After becoming a mom, I have realized how much harder it is to keep a clean home with little ones running around. Especially when they are constantly in need of your attention and you only have a couple of hours in the day to do housework. I feel like I have finally figured out a way to keep our house clean, with small habits and things I do every day so that I do not get overwhelmed with things piling up.
Now, I do not want to come off as the mom who has it all together and whose house is always in perfect condition. We live in a pretty small space and it can get cluttered REALLY quickly!
Also, since we do not have a playroom, my toddler plays in the living room (we keep his toys there) and if you were to come and see my house in the middle of the day it would look messy with everything out (he also likes to take everything out of the cupboards). However, these are my tips to make tidying up easy and quick so that you can have a clean home every day (even if it is in the evening when the kids go to bed).
Every Item Must Have a Home
This is my number one tip for having an easy-to-clean-home. We had to get creative with this since we live in a small space of just over 1,000 square ft, but that is where baskets and organizers came in handy. It also helps to not buy as much “stuff” which will save you money too!
Instead of throwing keys and other random things on the console table get a cute small décor basket that looks like it was meant to be there and put your keys inside.
Create a Simple Daily Cleaning Routine
Creating a cleaning routine that you do every day will really help the messes from piling up from one day to another. It really helps me to wake up with a fresh mind and in a better headspace when I come to make breakfast in a clean kitchen!
Creating a simple cleaning routine may look very different for you because it should suit your schedule and lifestyle. For me it looks a little like this:
- Wake Up: do my bed, wipe the bathroom counter after washing up, and empty out the dishwasher before breakfast.
- After Breakfast: load dishes in the dishwasher and then wipe counters.
- Caleb’s Naptime: put away toys and do one load of laundry.
- Evening: Clean counters after dinner, finish loading dishwasher, tidy up the living room and kitchen, vacuum and wash floors in high traffic areas, wipe bathroom counters (and mirrors), and speed clean one area.
Put Items In Their Place Right Away
When you are in a hurry or distracted with other things, you may be tempted to just drop things off on the counter, or your coat on the chair. Or you may change and just leave your clothes on the floor. However, it really ends up saving you A LOT OF TIME to just put things away “in their home” right away.
I started getting in the habit of doing this after we moved into our little house. With just a few things out, it can start feeling cluttered fast. And when my house is cluttered, my mind is cluttered too. Now I never have a big pile of clothes in the corner of the room to fold and put away, so cleaning my room takes about 5 minutes. It just really makes cleaning easy and fast.
Use a Basket to Return Things Upstairs
This tip goes along with putting things in their place right away. For example, if you come into the house and you don’t have the time to go up the stairs to put something away, having a basket for things that “live” upstairs really helps. Instead of a pile of stuff next to the stairs, all you see is a nice basket and you can just take all the things up at the end of the day.
One Load of Laundry a Day
Laundry is not something I enjoy doing. And if I had it all piled up, I would be really overwhelmed and not look forward to the day I have to get it all done. Plus, my laundry room is pretty small so having laundry pile up would make it look disastrous.
That is why I incorporate laundry into every day and just do one load a day (wash, dry, and fold). Honestly, it’s just a routine for me now and one load does not take much time to fold. It may seem like it would be annoying to do every day, but trust me, it’s sooo nice to have my laundry room always neat and never be overwhelmed by it!
If It Takes 5 Minutes or Less to Clean, Clean It Now
This is another reason why my house always stays clean. If I see something that would take me just five minutes to clean, I will just clean it then and there. For example, if I am putting on makeup and notice my mirror is dirty, I will just clean it. Or if I see that dust is piling on the window sills I will go around quickly and wipe the window sills. Or if a drawer is dirty and needs to be de-cluttered, and it would take me just a few minutes to do, I will just do it.
With a toddler constantly in need of my attention, I don’t really have the time to dedicate several hours to clean everything in one day. Doing this really helps my house from ever getting really messy.
Clean-Up While Making Meals
By the time a meal is finished cooking, I am also usually done cleaning after all the prep. I clean on the go, so while I am waiting for water to boil, I will put away the extra produce and other things I used away in the fridge or cupboards. Then while waiting for things to cook, I will wash any cutting boards or utensils I have used or put them away in the dishwasher. By the time the meal is done, I will also have the counters wiped so that the kitchen is clean.
This tip really makes dinner much more enjoyable for me, because I am not thinking about all the cleaning I will have to do after everyone is done eating.
Clean Before Sitting Down
This applies to any time of the day when you have something to clean or tidy up. Do it before sitting down because once you do, it will be a lot harder to get yourself to do the task. In my daily routine, I clean after putting my toddler down for bedtime, and I try to get it all done before I sit down and relax because once I do, the chances of me just putting it off for the next day are very high. That is why it is best to just do it and then relax after.
Pick a Neglected Area to Speed Clean
Even if you do have a daily cleaning routine, some areas can still get neglected because we just can’t do it all. For me, this is sometimes the coat closet. It is just out of sight and not something I clean every day so with all the shoes and coats, it can get a little disorderly.
I like to pick an area to speed clean every other day or every couple of days. I will put my timer on for 25 minutes as much as I can in that time. You will be surprised at how much you can clean in 25 minutes!! This really helps if you have a larger house since you won’t be able to clean everything every day. Also, this way things never get overwhelmingly messy in my house, and it stays clean.
It may seem like a lot to always keep a house clean but honestly, I never feel overwhelmed and like I have a lot of cleaning to do. Creating these habits just lets me do it on the go and incorporates it into my daily schedule. Doing this really helps my mental space too!
I do want to say that during some seasons of motherhood (postpartum for me), things don’t get done as efficiently and that’s perfectly okay. Setting your priorities is important and if having a clean house is just not one of them, that’s okay too! It does not mean you are a bad mom or homemaker by any means!
