QUICK WAYS TO TIDY YOUR HOME
Looking for some quick ways to tidy your home, keep it clean and clutter-free? Check out this post for 12 ways to reset your home. Keep your home running smoothly and find more time for doing other things!
There’s a free Setting up Routines toolkit for you to download to help you set up routines for housework and generally getting more organised around the home.
WHY YOUR HOME IS WORKING HARD FOR YOU
Our homes work hard for us. If you’ve got a busy family and/or a busy life, the chances are that your home isn’t always the calm, inviting space you’d like it to be.
From toys to dirty mugs, stacks of paper from school and work to half-sorted laundry, crumbs to half-finished art projects, dirty trainers to empty dishes, there’s always some form of stuff or mess that works its way through or builds up around the home during the course of the day.
The last thing I feel like doing in the evening is spending my precious free time tidying, cleaning and sorting. Yet, it stresses me out if I leave it all until tomorrow to sort out. I dread going downstairs in the morning knowing that I’ve got the remains of yesterday to clear up… oh, and then I’ve still got today to get through!
I’m a firm believer in getting my kids and husband to help with chores and I do delegate what I can. As I remind them frequently, I’m not the only one making a mess so why should I be the only one to clean and tidy it up?!
However, I also have a trick for keeping my home clean, tidy and clutter-free (well, mostly) which means it never really gets the chance to get out of hand. It’s also a useful trick when a friend phones to say they’re popping over in 10 minutes and I want to look like I’ve got it all together!
The trick is really simple, it’s a quick reset of my home, once or twice a day!
QUICK WAYS TO TIDY YOUR HOME
Here are my ideas for quick ways to tidy your home.
Do them each evening before you sit down to relax (and before lunch if your home needs it!). They’ll help keep your home clutter-free, neat and tidy without you having to spend hours getting it this way!
It’s a simple and easy routine that I follow every day and I can rest easy at night knowing my home is ready and prepared for whatever tomorrow brings!
- Do a quick whip round with a laundry basket – Gather up anything that’s in the wrong room or wrong place and return it to its proper home. Dirty mugs to the kitchen, toys on the floor to the toy box/playroom.
- Check the floors and stairs – All the floors should be clear. Nothing on the stairs, no toys on the floor, nothing to trip over or stub your foot on. The stairs are not shelves!
- Floors – Straighten the rugs and give the most used areas of floor a quick mop, hoover or wipe over (think under the table where you eat, the entrance way if you’ve got muddy boots, the living room if your baby’s crawling around).
- Plump and straighten cushions – Rooms always look better without squished cushions hanging off the back of the sofa!
- Dirty crockery, glasses, cutlery – Give used plates a quick wash, dry them and put them away or load them into the dishwasher to finish before bed time.
- Kitchen counters – Clear the counters and wipe down with spray and a clean cloth.
- Bathrooms – Wipe the surfaces with a baby wipe or cloth and spray. Straighten the towels, make sure there’s toilet roll and soap.
- Paperwork – Sort through today’s post, letters from school etc. Throw the junk, action what you can or put it in a pile to deal with tomorrow. File the rest.
- Tabletops – Clear the surfaces of any random clutter. If you do this daily there shouldn’t be an opportunity for it to build up. Only keep what you love to look at/really need. Deal with the rest.
- Laundry – Put a load on as often as your household needs. I do a wash daily so I don’t get a build-up and my family always has clean clothes. This way we don’t need so many clothes either!
And if you’re doing this reset in the evening…
- Put the cereal bowls out for breakfast
- Get the coffee pot ready for when you need it first thing in the morning!
KEEPING YOUR HOME CLUTTER-FREE
Once you get into the rhythm, this daily reset shouldn’t take long at all, maybe 10 to 15 minutes at the most. Even less if you’re keeping on top of the clutter and dirt on a daily basis as it never really gets a chance to build-up.
Keeping your home clean, tidy and clutter-free doesn’t have to take lots of time or energy. It’s just a question of making it part of your daily routine.
I know I certainly feel more at peace when I get to bedtime knowing that my home is ready for me in the morning.
Here are some other resources which you might find helpful:
- 10 simple daily household routines – As well as a quick reset, this post will help you find ways of making it generally easier to manage your home. We look at how you can set up some regular routines, such as cleaning, laundry and dishes, so that they’re done little and often.
- Quick declutter projects for your home – Decluttering your home is one of the best ways of helping you keep things tidier, organised and more streamlined. Putting it simply, when you’ve got less stuff then there’s less to move, tidy, clear and clean. These declutter projects will help you clear the clutter even if you’ve only got ten minutes or so to spare.
- How to create a simple evening routine – Resetting my home is part of my evening routine. You could say I put my home to bed like I put myself or my kids to bed! It’s a routine that marks the end of my day, calms me down and prepares me for a good night’s sleep.
- 10 simple living tips for less stress and more time – Resetting your home, setting up flexible routines for your home and yourself are all part of helping you to make your life simpler and hopefully easier. This post will give you some other tips to simplify different areas of your life. I hope they help!
YOUR NEXT STEP…
I hope you found these quick ways to tidy your home helpful. I think most of us prefer a tidier home and maybe even a calmer one at that. After a busy day at work, a busy day with the kids, or a mix of both, our homes are our sanctuary from the world! We make them into extensions and expressions of ourselves. They can be quirky, colourful, neutral, open, cosy. There are as many different styles as there are people.
We also use our homes for a variety of purposes – to have fun, relax, entertain, play, hide away, recharge, eat, watch TV, play games, sleep…
Our home should be a space that rejuvenates and protects us, definitely not one that saps our energy or time. You’ve got other things to be doing with those instead!
As Marie Kondo says “Life truly begins only after you have put your house in order”!
Clearing the clutter has so many benefits and is the first step to freeing you up for other things. If you’d like to learn more about decluttering or simplifying your home then check out my free declutter challenge.
