My clean routine

Happy Monday! It is warming up a bit here, and  I am in the mood to clean! It is no secret to those who know me that I am a neat freak. I like a clean house, an organized house, and a life run on structure and routine. Still, I don’t want to spend my whole day cleaning, so I came up with a system I have used for years that works for me to keep my house clean and organized.

TIPS FOR A MORE CLEAN AND ORGANIZED HOME:

#1  DON’T GET OVERWHELMED!

Only cleaning your house once a week is great and it is everyone’s dream, but the reality of it is that we all live in our homes. Things get messed up. If everything gets piled up and it is a big mess, it can get a bit overwhelming. It can start feeling like a huge unattainable project, and who wants to tackle something like that. If something gets messy, pick it up and put it away. When my kids were little we had a one thing out at a time rule. One game out, clean it up, then get another thing out. Same thing applies to our houses.

#2 PICK UP YOUR HOUSE EVERY MORNING

Every morning before I go out I have a standard routine. I wipe my counters with both a washcloth and then 409 granite cleaner. I sweep my hardwood, the beds are made,and the bathrooms get wiped with a lysol wipe. Every morning. This only takes me about 45 minutes, but the whole day runs a lot smoother because of it.

My favorite counter cleaner.

#3 HAVE A SPOT FOR EVERYTHING

So everything in my home has a designated spot. When I take something out, I put it away in the same spot. My rule in my house is if you get something out, put it away when you are done. Before we go to bed at night everything needs to be put away where they go, that includes the dishes. I rarely have dishes in my sink. If they are dirty they go in the dishwasher, if they are clean, they get put away.  This saves so much time. I don’t have to spend hours putting away messes every morning.

#4 HAVE A CLEANING ROUTINE

I do a few chores besides my daily straightening every day.  

Mondays I dust, vacuum, and mop

my favorite dusters         my favorite hardwood floor cleaner

Tuesdays I do laundry

Wednesdays are my free day

Thursdays are bathrooms top to bottom

my favorite bathroom cleaner

Fridays  I change sheets

This doesn’t seem like a lot each day, and it isn’t.  If I stay on top of my daily straightening, I rarely feel overwhelmed. Each week I add one big thing to my list. When I have extra time, I work on it. This could be washing baseboards, vacuuming blinds, touching up paint….just those extra things we have a hard time getting around to. This system has really worked for me. The key to any successful clean home, is do what works for you, but stay on top of it. Don’t let things pile up, because once they do, you will get overwhelmed quickly.