O man, you’re going to hate this post. Haha, seriously though.
What’s your cleaning schedule?
Do you get frustrated that you have to spend hours cleaning and picking up every other week?
Does your house get to the point that you’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to start?
It takes a lot of time and effort to clean our house, so of course, I want it to stay clean.
How to Keep Your House Clean Once & for All:
The secret is that there is no secret or magic trick to keeping your house clean.
It’s all about maintenance and routines.
Your house will stay clean once and for all when you work to maintain it and when you create routines that keep it from becoming a disaster zone.
Our house stays tidy and picked up almost all the time because I work hard to maintain it.
When I walk through the house I grab clothes we left downstairs and bring them up to our bedroom.
A few times a day I pick up the living room and put away blankets and remotes.
I’m always on the lookout for things that don’t belong where they are and I make sure they end up where they’re supposed to go. It’s just maintenance.
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I’m not always great at taking care of dirty dishes. If I don’t keep up with them, I get overwhelmed by counters covered in dirty dishes. When I make it part of my routine to take care of them at least once a day, it never gets out of hand and the kitchen stays clean.
Our laundry never explodes all over the house because I have a routine for handling it that works for me. I do all of our laundry in one day. All of the clean laundry gets put in our bedroom, where I fold it and put it all away (sometimes not until the next day).
Yes, we still have to deep clean the bathroom and kitchen sometimes and we’re not always great at remembering to vacuum, but our house is usually about 20 minutes away from being acceptable for company to come over at all times.
Another benefit to maintaining a clean house with good routines is this: When I need to deep clean parts of the house, it’s a really quick process. I don’t have to spend an hour picking up first. I can get right to scrubbing the shower because all of the basic picking up and wiping down is done.
The key to keeping your house clean is maintaining the cleanliness through little tasks here and there each day.
Once you incorporate little tasks like tidying up and doing the dishes into your daily routine, your house won’t get too far out of hand.
There’s nothing magic or amazing about me that allows me to have a clean and picked up house all of the time. I’ve just worked at creating routines that maintain a clean and tidy house.
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⇒ What areas of your house do you get overwhelmed by? What are your maintenance routines that help you keep up with housework?
Start The 4-Day Declutter Challenge!
jehava says
Really great tips here and doing many little things through the day do help me maintain but, with 3 boys it’s hard to stay on top of it all and, sometimes I’m just tired lol .. but, I am trying to get better about routine!
Christine says
I’m sure it’s super hard with lots of littles. I’ve heard some moms make a routine that before each meal all the kids have to help pick up and get things clean again. I don’t have kids, so I’m not the one to give advice, but it seems like a good idea 🙂
Georgiana says
So true! There is no magic formula. We’re struggling in this area right now since the start of school and getting back into the routine.
Christine says
It’s tough when your schedule changes and you need to figure out a new routine. You can do it!
Jackie says
Laundry is definitely the most overwhelming to me. How can two people (soon one more!) generate so. much. laundry.?!?
Christine says
I feel the same way! It’s crazy! I do it all in one day and then don’t worry about it until next week.
Kate says
I am constantly picking up random items and popping them back into their home. But if you want to see my house you have to show up between 10p-7a…. Much later than that and my children will have EXPLODED throughout my house ??? who know such tiny creatures could be such tornadoes!
Christine says
Haha! It’s impressive how messy things can get so quickly!
Erin | A Welder's Wife says
Our cleaning schedules are about the same! I go through my home when I get home and tidy it. After supper, dishes are done and counters are cleaned. You are right. As long as we keep it up, we can be minutes away from a “company acceptable” home!
Christine says
I’m such a big fan of tidying up. Our house isn’t always “clean”, but tidy makes a big difference!
Katie says
I couldn’t agree more! I’m totally a neat freak so I never let my house get too bad, but I definitely find the biggest thing is just staying on top of those small tasks everyday!
Christine says
Thanks Katie!!
cara says
A little bit everyday goes a long way. Nobody likes spending an entire day cleaning, so I think just getting in the habit of that is so important! Great tips!
Christine says
Thanks Cara!
Christy says
I struggle with laundry! It seems like it never to be done! But I try to keep the house picked up!
Christine says
We each have those tasks that are harder than others. I’m pretty good with laundry, but I have a hard time staying on top of dishes.