photo: Our Beach House
How to keep a house clean
W
hen I was a younger mom, I was forever making up lists and methods to keep track of everything from organization to daily routines. I had notebooks and files and all sorts of systems involving complicated color coding and chore tracking devices. The problem was, once I would get the systems all set up, I would fail miserably at using them. I had made housekeeping more complicated than it needed to be. I felt like I was always behind and my house seemed on the verge of chaos.
In my endeavor to live life more fully, I’m always evaluating things I want to incorporate into my life and what things I DON’T want. I want to have a beautifully decorated, clean and organized home, but there are other things in life that are important to me too. I want my home to be in order so I am free to nurture relationships and enjoy living, but I don’t want to be a slave to my housekeeping routines.
So, how do I balance it all? I keep it simple.
Over the years I’ve found I can focus on four basic housekeeping routines that work for me, and I’m sticking to them. I can add other things, of course, but these are the tried and true basics. By breaking it down, I feel I can manage my life, instead of my house taking over my life.
Here is what I focus on every day:
1. Morning routines. I have found that having a regular morning routine works best for me. This involves at the very least: some quiet time, making the bed, taking a shower (hanging up my towel when I am done, of course!), putting on very simple makeup and getting dressed right down to my shoes. I always toss in a load of laundry as I am getting dressed. I find if I start out the day with those few things, I am ready for anything.
2. Clean sinks. I learned the Fly lady system back when my son was born. I was taking care of him and my two grade school girls and during the day I was watching my nephew who was born five weeks before my son. All that and working part-time! With four kids taking over my tiny house, I ran into frustration over having too much to handle. Fly lady to the rescue! She broke it down for me and I listened: clean and shiny sinks, always.
I follow this principle both in our bathrooms and the kitchen. Something about striving for that shiny sink keeps me from letting dirty dishes pile up in the kitchen and icky stuff like hair and spit greeting me every time I pass through the bathroom.
3. Cleaning frenzies. Since the beginning of our marriage, my husband and I have utilized what we call “cleaning frenzies” to give our home a quick clean up. A cleaning frenzy might last ten minutes or even up to an hour. But everyone participates, including the kids. We run around picking things up, putting things back, and generally tidying things up.
Sometimes we focus on one room; sometimes it is an entire house frenzy. Sometimes it is a task frenzy, like dusting or cleaning all toilets! It works like a charm to make a big impact in a short period of time. Even one “10-minute cleaning frenzy” a day keeps the frustration away.
4. Nightly kitchen clean up. Every night, almost without fail, we clean the kitchen. We put away dishes, load the final dishwasher load of the day, wipe off counters, and polish up the sink. There is nothing like waking up to a clean kitchen to make your day feel less overwhelming.
If I have my basic routines down, my home stays “clean enough” most of the time. Keeping up on things means I rarely feel overwhelmed by all that needs to be done! When my home is maintained on a daily basis, it is really easy to add in a few extra tasks now and then to really shine things up or get things organized.
But if I let my daily routines go, my house soon spirals out of control. My house isn’t perfect by any means, but I am OK with that. It is CLEAN ENOUGH! I’m sticking to my tried and true basics. No more complicated chore charts for me!
What are your tried and true routines?
What is your biggest area of frustration in keeping your house clean?
Related post:
Jump Start Your Day With a Simple 5 Minute Routine
How to Clean Up Your House in Five Minutes
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I loved this post the first time (still remember it!) and love it this time, with the twist of new photos.
I’m so glad you are still around Emily!
I follow the same basic four that you do! Something I think of often is a sign I once saw that said, “My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy.” Over the years it has allowed me time to be with my kids or even to just sit on the sofa for a few re-energizing moments.
I love that. So much easier to break it down and have LIFE left over to LIVE!
Biggest frustration? Pet hair. No solution yet. Swiffer works ok, but I need something that vaccuums, not swiffers. I’m on the lookout for the perfect rechargeable stick broom that won’t scratch up my hardwood floors.
Tried and true method? Kiddos out of the house while I clean, so I can get it under control.
Never broken rule? Spotless kitchen. After every meal. The entire upstairs is open floor plan and you can see everything. If there’s potatoes from the garden on the coutertops, they have to go too. Clean kitchen means a clean upstairs. A place for everything takes care of this.
I LOVE your four routine rules. I’m going to post them and remind myself to do the same. Things get so out of control here so fast it’s unbelievable. No laptop time until the 4 routines are done would be another good rule for ME. LOL
Donna
Pet hair….I agree – 3 house rabbits, 2 dogs, 1 hamster equals ALOT of fur. It makes huge tumbleweeds that show up spontaneously and I could vacume twice a day…..
I love the FLYLADY method – it is great when I was a SAHM all the time – but now trying to work PT and Work-OUT and can’t do it all….I think the no computer until all else is done would be a good addition…
Hi! You know what I found works great on my pet hair problem (I have an exploding white chihuahua and dark hardwood floors)? An electrostatic non-disposable dry dust mop and a hand vac. I dustmop the floors and every few minutes as I go, stop, turn the mop over and vaccuum it (and the little growing pile it was pushing around), then continue with the mopping. I only need to hand or machine wash the mop head once a week or so. It works brilliantly. No waste, nothing to throw out besides emptying the dirt cup of the hand vac and it’s surprisingly quick.
)
Might try a Roomba? They have one specifically for pet hair. We had one for a few years…worked great! Put it in the room, shut the door and in about 40 min, the room was clean…course that didn’t work on furniture too well….but might be worth a thought…
Dyson vacuums are amazing as well!! If there was a fire, I would grab my family, animals, photos and my Dyson!!!
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I love your routines. Mine are pretty similar. I try to pick things up before going to bed, but it doesn’t happen very often! I do at least feel better when the sink is cleaned.
I follow the clean kitchen rule as well. Waking up to a clean kitchen makes the day start without immediate obstacles.
Oh wow! I love the clean sink idea. I am gonna try that. I feel very overwhelmed trying to keep my house tidy during the day. I have two young children that seem to have a trail of debris following them every place they go. I also try to leave the kitchen clean when I go to bed, because I hate waking up to a mess in the kitchen.
The one rule I love, and try to stick to is the 5 minute rule. I apply it to everything from cleaning to projects. 5 minute rule: What can you do in 5 minutes. Thats it.. pretty simple. I find myself amazed though at what I can get accomplished in that short of time. Thanks for this great post!
Seriously, thank you SO much for sharing this. I am a mom to 2 small kiddos and have never been the best at keeping things clean…or even “clean enough”! I have been thinking I needed to make some elaborate chart or something similar to help me, but I think implemementing these simple routines will help me a lot.
I know this isn’t logical but I get frustrated cleaning something that I know is going to get messed up right away and I also don’t like to start a task for fear that I will be interrupted and not be able to finish it. I think maybe I need counseling? lol
Sorry, this is getting long, but I also wanted to share a little thing a friend of mine shared and it is called 15 thing cleaning. You do 15 things and then you stop. 1. put up dishes, 2. start wash, 3. pick up all toys on the floor, etc…You do that once a day. Supposedly it helps keep things “clean enough,” too. I haven’t tried this yet:)
I love your ideas! I am definitely with you on the “clean enough” idea! I really like the thought on keeping the sinks clean. I will have to try that!
We also try to keep our rugs vacuumed in our main living areas – we struggle with pet hair around here a lot too!
We have a saying around here – there’s normal cleaning and then there’s “Bunco” clean! That’s what I am getting ready to do – get the house Bunco clean! Argh!
Funny, because we have regular picked up clean, and then there’s Mimmee clean–for when my husband’s grandma is coming over!
Each day that I work from home, I put a load of laundry in the washing machine first thing when I go downstairs. Later, when I go downstairs to the kitchen from my office for lunch, I move the laundry from the washer to the dryer. By the time I finish lunch, the laundry is dry and I can fold it. Then, back to work in the office. This way, I get through about three loads of wash a week without it seeming to take any time and can finish the rest on a weekend day.
I love FLYLADY’s system. It works great. Especially when I do it!
I love all your rules, but to me the most important one is RULE no 4, we don;t have any rules in this house, but that is one that I try to install. It makes me feel very good and a great way to start your day!
Melissa, I adopted FLYLADY’S system too. I always clean my kitchen sink, wipe it dry and put out a fresh clean dish towel. And my husband is the one who introduced me to playing a song and see how much we can get cleaned before the song ended. He used to do that with his sisters as he was the oldest and quite responsible. I love to keep my house organized and clean and yet …I don’t allow myself to become a slave to it. I always love to visit your blog.
“Imperfect housework still blesses your family”. My favorite flylady quote of all time … can be applied to so many things. Thanks for the reminders … I should work on the shiny bathroom sinks!
I agree with pretty much all of you. After my children were grown and gone, I have no one to blame on the untidy messes. What??? couldve it been me then too? No, Im sure not. *coff*
Seriously though, my biggest pet peeve is a better vaccume for my stairs. I have a very wide and steep set of stairs that require vaccuming, (probably more than they get) My big ol good “sucking” vaccume is just that too big, I somtimes get to working it back and forth and swear its going to topple me down the stairs.
If anyone knows of a great carpet fluffer/ yet has good suction let me know– ugggh the little hand held dirt devils do NOT do the trick.
Great post!
TTFN~~ Claudia ♥ ♥
Thanks for sharing what works for you! I think I’m going to give FlyLady a try. I have a 3 year old and an 11 week old, and while my house isn’t terribly messy, certain things aren’t getting done. We’re definitely not in a housekeeping routine yet – I’m hoping as my son’s schedule gets more regular, a home routine will be easier!
Very nice post! I live and die by that clean sink business: I am just neurotic about that sink being empty and clean ALL THE TIME!!!
Dog hair is a big issue around here…constant battle…I feel like I go to bed sometimes with a broom still in my hand. A pet peeve I have is not immediately unloading the dishwasher when the cycle is completed or folding the laundry as soon as it is dry: I know we have all known people who “live” out of their dishwashers and their dryers…not at my house….each of them MUST be ready to accept new items at the drop of a hat….it would be too irritating to me to have to unload the dishwasher before I could put more dirty dishes into it! I said I was neurotic! Love your blog…always the BEST posts!
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog and all your decorating ideas
I wish you could come help me decorate my house!!!
I need to incorporate a few others into my life… I need to be better with the quiet time & less with the computer time!!
I am a new (well after a year and a half) wife, and I follow the exact same routines as you
My kitchen is my thing – if it’s clean, I can do anything! Can’t wait to read everyone’s ideas!!
Great Ideas. The cleaning frenzy one reminds me of when my children were little we would do what we called a “ten minute pickup”. We would set the timer for 10 minutes and everyone would help tidy up. It broke cleaning down into a small amount of time that the kids could see an end to. Worked great.
Thanks so much for this list. I love how you broke it down to four simple goals. I relate the the “write up elaborate and organized lists and plans and then fail miserably” so much! I tried flylady after my son was born but failed miserably at that too. I didn’t have time to check all 100 emails they sent! The thing I have the most trouble with is the kitchen cleaning at night. I’m always so tired after dinner (we usually eat late) that dishes are nearly always left until the morning. Perhaps making this simple change will make all the difference. Oh yeah, and laundry. I have no trouble doing laundry…it is folding it all and putting it away that I fail at. Piles of clean clothes wind up in corners of our rooms. Not good.
I use a similar system to keep my house clean enough. I also to a “quick tidy” in the mornings – I stand in the middle of our great room and do a quick visual sweep. Whatever I see laying out gets put away. It’s amazing how quickly I can set the room to rights if I remember to do this every day!
My best trick for keeping my house orderly is to make a day for each major task.
Mondays I clean the kitchen and change/wash sheets
Tuesdays I clean bathrooms…or A bathroom or A sink
Wednesdays I gather trash, wash towels and dust
Thursdays I sweep and mop
Fridays are a day of rest
Saturdays and Sundays, anything goes. Laundry gets done every day as needed and spot cleaning and picking up toys happen off and on all the time.
We actually do several of those things, I think the morning and evening routines, and our “10 Minute Clutter Cleaning” are the best ones that we do! I also make sure that I am not cleaning up for my kids, it really teaches them responsibility and frees you up to take care of other needed things… if they are old enough to get something out, then they are old enough to put it away!! But Kids aren’t the only ones who thrive better with a schedule or a routine, my Hubby and I do as well! I love your idea of throwing in a load of laundry in the morning as you get ready for the day…I’ll admit that doing laundry doesn’t rank high on my list of favorite things to do
, so maybe this would help me to be more productive!!
my list is very similar to yours! I never go to bed with the bathroom and kitchen sinks dirty. Laundry only gets done one day a week – every Saturday and bathrooms get a thorough cleaning every Wednesday.
This was a great post! I loved hearing about your morning routine. As I get older, and I’m getting pretty old!, I find I’ve slowed down with my housekeeping. My children are all grown, married and out of the house so I just kind of want to do what I want to do! Doesn’t always make for a clean house! I think I’m going to try and follow your plan!
I may be old but never to old to learn a new trick!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia
Oh Melissa, this is perfect timing!
I was just telling my husband today that I’m feeling overwhelmed. And that while most people do Spring cleaning, I get the urge to nest in the Fall! It’s hitting me big this week!
I have assigned a certain time to each “zone.” I don’t go over! Some days, especially after we’ve been sick and things have slacked, the limited amount of time won’t clean the whole “zone” but generally each day gets better and better, until there is extra time left over. So when the timer dings….done with that “zone” no matter what. Than move on to the next timed zone.
ex: Kitchen 30 min
Living/Dining 20 min
Master Bed/Bath 15 min
Kids rooms/bath 20 min
I really, REALLY needed this post right now. With just taking our home off the market, we are in “let down” mode from having to keep it perpetually clean. I am trying not to let things get too far gone (as far as the daily chores are concerned), but we are also trying to do a few “projects.” I love the cleaning frenzy idea… with 5 of us in the house, getting things done should take no time at all if we are focused.
Thanks again for sharing all your wonderful ideas.
Blessings,
Christi
I am such a warm weather fan, not at all looking forward to the fall. When I get on a roll nesting varies with, well, I really don’t know what. Hunh. But I do have one habit I try to stick to daily. I never pass something that needs to go to another room… I try never to be empty handed, unless everything is in it’s place. In short, I make my steps do double duty.
I love your idea of the frenzied cleaning/straightening. Wonder what my husband’s going to think of that the first time I initiate it? Tomorrow, I think I will do just that.
Melissa, I loved your four step routine. I have tried the cleaning frenzy — and it so works, I just need to do it on a more regular basis.
Thanks, Angela
my biggest frustration is laundry. HELP
I recently saw a to do list that said “do 1 thing and do it well today”. I thought this is what I need for my house! So every morning in my head, I don’t actually write it down, I vow to complete one thing really well. Whether it’s laundry, dusting, vacuming, cleaning the bathroom, etc. I do one thing and I do it well!
Also, I always keep a clean kitchen sink and sweep the kitchen floor every night after dinner.
Great post thanks for sharing!
I really appreciate this post – great reminder! I try to do the morning routine idea. If I do, it seems that everything else kinda falls into place. My kids will play “10-minute tidy” if I institute it before bed. It’s amazing how much progress we can all make together in just 10″. Also, when I get really frantic, I listen to FlyLady’s crisis cleaning podcast on my iPod. I giggle at the way she says things & it takes the stress away.
Every two weeks I have a reset day – I declutter the entire house for the morning & then cleaners come in the afternoon to do the floors & the bathrooms.
Thanks for the tips. I couldn’t agree more. A clean kitchen in the morning is like a great cup of coffee. You can sit and relax while enjoying both.
Kris
I too love a morning routine, and it seems that this summer has gotten me into a cleaning funk. I need to get back in my groove so that my laundry doesn’t topple over on me. Either that or just tackle a bit at a time and invest in some extra undies for when I am behind.
Thanks for the great tips!
I love this post! We just did the cleaning “frenzy” this morning!!!
My niece was born on Tuesday, so we were at the hospital most of the week, and when we weren’t there I was at work for 12 hour days! In this house, if mom doesn’t make sure it gets done, it doesn’t get done!!! Sooo, that led to being verrrry behind on housework this week. The cleaning “frenzy” got it all done and made sure that the kids were made accountable for their messes.
Now, if someone could tell me how to eleiminate pet hair, I’d be a happy happy girl!!!
The first really important rule for me is to have a place for everything! If everything gets put back in its place at least things look neat and organized.
I like to keep my bathrooms and kitchen clean. Wiping them down daily insures a guest won’t find any surprises. Make the beds every morning. Do a load of laundry a day. My problem is the floors and dusting!
I’m not the best housekeeper in the world but I try…I have so many other things I want to do!
What’s my biggest frustration with keeping my house clean. Well really what’s my biggest frustration in the world. I’ve got one word for you LAUNDRY! Laundry, laundry, laundry. Ok maybe more than one word, and not the biggest problem in the world just in my house. I’m thinking of making the kids wear uniforms or all black. Then it would be simpler.
I have been flying with flylady a little under a year as well and I now love how my home apears. Keep flying!!
Great advice to repeat! I think it’s automatic for some of us to want to make cleaning/tidying complex. As you mentioned re: systems — we think we must have astute methods and charts. And for a lot of us (or me, anyway), it means setting oneself up for disappointment and failure (and then crumpling up the charts).
Something that’s helped my mindset is on my first-ever retreat a couple weeks ago, a sign in the cottage stated “We invite you to co-minister with us. …” And it asked if we would tidy/clean AND pray for the next guest(s). It sure gave cleaning a new and better spin! Cleaning with a higher purpose! So I’m striving to think of cleaning my own turf with that in mind: Praying for my hubby and our little boy … and also praying for visitors/friends/family who come by — and remembering that when the door bell rings unexpectedly, I am a more relaxed “host” when we’re sitting in a tidy space! It may sound silly, but assigning some “sacredness” to chores truly can help my attitude. (Not to say that my house is in total order. Still working on that one.)
I love your four basic routines! Your words about cleaning up the kitchen at night was a good reminder, as I have somewhat dropped that idea lately resulting in frustrating mornings. Being a mother of four busy children, I have had to find simple ways to keep life in order while still maintaining relationships as priority. One idea I adopted last spring was to work each day on my home as if company were coming in thirty minutes! This allowed my scattered brain to focus and get a lot done in a small amount of time.
Thanks for your thoughts!
If housekeeping gets behind here, I take out the garbage and recycling and then change the sheets. Go to bed and tackle in the morning… because sometimes after a busy week just this little start helps on Friday night when everything is a mess and I am overwhelmed.
Hi Melissa,
I basically follow the same rules as yours! It does work. The house isn’t perfect but I don’t have time for perfect and have had to accept that long ago!
But as the kids get older, they help out more.
I find the summer a great time for getting much needed help around the house. I give each of my kids a little list a few days a week. No nagging for me and they love to cross things off.
Hope you are getting back to normal!
I love this post. It was so freeing to hear someone else who has a few simple things they do each day to keep their house clean. I realized I get too wrapped up in creating a complicated daily schedule that I just can’t keep up with. As I read what you wrote, I realized that I already do all those things, and our house is just fine! I love what someone commented about her house being clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy. That is so great! Thanks for the insight into your cleaning routine. It was so refreshing and encouraging!
So happy to have found your wonderful site! LOVE this post…. Especially since we’ve just moved into our new home. PS ~ looking forward to Fall right along with you.
I love your routine! I think I will start to follow it, I’ve been doing the sink thing for a little while already, I love clean sinks! and I try to make my kitchen clean for morning, it really does make mornings so much brighter just having it clean already
I am the same way. I am always an octopus-with 4 kids and home schooling 2 of them but we get it all done and no one has missed a meal.
Sorry-I’ve been out of commission — terribly sick for over a week– but do you want to know how I cut my grocery bill in half? go to Cut your grocery bills now plus I have a give a way and a new MckLinky party starting Monday
Cheri
Its So Very Cheri
I am a little bit of a task master with my self and others. The kitchen needs always to be immaculate, so I clean as I go, and it helps that the dishwashers is always emptied right away. The beds and rooms are tidied each morning, sinks wiped down after we get ready in the morning. The vacuum gets runs every other day just before I take a shower, and the rest of the cleaning is done, as you note, in frenzied states, on the opposite days at about 10 minutes morning and evening. We have two tiny girls and two shedding dogs – believe me when I tell you, we cannot afford to miss a day!
Wow, do I agree with the lady who sai she didn’t feel up to cleaning the kitchen after dinner!! When my husband gets home from work, our evening flies by. By the time we get the kids into bed, I don’t want to stand back up! I’ve got to get better though & I guess some of that comes from being prepared for dinner so you don’t make such a mess of the kitchen to begin with. Great ideas–I’m going to focus more on these things & see what happens!
How old are your kids? Maybe they can do the kitchen, or at least part of it. My oldest two are just 12 and 8, but they store up leftovers, clear the dishes and wipe the table, and wash whatever dishes are in the sink (handwash)> They leave the pots and pans for me. I usually fill those with soapy water and leave them over night and wash them up the next morning.
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Gotta love FlyLady! I don’t do all of hers, but what I do really works!
I would have guessed you were a Flylady fan from the way you said you get dressed right down to your shoes! I’ve been a fan for years, since the day I realised I would soon be lving with CHAOS (can’t have anyone over syndrome.)