This guide aims to help you maintain a clean and serene home, even with kids. It covers 11 daily habits that are simple to follow and can be done by anyone. These habits include finding the right tools, decluttering effectively, and making your home feel fresher.
To keep your home tidy and free from everyday clutter, follow these tips:
- Acknowledge that your life is right.
- Work on your habits.
- Wash dishes after breakfast and dinner.
- Wipe kitchen counters as needed.
- Sweep floors/spot clean as needed.
- Make beds.
- Declutter.
- Clean as you go.
- Control the clutter.
- Schedule to shine.
- Delegate and designate tasks.
- Live with less.
- Set reality rules.
- Do more laundry (clothing only) on Fridays.
- Dust, vacuum, and mop the main living area of the home.
- Have garbage/recycling pick up day.
- Delegate chores.
- Get children involved in the tidying process.
By following these tips, you can create a tidier space that is beneficial for a calmer living environment and one that welcomes positive energy into your home. Remember, keeping a clean house requires time and effort, but with the right mindset and habits, you can achieve a serene state of being in your home.
📹 How to Keep a House Clean When Homeschooling a Large Family
In a large family, everything is MORE! More food to make, more clean up, more stuff. If there is no system or plan for keeping the …
How Do Stay At Home Moms Keep House Clean?
Spending a few minutes daily to declutter can significantly enhance your home's cleanliness. Tidying up items that are out of place and keeping surfaces clutter-free fosters a clean and welcoming space. For stay-at-home moms, maintaining a tidy home hinges on efficiently managing daily chores and crafting a flexible cleaning schedule. This guide aims to help those wanting a clean home without dedicating excessive hours to cleaning.
Finding a balance between cleaning and other responsibilities can be challenging for stay-at-home moms. A super easy cleaning routine can streamline the process, allowing you to maintain cleanliness in under 30 minutes daily. Weekly cleaning schedules can help focus on essential areas, creating space for relaxation and family time. It's like a choose-your-own-adventure—check out the suggested routine to stay motivated!
Implement a cleaning schedule, add a quick 15-minute tidy-up each day, and delegate chores to involve the whole family. Assess cleaning needs, create a task list, and make it a team effort. With a well-thought-out routine, homes can remain organized and clean efficiently. Additionally, free printable cleaning checklists are available to assist in this endeavor.
How To Start Decluttering When Overwhelmed?
8 TIPS TO DECLUTTER WITHOUT FEELING OVERWHELMED
To tackle decluttering effectively, gather the necessary tools and allocate specific time for the task. Begin with visible clutter and small areas to avoid feeling daunted. Focus on everything, staying present in the moment, and let go of any guilt associated with parting with items. Formulate a clear plan for your next steps.
Start by removing items with expiration dates or those you instantly recognize as unnecessary. Establish manageable goals, tackling one room or area at a time and breaking the space into smaller sections. Setting a timer for tasks can make the process less intimidating.
To enhance motivation, consider donating items instead of selling them, and embrace the idea of habit stacking by integrating decluttering into daily routines. Maintain a positive mindset throughout, acknowledging feelings of overwhelm and taking a breath to regroup when needed.
Ultimately, the key to successful decluttering is to make it enjoyable, proactively discard trash, and focus on small victories, paving the way to regaining control over your space. A practical approach with specific, achievable steps will guide you to conquer the clutter in your home.
How Clean Is The Average Family Home?
Recent surveys highlight the time Americans spend cleaning their homes, with the average person dedicating about six hours per week, totaling nearly 300 hours annually. ACI's research indicates that on average, respondents clock eight hours monthly on cleaning, raising concerns for a third of individuals about whether they're cleaning adequately. A significant 78% expressed a desire for deep cleaning, reflecting common cleaning habits across households.
The survey, involving over 2, 600 women, revealed that many deep clean approximately once a year, particularly during spring cleaning, which can take up to six days. In households with two partners, the monthly cleaning time averages about 23 hours and 36 minutes. Regarding daily household chores, women spend around two hours and 42 minutes, while men invest about two hours and 12 minutes. A typical homeowner's annual cleaning and maintenance costs are estimated at $3, 360, leading to questions about what constitutes a normal level of cleanliness. Despite efforts, many only feel their homes are "completely clean" for mere 11 days yearly, underscoring the ongoing battle against clutter and dirt in maintaining a tidy living space.
How Do You Keep Your Family Clean?
Establish a 15-minute nightly clean-up routine with your family to make cleaning feel less daunting. Cleaning is more manageable when everyone participates, so set a timer and focus on top priorities. If tidying up is not your favorite chore, a daily cleaning schedule will help maintain order in your home. Start by creating a systematic cleaning routine to prevent clutter from accumulating, as unchecked mess can overwhelm you. Consider renting a dumpster for effective decluttering.
Regularly declutter to keep your living space manageable. Encouraging your family to help with chores is challenging but essential in a large household. A clean home enhances overall well-being, so use strategies to motivate family involvement. Discuss cleanliness goals as parents and use specific strategies to involve your family in cleaning. Decluttering, rotating toys, setting cleaning schedules, and daily clean-up times can foster collaboration.
Choose eco-friendly cleaning products for safety and sustainability. Incorporate daily habits, such as washing dishes, wiping surfaces, and vacuuming, into your routine to prevent mess from building up. Commit to specific tasks on alternate days and weekends to maintain cleanliness, ensuring that your home remains a welcoming and healthy environment for everyone.
Why Do I Struggle To Keep My House Tidy?
Maintaining a clean home can be challenging due to various factors. One major issue is the lack of organizational systems, leading to accumulated items without a designated place. This is compounded by modern distractions, such as technology and social media, which divert attention from cleaning tasks. Many people also struggle with time management, making it difficult to prioritize cleaning amidst busy schedules. As noted by Vickie Dellaquila from the Institute for Challenging Disorganisation, some individuals are naturally more inclined toward tidiness.
Excess belongings often contribute to the problem, with many feeling overwhelmed by the amount of stuff they possess. It's important to remember that struggling to maintain cleanliness doesn't signify personal failure; it's a common human experience. To mitigate this, an effective strategy is to remove two items from a room each time you exit, fostering a gradual cleaning habit.
Establishing a cleaning routine can significantly help in maintaining tidiness. Without a fixed schedule for various tasks, cleaning becomes overwhelming. Unrealistic expectations regarding cleanliness can also hinder progress. Embracing a practical cleaning standard can alleviate stress. For those dealing with mental health challenges, the lack of energy may further complicate regular cleaning. Ultimately, developing a consistent routine and reducing clutter are vital steps toward achieving a tidy home.
Why Are Some People'S Houses So Messy?
Messiness is a prevalent personality trait, often stemming from various life circumstances. For many, a cluttered home reflects a busy lifestyle, excess belongings, or the presence of young children who are not motivated to clean. While messiness is often perceived negatively, studies reveal that it can also correlate with life stages, personality traits, and mental health issues. Research in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin indicates that cluttered living spaces are associated with higher levels of depressive moods and fatigue, leading to feelings of being stuck.
There are different types of people regarding organization: neat, messy, or those who fall in between. Clutter can trigger stress and anxiety, making it challenging to maintain a clean environment. The persistent messiness some experience may arise from various factors, such as low energy, depression, and feelings of self-doubt. For some, a chaotic environment may feel comforting or reflect misplaced priorities. Messiness, often seen as a sign of laziness, can also indicate deeper issues like mental health conditions.
Eventually, individuals struggling with clutter may find themselves contemplating the reasons for their disorganization and whether it is a habit they can change. Understanding these underlying causes is essential to tackling messiness, highlighting that organization is not an absolute state but rather a fluctuating process influenced by various factors.
How Do Busy People Keep Their House Clean?
To maintain a clean home amidst a busy lifestyle, consider a room-by-room cleaning approach like commercial cleaning services. This method enhances efficiency and provides a sense of accomplishment, as completing a room feels more rewarding than checking off individual tasks. Establish a nightly routine of tidying the kitchen and ensure the bathroom is cleaned weekly. To combat the overwhelming nature of household chores while juggling a full-time job and family, create a structured cleaning schedule.
Dedicate specific days for essential tasks like vacuuming, dusting, and doing laundry, to make them manageable. It’s easier to sustain a clean environment when small cleaning efforts are spread throughout the week rather than saved for weekends.
Implement preventive strategies such as controlling dirt and dust from entering the home, and declutter immediately. Minimal daily tasks, like making the bed and washing dishes, should become habits, while deeper cleaning chores can be scheduled monthly. Focus on high-traffic areas that require regular attention. By adopting these strategies, anyone can keep their home organized and clean, despite a hectic lifestyle. Remember, consistency is key, and breaking down cleaning tasks into more digestible parts can help avoid burnout and sustain motivation.
How Do People Keep Their Homes Tidy?
Establishing a daily cleaning routine is crucial for maintaining a tidy home. Simple tasks—like doing dishes, wiping kitchen surfaces, and a quick sweep—can significantly prevent mess accumulation. Set aside time weekly for thorough cleaning activities such as vacuuming and dusting. One essential habit is making your bed daily, as it sets a tone of orderliness. Immediately cleaning up after oneself is another effective approach to keeping spaces tidy. Incorporate small habits into your routine to see a substantial difference in your home environment.
A clutter-free home is both welcoming and calming. Following daily habits can lead to a tidier space, fostering a positive atmosphere. Professional cleaners suggest that small, consistent tasks, like sweeping or decluttering, make maintaining cleanliness manageable. It's essential to avoid clutter, regularly change air filters, and manage papers efficiently. Key practices include having designated places for items, not procrastinating, and investing in storage solutions.
Setting a timer for cleaning, dedicating 20 minutes a day, and cleaning as you go make the workload feel lighter and more achievable. The secret to a clean home lies in these simple daily habits that prevent future messes.
📹 Large Family Questions – How Do You Keep the House Clean?
This video addresses a common question for large families: how to keep a clean house. The creator shares their personal experience and struggles with maintaining a clean home, emphasizing the importance of family relationships over a spotless house. They then offer practical tips and strategies for keeping a clean home, including chore systems, designated cleaning times, and problem area solutions.
I just wanted to report back that after perusal this article maybe a year ago. Something clicked! I started implementing 1. Hamper 2. ZONES FOR ALL KIDS AND 3. 15 MINUTE TIMERS. 4. 2 loads each day morning and night. My home of 8 people has been transformed! It made a Huge difference in many ways and trickles to success in other spaces! Sometimes sharing what you do helps someone else! Thank you for these tips! They worked for us too! Ill add that a regular decluttering spot and routine for getting clothes that dont fit and toys we dont use out of the house made a difference too!
My kids each have their own laundry basket. They each have an assigned laundry day when they get 1st priority, but it can be done any time. Only their clothes go in the machine; no mixed loads with another person. It is to be folded and put away immediately. If they don’t have clothes or can not find something, my response is, “Not my problem.” My kids have learned responsibility and accountability for their own things. It has taken some of the stress off of me, and we no longer have Mt. St. Washmore. The big kids help the little kids if I am busy. I have a custom cycle button on my machine, so it’s easy to teach the younger kids. My 4 year old began learning how to load & start the machine last month. The 2 yo helps carry his folded clothes to the drawer to put away. We’ve had this system for 6 years now. Just had my 8th child last week.
I love your articles. They are encouraging and helpful! We have 6 kids ranging from 1 year to 13 years old and have homeschooled since the beginning as well. A lot of your tips are things that we have implemented over the years to keep things running smoothly here, too. Our laundry system is similar with on dirty laundry basket and one clean. The ‘dirty’ basket is dark colored and the clean is white. I also have a cinch laundry bag for ‘special care items’. We live in a cold climate and the kids do a lot of skiing and other winter sports, so there is many wool items that can easily shrink. They are responsible for putting all of their ‘wool’, white, etc into the cinch bag for it to be noticed as special launder. I wash that bag separately and when it is put into the wash I place at sticky note on the lid of the washer with a message about washing, so that whoever switches the wash will hang dry or low heat. Even my younger kids that switch the watch recognize the sticky note as a signal that they need help with the next step. We also have a sock set up that works well for us. The white laundry basket is our unmatched sock catcher. All of the matched kids socks go into a cute basket kept at the door. This helped with kids not being able to find socks when we were leaving the house for activities. When the sock basket gets low, it is time to match the socks and get them home. I wash my husband and I clothes separately, so our socks stay in that load.
I have 4 kids 4 and under so the kids can’t do much yet. But I will have them start making their beds! I keep toys to a bare minimum. I clean the whole kitchen right after breakfast so we have a blank slate for Homeschooling. In fact, my kitchen counters and dining table are lava- NOTHING is allowed to land in those surfaces unless I allow it. They are my workspaces. Do laundry daily. Keep little kids’ clothes downstairs by the laundry vs up in their rooms. And, they all share socks. If they aren’t matched, we don’t care! Everyone has 1 small shoe bin by the front door that they can manage. We keep shoe and coat inventory minimal.
We are about to welcome baby #6 and I have 5 other under 10. Just having kids bedrooms clean for us every evening before people climb into bed is really helping. Then all the dirty laundry and clean laundry are where they should go so I can keep up on it and the kids don’t get overwhelmed by a huge mess if I say please go tidy your room. I’ve also paired waaaayyy down on the number of toys we have in circulation for the summer months. Prioritizing outside play over stuff has helped cut down on tidying time. Now just to figure out how to keep the floors looking mopped without needing to do it every day 🤪
Thank you so much for this advice! I am perusal this article to try to find some tips to change things up in the new year. We are a family of 11 who also homeschool and it seems like the cleaning is a neverending job. But I love how you say that the house takes the priority. That’s so true as we’ve been moving to a more minimalist schooling. I like that you’ve scheduled it different everyday. We have had the kids doing the same jobs over the last few months and now they hate it. And our oldest daughter has been stuck with the kitchen. I like that you changed it up every day. I like the idea of setting the kitchen up separately from the rest of the house!
We started our daughter at age 9 doing her laundry. We also do 1 load laundry and every other day but we are a family of 3 so not a big family. Socks we buy 1 style and 1 color so each family member has 1 type and 1 color of sock, bras, and undies, same brand, color, style, so it is super simple to know who’s item is who’s, this being said we do not have 10 kids.
Great article! I’m a homeschooling mom with 6 boys ages 11 down to 1. We have everyone pitch in, but I definitely need to sit down and plan specific routines, systems, rules and ways to streamline things, because it can feel random, as far as when and what I’m having my kids do, and I am so over having to make these types of decisions. I will say that the best thing I’ve done as far as keeping a clean home when homeschooling a large family is to embrace minimalism. Highly simplifying our spaces, because the more we have, the more mess that can be made, and the less we have, the less mess that can be made and the faster it is to get things back in order. The Minimal Mom here on YouTube has been my #1 source of inspiration, and it has made a dramatic impact on our lives. As far as socks go, we only keep 1 kind of sock for our kids so that there is never an issue with finding a mate. We do have different sizes, but it is very easy to tell apart, and all the socks of that size (S, M, L) go in a bin, and you just grab 2. We also don’t let laundry pile up…..the laundry gets folded/hung and put away once it comes out of the dryer. If I don’t have time, then it stays until I do, or else I must make time for the 5-15 minutes it takes to do the load. Between that and not having excess clothing, it is all very manageable.
Thank you for another great article! I am wondering about the older children doing their own laundry. Surely they too wash whites / lights / darks separately. Doesn’t that mean that often there will be, say, one pair of white socks or perhaps two dark shirts in the washing machine? The one kid doing the two dark shirts will block the washing machine for everybody else…
We did public school pre-school-3rd then COVID hit and the last half was homeschooled from the school. Our daughter went back 1st half of the 4th, but then at xmas we came to homeschool full time 4th-6th. Our daughter started back to public school in 7th grade, but it was not a good fit, she was bored, so we brought her home, and will stay home until she is done with high school. We do 7 days per wk., 2 grades per year, 1,000 hours or 8am-3pm 180 days per year per our state. Our daughter will finish high school at age 15 or 16. She will cleep out of college work with Sophia she can start at age 13, and 10th grade she can join the local junior college, or university at age 16 after completing high school. Basically she can finish an associates or higher college degree by 18. There was just to much drama and other fluff at the public school, and we just wanted school basics and not all the what day do you do the 8-10 classes she had in public school. Each day was diff., diff. outfit, diff. shoes depending on the activity. She went to public school from 7am-3pm, then homework until 11pm, we were both retired and spent more time spinning or wheels trying to figure out what lessons to do each night. Public school just did not fit for our family. We do LCA/ACE program. It is all laid out nice and neat and workbooks, and all structured for those who do not want to figure it all out, it is already figured out. Is it cheap, no, but we figured public school we spent $3k between special shoes for PE and all the other outings, and $300 per year for supplies, and just always something-lunches, etc.