Mothers since the beginning of time have been using one trick to keep their houses clean. They do little things throughout the day to help prevent big cleans from being needed.
Here are some daily tidy up activities to keep your house in order. Don’t panic though, you don’t need to do every one of these every day, some of these should be done every single day, but target getting two or three of these done each day. If you can do that, you’ll be shocked how much cleaner your space becomes!
Make Your Bed
Start each morning as you mean to continue the day by making your bed. Having your bed made is such a small thing but it really makes a big difference when it comes to how tidy your room feels. Doing it right away is pretty much the only way to guarantee that it will get done. Though it’s actually best to let your bed breathe a little bit before you put the covers on. This will allow any sweat and oils that have come off your skin to dry out and making it a less friendly environment for bacteria.
Wipe Down Sinks and Showers
After you’ve finished using a sink or taking a shower wipe them down with a dry towel. This will help prevent water spots and help get the moisture out of the air so mold is less likely to build up. This means that you have to do deep cleaning less often in the kitchen and bathroom and these rooms will feel the effects of age more slowly, meaning you don’t have to remodel as often.
Never Leave a Room Empty Handed
When you get up to leave a room grab something that doesn’t belong there and put it where it belongs. By taking just one thing with you, not only are you slowly chipping away at any messes that have developed you’re preventing new ones from forming. You can make it easier on yourself and your family by taking something that belongs in the room you’re going to. Headed to the bathroom? Take some towels. Going to the kitchen? Take your coffee cup.
Clean While You Cook
Clean off your cooking spaces as you finish using them. Give the microwave a quick wipe as well as the cutting board you use. When you clean up as you cook you’ll have fewer dishes to take care of once you’re finished eating your meal and you’ll never find yourself in a position where you want to use a particular pan but you have to wash it first.
Put Things Away
Everything should have a home and everything should be placed in its home when it isn’t being used. Not only does this work great for making sure your keys never go missing but it’s also a great way to make sure that kids put their toys away without having them collect in random rooms of your house.
Do the Laundry
By doing a load of laundry not only are you making sure that you always have something to wear you’re also helping keep your house tidy. But, it isn’t enough just to do the laundry, once it’s dry you also need to put it away. One way to share that responsibility is to divide folded clothes into piles based on who they belong to and ask them to put their own clothes away.
Sweep/Vacuum High Traffic Areas
Identify the high traffic areas in your house. This might be the path from your garage to the living room or even from your back door. Wherever you find gets a lot of traffic and as a result, a lot of dirt. Once you’ve worked out where this trouble spot is, and there may be more than one, vacuum it or sweep it every day. This will keep dirt from tracking into the rest of your house quite so much.
Do the Dishes
If you aren’t already in the habit of doing dishes on a daily basis you should be! This is possibly the biggest thing that will change the way your house runs. If you have a dishwasher then make it a habit to put things into the dishwasher as soon as you’re done using them. Then when the machine is full, add your cleaner of choice and close the door.
Pick Up Toys
You’d be surprised how quickly toys can clutter up a room. Not too mention, stepping on them is never fun. Take a few minutes each day to pick up any loose toys and return them to their home.
Do a 15 Minute Nightly Cleaning Session
Just as you started the day by making your bed finish the day with a quick 15-minute cleaning session that involves the whole family. Put 15 minutes on the clock and assign everyone a space to clean up. These should be the areas that end up getting messy the fastest like coffee tables, kids bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in just 15 minutes. When it’s done you can go to bed with the peace of mind that there’s less cleaning to do tomorrow.
I’m a freelance writer with a passion for home organization and home decor! I’ve written extensively about the best ways to make your house truly feel like home.