Maintaining a clean home

While I sometimes like doing organizational projects around the house, I HATE the daily cleaning. Chores like doing dishes and folding laundry drive me crazy. I have learned that what's worse than chores is letting them build up and then having to take hours to catch up just to get the home looking semi-nice again. I've put together a couple of tips for maintaining a clean home so that you can make your home a no stress zone to relax.

1. Make your bed! Every morning, even when you're not up for it. make your bed. It doesn't have to be perfect but trust me, this will transform the entire look of your room and inspire you to stay motivated throughout the day. I find on days I don't make my bed that I have a harder time being inspired for the rest of the day.

2. Do a 15 minute cleanup every morning or evening. It doesn't even have to be a full 15 minutes but just set aside a few minutes at a convenient time for you so that you can pick up any of place things around the house. Since I am a morning person, I like to do this in the morning before I settle down to eat breakfast or drink coffee. I just make sure nothing on the floor, table, counter or any other surface is there that shouldn't be there.

3. Keep an empty sink! This is similar to making the bed every morning for me, if I have dirty dishes in the sink, it tends to keep me unmotivated and procrastinate even longer. If you have a dishwasher, set the dishwasher to wash nightly so that in the morning dishes are clean and ready to use/unload. That way throughout the day as you use dishes and utensils, you can load them right in the dishwasher afterwards. If you don't have a dishwasher the principle remains the same, just wash as you use so that you don't get a huge buildup of dishes. One more thing...never trick yourself into letting a dish "soak..." we all know that's just a way to avoid doing it until later. LOL

4. Sweep and/or vacuum daily. I always get surprised at just how much dirt or crumbs I find on the floor each time I sweep or vacuum. Maybe each evening, or another time most convenient to you, take a few minutes to sweep and/or vacuum every area of your home so that dirt can't build up and you'll never have to deal with that gross feeling of stepping in crumbs with bare feet!

5. Whenever you start a load of laundry, see it through that same day. I mentioned earlier that folding laundry is the chore I hate the most. I have no problem putting laundry in the washing machine to wash, but when it comes to folding I put it off and tell myself I'll do it later. And then it tends to build up leaving a mountain of laundry that I say I'll do later. I have learned the best way to combat this is to fold the laundry immediately when the dryer stops. Wash one load, dry the clothes, and fold and put away all in the same day.

6. Set aside a day for a more deep cleaning. Set aside a day for the deep cleaning chores like mopping, dusting, cleaning windows and mirrors, and cleaning the bathroom. One method is a day for each like always mopping on Monday and bathroom cleaning on Wednesday, or you could just do it all in one day. Don't forget to wash sheets too!

These are just a few tips to maintain a clean home so that your home never has the chance to get so dirty that it takes you hours on end to clean it. By cleaning up as you go, it will keep your home looking sparkly clean so you can actually enjoy your space. Making these small changes make a big difference. You'll find you never have to worry if an unexpected guest arrives too!

I appreciate you taking time to read this. If you liked what you read please take a moment to like and share with friends and family. Also be sure to check out my profile to see more topics I've written on and if you're feeling generous my tips are always open. Thank you!