Top Tips for a clean tidy home

MichaelGeorge

Monday to Friday I have a job, so I usually cleans my home on Saturdays or Sundays. Try to organize everything on weekdays if you have time, this will reduce the workload on weekends. Or else another option is that you can hire professional cleaning service to do the job.

tibawo

I get stressed when my house isn't tidy, I don't necessarily mean everything perfect like a show house as I feel a 'lived in' house makes you feel welcome and relaxed. However, when it comes to tidy dd1 and me are poles apart. I now just dump things in a tub just inside her door.

Due to work, stress etc I have let the tidy routines go to pot and my house seriously needs a spring clean but like another poster has said if I just put clean kitchen on a to do list it is just too daunting and won't get done. This year I have decided to overhaul lots of things as I realised although compared to some people we do a lot as a family, things I could do when I was their age like being able to ride a bike, play badminton (kids asked for this) is something they can't do.

So we have started to build up things into our routine so much so that dd1 actually said last night 'come on we need to do the dishes' as I want to have a bath and do some homework before bed. I was more than happy to oblige because of her initiative even though I was half way through my brew! I wash and they dry but to stop arguments in the kitchen whilst one is drying X amount of things the other does another small job and then swap. It probably takes around fifteen mins but I have noticed a knock on effect of things being put away.

System

My hubby has been only home for 12 hours from working away for 4 nights and the place looks like a war zone! He's been asleep for most of those 12 hours. Piles of stuff everywhere.:(

GBNI

Judi wrote: »

My hubby has been only home for 12 hours from working away for 4 nights and the place looks like a war zone! He's been asleep for most of those 12 hours. Piles of stuff everywhere.:(

My OH works away as well and when he comes home the place ends up a lot more untidy I wouldn't say he's a messy person but as he's only home a short period of time between shifts there's more important things to do than cleaning so I just do a blitz once he has left.

DigForVictory

Jojo - thank you!
one Awful Warning should help me focus...
Then come the Educational posters left on the sons beds.

Me? I think I feel a wave of neatnik coming on. (Usually I lie down til the feeling goes away, but those photos are a brilliant strategic boot in the motivation!)

prosaver

the project...
to have a tidy house,
to get rid of clutter, we need planning
and b4 planning we need to do the research.
research the job and what we want to achieve
get rid of the crap and have a tidy house.
questions

are we going to keep it or bin the stuff?
keep ..need a storage area
bin it ..need a big skip
sort out later..... storage.. then skip.
next do i need all this stuff and why?
is it normal
is it anoying
is it making my life difficult

Kim_kim

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Get a cleaner. A good cleaner is worth his/her weight in gold.

My cleaner comes for 2 hours once a week which helps me keep on top of all the regular cleaning. Then if I have a spare couple of hours at the weekend I pick a drawer or cupboard to tackle. I am ruthless, if I haven't used or even thought about something for ages that has been lurking in the drawer or cupboard then it's sold, given to charity or taken to the tip.

The cleaner coming once a week also forces me to keep the place tidy as she can't clean if I'm untidy. My schedule can be a bit hectic so this weekly clean helps to focus my mind and not let things slide even when I'm exhausted after catching a red eye home.

I'll second this.

System

To carry on the conversation from November, I would say the number of people living in the house, or whether or not someone has kids is largely irrelevant. I have known people with children who keep a spotlessly clean home, and people who live alone whose homes look like a midden.

Thanks for sharing the photos JoJo, has your mum made any further progress with the clearing and cleaning?

Starlet

BrokenBetty wrote: »

I'm a disaster! No routine, and the place always needs tidied. I have a bit of time of work, so need to get this sorted.

How do you motivate yourself?

How have you established a routine?

I would quite like a magic wand, this would be preferable, however, can't find this on ebay, or Gumtree

Dear BrokenBetty

A while ago, I found a set of questions online that helps with your thought process when youre decluttering, so I saved the link - http://lifeyourway.net/10-questions-to-help-you-declutter/ . While a number of the things didn't really apply to me (e.g. I dont keep broken items...if they dont work, I recycle them), I still found the questions to be helpful. Hopefully you will find them helpful too.

Lunar_Eclipse

People always comment on how tidy (& clean) my house is. They don't see the spare room! But the downstairs is that way.

Friends/family coming round is my biggest motivator and since that happens constantly, I keep the place fairly clean and tidy. The key for me is to keep on top of it; I'm very easily overwhelmed and then incapable of anything!

Here are my tips:

1) Process everything at the time if possible. Eg: open post and file, action or recycle as soon as you pick it up off the doormat. Wash dishes immediately after use etc.

2) Have a home for everything. Don't use surfaces as storage. (Someone please explain the few comments about kitchen windowsills! Mine is bare ... thus ready for birthday cards and gifts of flowers!)

3) And somewhere to shove things in a hurry.

4) Don't keep crap. I have already donated some Christmas gifts.

5) 10 minute tidy ups are great. Especially before a treat like meeting a friend for a coffee/walk, a phone call, bath, film, drink etc. When appropriate, get all family members involved. We used to do this after lunch on Sat/Suns when the kids were younger (on full stomachs so tantrums unlikely!)

6) Kitchen heaven before bed. I LOVE walking in to a tidy kitchen in the morning, so I leave it that way when I go upstairs at night.

7) Do housework regularly. I clean the bathrooms every few days; daily is even better. Hoover whole house or wash floors at least once a week. And laundry: do it every day or risk getting behind. Like me today.

I think it helps that I like clean and tidy spaces. I like lots of Art on walls, flowers and candles. But that's it, I have a side table with a lamp and mini cactus plants, but not loads of stuff everywhere. It doesn't look cold, but clean and welcoming. Always ready to entertain! Some people find lots of stuff comforting so you need to take your own preferences into account.

Right, off to spare room with bin bags now ...