Have you ever looked at a person’s house that looks perfect, yet you never really see them do any of the housework? Organized people do things daily that eliminates the hard work when it comes to house cleaning. People with clean homes tackle the chores in a different way to many people, to imply they have a clean home, without it being perfect. It is these things that help to reduce the time spent cleaning, yet still, have a clean home.
People With Clean Homes
Finding a routine that works for you is important when it comes to cleaning. If you implement these tips you might find that you spend less time cleaning; it is possible and you might not realize how much you can get done without thinking about cleaning!
- Make your beds – I know this one is so important and I have taken this further. If my daughter forgets to make her bed in the morning I will make it for her, I know she is old enough to do this herself, but if I leave it, I feel the house is untidy. If I make it not only does it bring the house together, it shows that I have done something nice for her too, a way to show her that I care. I wrote an article on Why You Should Make Your Bed Last!
- Laundry – is one of those tasks which can take over the house unless you keep it under control, either have a system where you do laundry on particular days or tackle it daily. Whatever option you choose don’t let it take over your home!
- Dishes – if you have a dishwasher and use it! Make sure that it is empty in the morning so dirty dishes have a place to go, keeping the kitchen clear. If you don’t have a dishwasher, wash your dishes as you use them, don’t let them sit there waiting for you to wash them. I make my own dishwasher powder, you can read the article Simple And Easy To Make Homemade Dishwasher Detergent here!
- When you cook, have a bowl of hot water ready to wash as you go. You will have less to do when you have finished your meal or cooking activity.
- Planning – if you take the time to plan, know what you need to do and when.
- Put away your clothes when you take them off at night, if they need to go into the laundry basket put them there, don’t leave them on the floor. 5 Easy Tips To Help With Laundry is written to help you tackle your laundry! I prefer a plastic laundry hamper because it’s easier to keep clean!
- When you walk in the door take off your shoes. The less dirt you bring into your home the less dirt you will need to clean up!
- If you don’t have time to deal with an untidy room and it is possible to shut the door, even for a few hours, then shut it, it won’t hurt!
- If you use something, when you have finished with it put it away. This will mean that your home looks tidier and you will have less clutter lying around.
- If you are in the kitchen, wipe the sides down (also called countertops) before you leave, same as in the bathroom. Get in the habit of wiping down the sides will mean your home looks and feels cleaner.
- A quick clean of the floors before bed means that you wake to a clean home. It then reduces the work that you need to do in the morning and can make your morning routines easier!
- Instead of thinking that cleaning is going to take hours, tackle it in five-minute cleanups. This is a great way to get everyone to help! Set a timer and just clean as fast as you can in five minutes, it is a great way to get over that first lack of luster to clean.
- Don’t procrastinate, it is easy to put something off; however, it often means there is more to do when you eventually get around to the task, just get up and moving and you will feel so much better.
- People with clean homes just don’t have the clutter. They have what they need and nothing duplicated or more than is necessary. They don’t have the clutter than can make a clean home look unorganized.
- It is important that you have systems in place to deal with the paper that comes into your home. This is the biggest problem for most people as it just seems to creep into your home. I wrote Simple And Easy Tips To Organize Your Paperwork to help you!
- Your bed is not a place to store items, nothing should have a home on the bed, keep this clear of items that don’t belong there.
- A quick tidy before bed is a great idea and routine to build into your day. Getting up to a tidy home is a great motivational boost to your morale and can help to start the day off great.
- Have a set schedule for vacuuming; the more you vacuum the quicker you can do the task.
- Dust your home regularly; the more you keep up to date with the dusting the quicker you can accomplish this task and your home never look dusty.
- Focus on one area at a time, don’t get distracted as it is impossible to do everything all at once, multitasking just doesn’t work and cannot help to keep your home organized.
- If you need help with working out what you need to do when it comes to cleaning, grab my cleaning printables pack these printables will help you work out what you need to do in each area of your home! It’s a one time purchase that you can print again and again!
- If you spend a lot of time on Amazon, consider Amazon Prime as an option to save money in the long-term! You can benefit from a number of perks just by having Amazon Prime, just click the link and check out all the benefits! You can try a free 30-day trial to see if you like it too!
- Looking for more cleaning articles to help you around the home? Check out 16 Ways To Make Your Home Cleaner!
- Are you looking for more planning options? Try Cozi the free electronic planning system for your whole family! Planning is something that you need to get the whole family on the same page, without this its total chaos! What’s great is the fact that it’s free too!
How To Copy People With Clean Homes
If you are looking to use these tips above to get your home in order, remember to take it slowly. A habit takes time to form. So don’t overwhelm yourself as this is likely to end in failure.
Take one habit at a time; give it a few weeks to settle into something you do daily before adding in a new habit that you want to follow. Not everything is going to work, you might need to tweak a habit so it suits your needs better.
Therefore, it is important to find those habits that will work for you. Have the clean home, with minimal cleaning! It doesn’t take much to keep on top of the cleaning with doing little and often really does work.
Jean K says
Great suggestions that will work for anyone.
Sharon says
Thank you 🙂 Thanks for visiting!
Michelle says
These are excellent suggestions, when I was healthy (I have Multiple Sclerosis) I lived like this and raised my children like this. It is heartbreaking when I can’t do the work myself and I try to explain to my husband that this is how we always lived, but it was me that did the majority of the organizing and upkeep. My children are adults and have lives of their own. Thanks
Sharon says
I am so sorry that you have MS. It is hard when you can’t do things yourself, the way that you like them done and have to rely on others to do things! Take it one day at a time! 🙂
Ronney says
Thank you for this. I have posted so many “Declutter and Cleaning” articles on that wall of mine, and I am now just getting serious and reading them. This was the first one I read, and it made me feel like, doing 5 minutes when I get up to do something else is OK. It doesn’t need to be done in all one day. I have Fibromyalgia so this system will work and I can once again have a clean house! And a much less stuff!
Sharon says
Thank you for your kind words! Yes it is OK to do something for a few minutes at a time and no you don’t have to do it in just one day! Have a good week! 🙂
DEBorah Harrell says
A Roomba will be a big help with you vacuuming
Sharon says
I have never heard of a Roomba before can you explain what it is? Thanks for visiting! 🙂
CC says
A small robotic vaccum that you can schedule when you want your house vaccumed. They’re nice but not for a good thorough cleaning.
Sharon says
They will take the worst off and sometimes that is all you need! 🙂
Dinah says
Great article!
Sharon says
Thank you so much for your kind words! 🙂
Victoria Aguilar says
When I worked, I washed and dried a batch of clothes at night, next morning I fluffed up and put away what was in the dryer. I would start another load in washer while I was getting ready for work, I would put this batch In dryer before leaving. I only had towels and bedding on the weekends, because the rest of the laundry was always done. Every morning I scrubbed the toilet and wiped down bathroom sink while I waited for my shower to warm up. This all worked for me and help me have more time on my weekends.
Sharon says
Spreading out your washing over the week is a great way to fit washing into your week. Cleaning the bathroom whilst you are in there is perfect!
Barb says
This was a terrific read for me this evening. I’ve been struggling with getting my house back in shape after letting things get out if control. Thank you!
Sharon says
That is awesome Barb! Thank you for your kind words and I am so happy that it helped! 🙂
Becky B. says
I love this list! I practice some of them and really like your five minute rule. I will be implementing that right away! But I was wondering what you mean by “wipe down the SIDES” in number 10. Thanks for your good advice!
Sharon says
Thank you for your kind words. Let me explain ‘wiping down the sides’ this is what I call the worktops, so I mean that when you are in the kitchen you wipe down the worktops and the same in the bathroom, if you have worktop in the bathroom, you just wipe this down when you leave. Hope this helps to clarify the wording. Thanks for visiting and have a lovely week! 🙂
Becky in Waxahachie says
Thanks for clarifying that. The “SIDES” must be a local colloquialism. What part of the country are you from? Anyway, it’s a good tip and I plan to start doing it.
Sharon says
Thank you I am glad I cleared that up for you! I am from the UK and live in the north! 🙂
Chrissie says
I’m from the UK too, and my family have always giggled about ‘the side’! For instance, on the many times when my husband is looking for something, I will tell him that ‘it’s on the side’ in whatever room I’m describing. He will then invariably say ‘which side do you mean’ and then it carries in like this until I might as well go and get it for him. Lol! I believe that it’s definitely a British thing, country wide, and means any flat surface near to where you’re standing.
Sharon says
That’s so funny!
Nicki P says
Here in the uk iv lived in several different regions and calling the worktops the “sides” is pretty standard. So much so, that it seemed odd u had never heatd that!! For example my son carries a bag into the house and says “shall i put it on the side?” Or before going to school il say “dont forget your lunchbox its on the side” or my partner will say “bloody cat is sat up on the side!!” Iv never thought about it but as i was writing this it did occur to me how confusing it can be!!
Becky in Waxahachie says
Sorry for two comments! I didn’t think the first one went. Technology!!!
Sharon says
No worries technology is so temperamental! Have a great week! 🙂
PJ says
Thanks for clearing that up, I was picturing you washing the walls, or at least the sides of your appliances!
Sharon says
Lol! Now that isn’t a bad idea, though! 🙂
Shana Striha says
That’s what I also thought! I am from Canada and we call them countertops. I think it is mostly that way in North America. 🙂
Amanda says
You asked if we had anything to add… This book is changing my life! She has a great system for De-Cluttering the house. I live by it. https://www.onekingslane.com/live-love-home/marie-kondo-book-declutter/
Sharon says
That is awesome that it is changing your life, I have yet to read it but I have heard nothing but positive comments about the system she uses! Thanks for visiting! 🙂
Karen Bowen says
Thanks for the advice! I mention it in my blog post here: http://kebstudiocreations.blogspot.com/2016/08/weekly-cleaning-chart.html
Sharon says
You are so welcome! I love your post thanks for the link! 🙂
Kathleen Castanon says
I’ve been working for a year or so now gradually applying your daily and weekly routine and it’s really helpful. I love your daily kitchen routine. But, I can’t figure it one thing. The weekly cleaning of my kitchen floors isn’t enough. I’ve got young kids plus white tile in my kitchen that gets dirty almost immediately. We sweep several times a day but it’s the stuff that sticks that’s a problem. Any suggestions?
Sharon says
If the sticky spots are just spots, then I would do a spot clean, just tackling this one area, if you are finding you need more then I would clean it more frequently, even as much as daily! I use my steam cleaner and I would just run that over the floor at night before I go to bed! Hope that helps!
Kirsty says
I was delighted to see your link to the cleaning printables. I’m less delighted now I’ve paid for and looked at them, I thought I was getting a list of actual tasks. Does anyone else have children who need reminding of daily chores every. single. day? Things like wiping the sides in the kitchen or making sure the sink is left clean and free of food scraps or soap suds?
Sharon says
I’m sorry you thought it was going to be something different! Email me at Sharonrowe@howtogetorganizedathome.com to discuss! I would mention that I have got something in the pipeline for what you are looking for!
Cindy says
Everyone else calls them your kitchen or bathroom counters. The granite, corian, marble or butcher block areas that you have a cutting board, mixer etc. To mix up recipes.