Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog if you’re new here welcome my name is Melissa, yes I write articles on cleaning organizing all that good stuff so today’s article is going to be my top tips and hacks on how to keep a clean and tidy home something that is really near and dear to my heart I spent practically the last five years decluttering and organizing my home and it’s at a point now where it is so simple and easy to maintain a clean and tidy home and I just wanted to share some of my tips with you. I know you’re gonna find a lot of inspiration and motivation from this article so let’s get started straight into the article.
So today I wanted to share with you my top ten habits for keeping a clean and tidy home these are actual habits that have worked for me to help me maintain a home that is clean and tidy on a daily basis that is the key here these are things that I implement on a daily basis so it never gets to that point where it desperately needs cleaning this article has a ton of information so be sure to read right to the end and you might want to favorite it because you’ll want to come back and revisit this article to make sure you implement all these tips into your daily cleaning routine.
The absolute number one habit that I highly highly recommend to achieve a clean and tidy home is to have less stuff declutter and purge absolutely anything and everything from your life that doesn’t add value the easiest way by far that I have found to declutter quickly is to ask myself one simple question and that is would I buy this item again if the answer is yes then obviously I’ll keep it but if the answer is no then I give myself three options I’ll sell donate or discard the item, for me if I can sell an item for Aed 50 or more and I’m reasonably sure it’s gonna sell quickly and hassle-free then I’ll go ahead and I’ll take the time to take pictures write an ad and list it and I’ll usually do this on either Facebook marketplace or Dubizzle, so I have a safe to add template that lists all my standard details that I’d include on any ad saved in my iPhone which makes listing items for sale so easy if items are broken or unusable then I’ll recycle wherever possible and then discard the rubbish so I like to keep a plastic bin for charity drop-offs in the boot of my car that I can add to whenever I have items to donate whenever it gets full or if I’m already passing by the charity collection store I will stop in and drop off whatever I have in the past seven years I’ve downsized from a five bedroom two-car garage home to a two-bedroom apartment with no garage and no storage decluttering and downsizing my material belongings has honestly been one of the best things I’ve done in my life a life without a ton of useless clutter is so much simpler it’s simpler to find things I need to decide what to wear it’s simple to keep my space clean and tidy because there’s less stuff to have to keep clean and tidy to me the saying less is more doesn’t even cut it to me less is everything less mess less stress less time wasted looking for lost things less money spent on rent or mortgages or storage fees to keep all that stuff in less time spent cleaning tidying and organizing useless clutter.
So the next habit for a clean and tidy home is to ensure that you have a place for everything and everything is in its place think about how much time you’ve probably wasted in your life looking for your keys or the remote like a gas bill to pay and then think about how simple it would be to have a designated place for these items to live so you never have to spend another minute searching for everyday items again here’s a simple hint the first place you go to look for a lost item is a good idea of where you should keep it from now on your home can quickly turn into a mess with homeless clutter if an item doesn’t have a permanent place then I would consider if it is something that is truly adding value to your life and either find a permanent home for it or just let it go.
Coming in at habit number three is what I like to call do less more often and what I mean by this is for example instead of letting mess in your home accumulate and pile up by doing a big clean once a week start breaking up your cleaning and tidying into smaller and more regular tasks take ten minutes to do a quick tidy up in the morning before you leave for work or to do a school drop-off try setting an alarm on your phone for ten minutes before you have to leave and make sure everyone helps out and you will be surprised by how much you can get done in ten minutes do the same each night before going to bed it’s a great chance to put away throw blankets and straighten the cushions and make sure the remote is back in its home I used to do all my cleaning chores once a week on Saturday and I honestly felt resentful that cleaning the house was taking up half of my precious free time that I could otherwise be spending with my family doing something I love now I have eyebrows working too five to -minute cleaning routines and complete one each day before or after work the other part of this habit is that I do things whether they seem to need doing or not that way nothing ever builds up to the point where it’s so desperately in need of doing that it’s overwhelming and off-putting to actually clean your home.
Habit number four is one of my favorites and that is to have quick and easy daily routines daily routines are a great way to keep on top of the cleaning and tying in your home the best way to start the day is the night before and setting myself up for a stress-free morning is to have a quick evening routine that covers three things dishes counters and floors it only takes a few minutes especially if you implement the other habits like clean as you go I always make sure the dishes are cleaned up and stacked in the dishwasher the counters are clear and wipe down and the floors are given a quick spot clean I’m telling you nothing makes you feel more like you are winning at adulting than waking up to a clean kitchen and the more often you do it the easier it becomes.
Habit four is an oldie but a goodie and that is to clean as you go I picked this one up from years of working in hospitality in my 20’s and then later I’m working in training in food safety it’s a no-brainer when you’re doing any task that especially when you’re cooking in the kitchen make sure you take the time to clean as you go put the dishes you use to prepare foods straight into the dishwasher put your garbage and scraps either straight into the bin or keep a small container to drop rubbish into as you’re cooking fill up the sink with some soapy water if you don’t have a dishwasher and quickly wash things up as you use them if you practice this simple habit of clean as you go you will never have to come back to a messy kitchen when you’re done eating.
Habit six sounds easy but it actually takes some time to become second nature and that is don’t put it down put it away it honestly takes 20 seconds or less to put something away in the right place the first time than to dump it on the first free surface you find then to move it when you need that space and then to have it to move it again and again until you finally put it away by this time you’ve spent five times longer and gotten five times more frustrated by continually moving it then if you’ve just taken the time to put it away in the first place if you have a crazy complicated storage and organization system then chances are when it comes to putting things away you’ll be like stuff that project too hard not doing it keep it simple with open bins and baskets that allow quick and easy access for putting things away if something takes a longer to put away for example if you have a two-story house keep a designated basket to collect things and spend five minutes once or twice a day just putting all these things away.
Habit or tip seven is to keep it simple whether it’s your storage system routines or the things you have in your house keeping things simple is the key to your success a great tip to get this habit going is to make it super simple to actually put things away books are an easy and inexpensive way to keep your space organized and when things are easy there are a thousand times more likely to be done I used to have a cupboard full of bath towels white bath towels brightly colored bar towels for my kids and dark gray bar tells us and second set it took me three loads of laundry just to wash the towels I switched them all out from the same type of grey towel and now washing towels takes a one-load to wash and dry and they go straight back to the bathroom for use I did the same for my floor mats around my home I had bath mats a kitchen mat and another by the balcony door all mismatched in different colors switching them out to the same time saves time and effort in cleaning and they give my home a cohesive look.
So tip number eight is to make it fun and that is to try and make clean and tidy as fun and engaging as it simply can having all my cleaning supplies neatly organized in an easy and accessible place makes it seem much less of a chore for me to clean I love using household cleaners that look cute smell amazing easy to use having a good vacuum cleaner is another thing I remember having an old hunkajunk vacuum cleaner that had those old-style paper bags that you had to change it always got closed it never runs smoothly and the cord always got stuck when you try to pack it up I love my cordless vacuum cleaner and spray mop for quick and easy spot cleaning also remember to be grateful that I’ve got a home that is filled with beautiful things that I actually get to clean so many people don’t even have that opportunity just a simple change in mindset makes you actually look forward to cleaning try looking at cleaning and tidying is something that you want to do rather than something you have to do.
Habit number nine this is something that I think captures a lot of people are including me and that is to do it till it’s done and I mean like 100 percent done when you’re done with vacuuming the floors empty the vacuum cleaner out and put it away when you fold the laundry the job isn’t done until you actually put those clothes away this is something I used to put off doing until I figured out why I was always putting off putting the clothes away I realized that it was so difficult to put away the clean clothes because our drawers and closets were so overstuffed with clothes and that negative association was preventing me from completely finishing the job I’d always have to stuff things in drawers or cram things in closets it just wasn’t enjoyable quick easy this would end up leaving the house looking messy with piled up laundry stashed everywhere waiting to be put away and more often than not needing to be refolded because my kids or myself had rifled through piles of clean clothes looking for a favorite t-shirt or something to wear by decluttering and purging all that have grown out worn and outdated clothes has left enough space to make putting away clean clothes fast and easy taking out the rubbish is great but it also includes putting a fresh rubbish bin liner in so it’s ready for use the next time take the time to finish off the cleaning tasks including packing everything up and putting everything away when the job is done.
So habit ten and we have come to the end and that is always remember that done is better than perfect this one is a little hard for me especially because I am a diagnosed behavioral perfectionist while I love sayings like if something is worth doing it’s worth doing well and there are two ways of doing something right and again and I believe this is definitely true for some things in I also believe that when it comes to keeping a clean and tidy house sometimes we have to accept that done really is better than perfect I mean you don’t need to sweep vacuum and steam mop your floors every night when a quick spot clean will do the job making your bed every day is a great habit to get into and quickly pulling up the covers and arranging the pillows is far more achievable than spending 20 minutes having military-style Hospital corners trust me a time to myself it took 47 seconds to quickly make my bed this morning putting off cleaning and tidying your home because you think you don’t have the time to do it all perfectly will leave you living in constant chaos if I can wash dry and fold a load of laundry in one go it’s better than having it sit around in a basket for a week waiting until I get the motivation to pull out the iron the ironing board and spend an hour ironing everything I’d rather have it washed folded and put away than sitting around waiting to be finished.
So there we have my top tips and simple habits for a clean and tidy home I promise if you implement these into your day-to-day life you will be well on your way to achieving that Zen state of “I’ve got this my life is clean tidy and under control” I really hope you enjoyed this article and found some motivational and inspirational tips on how you can keep your space clean and tidy if you did please take the time to like this article by hitting that like button.
Thanks again for reading I hope you all have a super amazing day and as always I’ll see you in my next article, bye everyone.
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