Anyone who knows me, knows that I am terrible at keeping my house clean. I love to clean, I just hadn't figured out a system that worked for me to keep up with the mess! I tried so many things like making a cleaning schedule, cleaning every room every day, etc., but nothing worked! It seemed like the messes just grew too fast for me to clean them! I'm sure there are so many of you reading this thinking, "That's totally me!". And if you're not, I applaud you! You're one of the lucky ones.
Finally, a couple months ago, I came home from running errands and when I walked into the house and saw the mess, I decided enough was enough! I was going to keep this house clean if it killed me! Since everything I had tried in the past clearly had not worked, I decided I needed a new approach. I was going to start by focusing on keeping my kitchen and living room clean for an entire month. Then if that worked, I would move onto the other rooms.
Well people. It worked! I have now been able to successfully keep my kitchen and living room clean for 3 months! I still have yet to master the bedrooms and bathrooms, but I figure pregnancy is a good enough excuse and I'll get to it soon. It was definitely a little rocky in the first few weeks while I tried different systems to see what worked for me, but once I got a system down, it was just about forming a habit.
Now obviously my kitchen and living room are not always SPOTLESS, because I do have a 3 1/2 yr old, but my general rule is that each day, it has to be spotless at some point. Whether it be first thing in the morning, during Quinn's nap, or after he goes to bed, it has to be completely clean at some time in the day to count.
Don't worry, I wouldn't come on here and gab on and on about how my house is always clean without spilling the secret to my success! I'm going to share with you my top tips for what worked for me in keeping my house clean! Maybe they won't work for everyone, and maybe some of them are obvious, but they really have helped me! So without further ado...
Tips For A Clean Home!
- Teach your child(if you have one) to clean up all their toys is the main living area themselves. This one is huge! I never have to clean up Quinn's toys in the living room anymore! I have a basket that I give to him when it's cleanup time, and he goes around the room himself and puts all the toys in it, then puts the basket in his room. So simple and SO helpful!
- Pick up any stray items in the main living areas twice a day. Once before nap time and once right before bed. This goes hand in hand with number one, but is not limited to toys. I pick up any items that are not where they go, and just quickly put them away. Doing this twice a day is essential! If you wait until the end of the day like I used to, it will just build up and by then it will seem like too much work and you will be tired and won't stick with it.
- If you have kids, get in the habit of wiping down any solid furniture once a day. I do this at the end of the day once Quinn is in bed, because somehow everything always has sticky spots, handprints, etc. on it. I just grab a bottle of cleaner and a washcloth, then walk around the room wiping down anything that looks dirty. It literally takes 3 minutes tops.
- Do the dishes after every meal. Pay attention because this one is probably the most important! I used to do the dishes every few days or if we were lucky once a day. This never worked! We use so many dishes in our house, and they would build up so quickly that I would look at them and walk away because it just seemed like too much work. Rinse off ALL of the dishes and load them after EVERY MEAL! That way you will only have a few dishes each time and it will take about 2 minutes. Also you won't have to worry about soaking dishes because you will be rinsing them off right after using them and the food won't have time to dry on them.
- Don't wait for the dishwasher to be completely full before starting it. Crossing my fingers I don't get told off by all you green people out there on this one! I always used to load the dishwasher and then not start it because there was still space for a few more cups or bowls and I didn't want to be wasteful. This never works. I would always forget to start it and then there would be too many dirty dishes to fit in by the time I remembered, and when I finally got around to it, I would end up hand washing way too much stuff and it would take at least an hour. Which in the end is probably more wasteful because I usually handwash dishes with the water running. If you load the dishwasher and it's at least 3/4 full, just start it.
- Empty the dishwasher at the very next meal. Now that you're doing your dishes after every meal, you will be starting the dishwasher about every other day, give or take depending on the size of your family. Don't wait to empty it! If you wait then you will have a meals worth of dishes sitting in your sink, and then if you forget about them, even more. As soon as the dishwasher is clean, empty it after the very next meal before you rinse and load that meals dishes.
- Spend an hour once a week organizing. Inevitably, at some point during the week something will get placed in the wrong spot, junk will build up, and things will be left out. Take an hour one day a week (for me it's friday after I go grocery shopping) to go around the kitchen and living room throwing away junk and reorganizing your pantry, refrigerator, drawers, cabinets, and computer desk if you have one in that area. That way it never gets out of hand.
- Sweep/Vacuum every other day and mop once a week. This one is especially important if you have a dog and/or hardwood floors. Since Diesel sheds like crazy and we have tile and hardwood throughout our entire main living areas, our floors get so gross! The only way I can keep up with the dirt and hair, is to sweep every other day (M, W, F. I skip weekends) and mop once a week. If you have rugs or carpet also try to vacuum those every other day(I'm terrible at vacuuming).
- Cut yourself some slack. This one is the most important! It's okay if you have something going on or just feel off and miss a day of cleaning! I always get mad at myself when I fall behind so I almost never give myself a day off from cleaning. But as a mom or wife, sometimes you just need a break! Last weekend I was really upset because all of my plans for the weekend had fallen through, and that meant spending the weekend cleaning because I cannot just sit there and let my OCD mind stare at all the things that need to be done! My husband could tell I was having a meltdown and asked me what was wrong. When I told him I was upset because I was spending another day in the house and I was so sick of cleaning, he laughed and said,"Then just don't clean! It's already clean in here, you can afford to take a day off and get out of the house." So the very next day I did exactly that and took the day off from cleaning and Quinn and I got out of the house to play outside and take pictures! It was much needed time off and on Tuesday when I woke up, my house wasn't too messy and I was feeling refreshed and ready to start cleaning again! So if you need a break, take it! It will only help!
I hope these tips are helpful for all of you! Especially those who said they tried setting the same goal and didn't succeed. If I can do it, you can too! Trust me! So I want to challenge all of my readers, if you're not satisfied with the state of your home, take my 30 day challenge and start small! Good Luck!
Mariasha
