a long way.

The easiest way to organize your space? By keeping stuff in the room where you use it.

For example, you might have all the kids' toys in their bedrooms or playroom, but if you normally play board games or do puzzles in the living room, find a place there to keep them.

Or if you read in the armchair on the first floor at night but keep all your books upstairs, it just makes it more difficult to keep the books put away. I know that if I had to run up and down the stairs every day to put things away that they wouldn't get put away.

So make it easier by keeping things in the area you use them.

Pro-Tip: Cute baskets are one of the easiest ways to keep random odds and ends tidy. Amazon has some really cute baskets that will work in a pinch. Target also just released some new baskets that I can't wait to get my hands on.

PUT THINGS AWAY AFTER YOU USE THEM

Which brings me to my next tip: always put things away when you're done with them.

If you were working on a stack of paper at the kitchen table, don't leave them on the kitchen table, telling yourself you'll put them away later.

It would take 2 seconds to do it now.

Granted, you do need to know where to keep things. To help you out, I have an article here on incredibly simple things you can do to organize your house.

It's also helpful to train your kids to do this, as well.

I know mine has a rule at school that they can't get something else out until they put away whatever else they're playing with first.

So I try to make that a rule at our house, too.

Even having the kids spend 10 minutes picking up can save you loads of time and stress at the end of the day.

NEVER LEAVE A ROOM EMPTY-HANDED

And one of the easiest ways to make sure you're always putting things away when you're done with them is to try to never leave a room empty-handed.

In college, I was a waitress at a place that always made sure we had something in our hands when we were leaving the kitchen and something in our hands when we were coming back in.

As annoying as it was at the time, it actually makes a lot of sense. And it's something I always try to do around the house.

If I'm upstairs, I look around and see if there's anything I can take with me before I go back downstairs.

If I'm in the living room I'll grab whatever I can on the way to the kitchen.

And so on.

Since you're already going to that room, it doesn't take any extra effort to bring things with you. And everything you can take with you as you go leaves one less thing for you to pick up later.

CLEAN AS YOU GO

You also want to make sure you clean as you go.

It can be tempting to leave the dishes until after the kids are asleep. Or wait to pick up the living room. Or the bathroom. Or whatever the case may be.

But if you instead rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher as you're cooking and after dinner, you won't have to do it later.

And if you got the kids to pitch in and everyone picks up together, your living room will be back to normal in no time.

Plus, you don't want to leave yourself an hour of work after they're asleep.

First of all, there are other things you could be doing during that time to relieve yourself from a weekend cleaning spree (which I'll come back to in a second).

But also, that's #winetime.

SPEND 15 MINUTES AT NIGHT PICKING UP

One great thing you can do to keep your house clean and tidy is to spend just 15 minutes in the evening picking up.

And you don't have to go crazy here, but doing this will have a drastic effect on your house.

Here are a couple of things you could easily do in this time:

• Put stuff away in the bathroom
• Fold your throw blankets and put them away in the living room
• Pick up the toys from the floor
• Put all the shoes away
• Hang up any coats that were thrown wherever (thanks kids)
• Put any remaining dishes in the dishwasher
• Wipe down the kitchen counter
• Put away anything left on the coffee table

Taking just 15 minutes in the evening to pick up your house will help prevent the clutter from building, making the rest of your cleaning a total breeze.

[convertkit form=5264539]

KEEP CLEANING SUPPLIES WHERE YOU USE THEM

Another way to help you keep your house clean and tidy is to keep cleaning supplies where you use them.

I have cleaning supplies in the kitchen and both bathrooms, with the rest in the cleaning closet.

This way, I always have what I need to wipe down those rooms quickly during the week.

Because again, it doesn't take long to do this. And it's so much easier to take a minute or two to wipe down the bathroom once or twice during the week so you have one less thing to do on the weekends.

I usually do this while my son's in the bath because I'm already hanging out in there.

SIMPLIFY YOUR LAUNDRY

Laundry is also something that tends to build up and drive people crazy.

Because of this, I always suggest doing one load of laundry a day (if needed).

Because it's just my son and me, I do a load every other day. But sometimes it still ends up being a load a day because he's going through a phase where he changes his clothes five times a day and gets them all dirty regardless of whether he's wearing something for 5 hours or just 5 minutes.

But I know doing a load of laundry a day is easier said than done.

So first of all, it's helpful to have some sort of visual reminder that you're doing laundry so you don't keep forgetting about it.

In my old house, my laundry was right off the living room, so I always saw it.

At my new house, it's in the basement. So it's super easy to forget about until I have to go pull something out right before bed.

To help myself out, I leave a hamper at the top of the stairs while I'm doing laundry so I remember to go down to switch it out.

A reminder on your phone would work, too.

But, if you're gone most of the day, that doesn't help, either.

In this case, I suggest throwing a load in the washer before you leave for the day.

If you come home for lunch, throw it in the dryer. If not, throw it in when you get home for the day.

Then, go grab it while the kids are in the bath or after they're asleep and fold it and put it away.

I know you'll be tired. But it doesn't take more than 5 minutes to fold just one load of laundry, and another 5 to put it away.

And if doing this means you don't have to do 10 loads of laundry on the weekend, then it's totally worth it.

CREATE A DAILY CLEANING SCHEDULE

Another thing you can do to keep your house clean and tidy (and save yourself loads of time on the weekend) is to create a daily cleaning schedule.

This doesn't mean spending an hour plus everyday cleaning. It simply means doing a few quick things during the week so you don't have to do them on the weekend.

An example of this could look like:

• Monday: Wipe Down the Bathrooms
• Tuesday: Wipe Down the Kitchen
• Wednesday: Pick Up the Living Room
• Thursday: Pick Up the Bedrooms
• Friday: Clean Out the Fridge (Depends on Trash Day)
• Saturday: Family Day
• Sunday: Dust, Vacuum, and Wipe Down the Floors

And again, I'm not talking about deep cleaning each of these rooms every night.

I just mean to wipe everything down, pick everything up, and make sure stuff is put away.

As long as everything is decluttered and organized, this can easily be done in 15 minutes or less. (I mean, if you have like 5+ bathrooms, you may want to spread them out over multiple nights or just clean the ones you use regularly during the week.)

Here's a breakdown of things you can clean in each room to help you prioritize and fill in your weekly cleaning schedule:

• Kitchen
  • Always Have an Empty Sink
  • Empty Dishwasher
  • Wipe Down + Declutter Counters
  • Wipe Down Appliances
  • Clean Out Pantry + Fridge (And Keep Organized)
  • Sweep and Wipe the Floor
• Living Room
  • Put Away Books, Toys, Games
  • Declutter Coffee + End Tables
  • Fold + Put Away Blankets + Throws
  • Dust Mantel, Coffee Tables, and End Tables
  • Vacuum Floors and Furniture
• Bathroom
  • Wipe Down the Sink and Counters
  • Scrub the Shower, Tub, and Toilet
  • Clean the Mirrors
  • Wipe the Floors
• Bedroom
  • Make Your Bed
  • Declutter
  • Put Away Laundry
  • Dust Desks, Nightstands, and Shelves
  • Vacuum

CREATE A WEEKLY CLEANING SCHEDULE

Once you have all of the daily cleaning tasks out of the way, creating a weekly cleaning schedule is a piece of cake.

All I really do on the weekends to clean is dusting, vacuuming, wiping down the floors, and then changing bedding, washing towels, and stuff like that. It really only takes me about an hour as long as I kept up with everything else during the week.

The only time this isn't the case is when I deep clean, which I do about once a month, maybe every 6 weeks if we're super busy.

But following the incredibly simple steps I laid out for you in this article will help you keep your house clean and tidy in a fraction of the time.

batistatheigiche.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.spikedparenting.com/10-simple-ways-to-keep-your-house-clean-and-tidy/

Share this post