5 Ways to Keep Your House Looking Clean

I would like to preface this post by saying that I DO NOT like to clean. It’s a necessary part of adulting that I’ve been trying to avoid. Since it’s the new year, I’ve been doing more decluttering and cleaning than usual.

I’m really great at making things ‘look clean’ – because I stash everything in a closet or drawer, but I also have a few sneaky tips and tricks that I’m sharing with you today:

 

1. Double Up

Get yourself TWO of every cleaning product and create two cleaning caddies to stash in your house. I keep one in my upstairs bathroom and one under the sink in my kitchen. Not having to run up and down the stairs or from room to room for your cleaning products saves time and won’t give you an excuse not to clean something. Trust me – I have EVERY excuse.

While you’re at it, stash a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner and a toilet brush in every bathroom. In my cleaning kit you’ll find glass cleaner, antibacterial counter wipes, sponges, microfibre cloths, paper towels and comet. I use a cleaning caddy like this one.

 

2. Left to Right

The only way I can make sure I get to everything is that I only clean one room at a time and I clean left to right. Dust all surfaces first and let it fall to the ground. Do your windows, glass, countertops and then vacuum the whole thing up. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a Dyson, go with this vacuum which comes highly recommended + reviewed and cost us only $100 – it does the job.

 

3. Quick Tidy at Night

The only way I have sanity in the morning is when I actually do a quick tidy at night. I work from home, so having a disorganized space can be really distracting. I try to wash dishes, empty the sink and run the dishwasher before bed. I put everything away that needs to go somewhere, straighten out the pillows, put my shoes & coat away – so I don’t wake up to a mess. #Adulting.

 

4. Put Stuff Away As You Go

Get in the habit of putting stuff away as you go. I’m guilty of leaving my shoes at the door and my coat on the hall bench. But just taking those extra 5 minutes when you walk in will make your place ‘look clean’. I also sort mail as soon as I bring it into the house so it doesn’t pile up. Having said that – I only check my mail twice a week so I don’t have to sort that stuff everyday.

 

5. Give Everything a Home – Preferrably behind a door or in a drawer. You can’t put stuff away if you don’t know where it goes, so give every item a home. If you don’t where to put it – maybe it’s something you don’t need? I’m a minimalist, so I don’t like to displaying a lot of stuff and keep everything tucked away if I can. I ordered this shoe rack online and it’s a lifesaver for decluttering our closets, plus it was $24!

 

How To Hire Someone:

Worst case? Hire someone to come clean your place. Find out what it would cost to bring one person in for three hours to do the deep cleaning that no one really enjoys doing. If you can keep the rest of your place looking clean, you can get someone to do the big stuff like: clean the microwave, the inside of the oven, the inside of the fridge, your cupboard shelves, your baseboards, the bathtub and bathroom, the walls etc.

I can’t do it all. I have a person that comes in once a month for about 5 hours and it is a lifesaver!!! Paul and I work really hard all week and the one thing we love to fight about? Who is cleaning what! So having someone come in is like sacrificing a pair of shoes or a fancy dinner out every month, but to me – that’s worth it.

Ask your friends and family for a referral of someone they know, have used and trust.

 

Do you have a trick on how-to keep your house looking clean?

 

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