how to keep your home clean and tidy
As a homemaker keeping a clean and tidy home is a daily struggle. Feeling like housework is just piling up with no end in sight. The best days are those where we can smoothly move from task to task without the overwhelm of our home. As homemakers we are responsible for keeping our homes clean and tidy. With these 5 daily habits for a clean and tidy home we can conquer the insurmountable tasks and focus on what truly matters.
Why is it important to keep our homes neat and clean?
In today’s mommy culture there are so many excuses for our homes. Being a mother is hard, the kids, the schedules and the unpredictable moments. The term ‘hot mess’ is mentioned all to often. It is not to say that these aren’t realities and I can definitely identify with moments and seasons of disorganization, chaos. However, we do have the opportunity to buck the trend if not for our own sanity but for those that we care most for, our families.
Ladies hear me out, I am not sitting her in this perfectly tidy home telling you how to live your life. But I do come from a place of frustration, disappointment and overwhelm that I let happen. Days where I spent way to long on my phone or booked in way to many activities for the week. These tips for keeping a clean and tidy home come from a lived experience and learning from mother’s who have gone before us!
How to keep a tidy house
Ok, ok I know you want me to just get into it already what’s the secret? How do I keep a clean and organized home all….the…time?? Guess what I don’t but I do know that by adopting these 5 daily habits for a clean and tidy home I can manage my home in a calm, peaceful way modelling to my children the peace and joy of Christ!
So before I get into all the doing lets do a quick heart check.
- Do I model Christ in how I look after my home?
- Does my attitude reflect the peace and joy of Christ to my family?
- Do I allow distractions, excuses or other people impact on how I keep my home?
My answer to the above questions can often be yes.
BUT I know I am growing and learning, I have the opportunity to change. These tips I am sharing are reflection of my daily struggle to keep my home and I hope they can help and encourage you too!
5 Daily habits for a clean and tidy home
Here are 5 practical and simple habits to keep your home clean and tidy everyday!
1. Do one load of laundry everyday
Easy right! Mount foldamore be gone! Just one load of laundry load, drying folding and ironing all in one day.
By doing just one load of laundry everyday you keep on top of your laundry all the time. In fact, you may even enjoy doing laundry. I know, shocker right! Laundry is one of those things that can pile up in the blink of an eye if you are not careful. Take my word for it as a cloth nappy Mom!
This tip comes from so many women my Mom included who have years and years of experience looking after their homes.
We also have these amazing things called washing machines that do our laundry for us! We can even put the load in the night before, set the delay start timer, and have it ready to hang when we get up.
HOt tips for keeping on top of laundry
- Delay start your washing machine to wash first thing and be ready for you to hang when you get up.
- Folding and ironing while listening to a podcast is a great way to enjoy this daily task. How do you make laundry fun?
- I remember my aunty would get all the kids to pair socks for her. Easy way to speed up the folding whilst getting the kids involved too.
- Fold your clothes on your bed so you can’t get in until its done and put away for the night.
2. The Home reset
I feel like I could write a whole blog post on this topic…. maybe I will.
The home reset is both a mentality and a daily practice of tidying the house so everything is back in its place before bed. Why reset. We are kickstarting tomorrow by tidying our home the night before. Some people choose to do this first thing in the morning but I love a slow morning in a clean space!
Not only will a tidy home before bed kickstart your tomorrow it will definitely help you to sleep more soundly!
Include mini resets throughout the day to reduce the load of the nighttime tidy up.
This makes more chaotic periods of the day like dinner time run smoothly! For my season in life this looks like:
- after breakfast,
- when the kids are down for their nap
- around 4-5pm before my husband comes home from work.
These are 5-10min clean and tidy of high traffic areas.
Before going out for errands or activities try resetting your home so you come back to a clean and organized space.
Why HOme Reset?
Having a tidy space also means tidy mind. When my husband comes home from work and I am in a chaotic mess I am much less present with him. I forget to ask him about his day, a kiss on the cheek and barely look up to greet him as he comes through the door. When I am on top of the mess I can be much more present with my children and husband during the day.
3. Pick Focus Areas to keep clean and tidy
Focus areas in your home are specific zones that are almost always tidy. You put in extra effort to maintain these spaces. Choosing 3 spots in your home helps create a sense of control, peace and limits the mess that often is seen tracked around the home when you have children underfoot.
For me 3 key areas include our master bedroom, the bathroom and kids bedrooms. These spaces rarely take more than 5 minutes to tidy up and are places I limit my children from playing in. When I make my bed in the morning I set my tone for the day and immediately feel productive.
What three focus areas will you choose to keep your home clean and tidy?
4. Clean and tidy HOme Helpers
In my home I have a few items and gadgets on hand to help with spot cleaning. They are stored in my kitchen and accessible at all times. These items include a natural multipurpose spray to catch all surfaces and act as a quick glass cleaner too. This spray is used to clean up sticky messes, wipe down toys or appliances and clean countertops and glass. My Dust pan and broom is hanging nearby ready to go.
I also keep my Kobold handheld vacuum handy at all times to clean up after lunch crumbs, kitchen dirt and the occasional sandbox explosion off the floor. This little machine picks up large pieces up to the size of a popcorn and small granules of sand. Such a handy little tool to help with spot cleaning throughout the day. Check out the handheld vacuum via this link
Lastly, I keep my household cleaners in a little caddy that I can easily pull out and use around the house as I clean. It keeps things ready to go and saves trying to carry 5 different bottles/cloths into each space.
Tidy home helpers in my home:
- Dust pan and broom
- Stick Vacuum
- Handheld Mini Vacuum
- Spray and wipe cleaners
- Multipurpose Cleaning cloths
5. Keeping a Clean and Tidy HOme Starts with Making your Bed
There I said it. 99% of the time by just having made my bed I end the day more productive than if I leave it messy. Its so much more than having a made bed. Its an attitude of productivity.
Author Charles Duhigg writes in his book The Power of Habit: “Making your bed every morning is correlated with better productivity, a greater sense of well-being, and stronger skills at sticking with a budget. It’s not that a family meal or a tidy bed causes better grades or less frivolous spending. But somehow those initial shifts start chain reactions that help other good habits take hold.”
By making our bed each morning we are shifting from night into the day, we are setting the tone of momentum to move into the tasks of our day. Its one simple task. Its a simple habit, but some claim it can change your life.
Whose up for a challenge? Let’s see if we can make our beds each morning first thing for the next 30days. At the end of the 30 days check your productivity. How did you feel each day after making your bed?
Share your progress
Share your daily habits for a more clean and tidy home with us below. Set yourself a goal of persisting with these tasks for 30 days. Share your progress with us!
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