Cleaning up won’t feel like a chore with these simple tips!
Keeping the house clean can be challenging, especially with our busy schedules. Don’t let clutter and mess bog you down! All it takes are these everyday tips to keep things neat and organized:
1. Make Your Bed First Thing
One of the reasons why you are probably discouraged from doing this every morning is that you have books, laptop, and other items piled on your bed. Adding a bedside table is a quick fix to your problem. Your bed is meant for sleeping and not hoarding things.
Also, too many decorative items like pillows, runners, etc. make things hard to manage, thus, making the bed look like a daunting task. Keep such elements to the minimum. Instead, choose items that you would use regularly.
The less you have on your bed, the more likely you are to make your bed. It helps to start your day on a positive note and inspires you to be more productive with cleaning your house.
2. Sorting Clothes Is Easy
It starts with one stray piece of clothing on the chair or the floor and before you know it, there is a huge pile at the end of the week. Not just that, items go missing, and you can’t find your favourite pair of denims, or a pair of matching socks when you need it in a hurry.
Keep in mind that every piece of clothing in your house has a place of its own – either the cupboard or washing machine or laundry bag. Practice this every day and you will be grateful when you need to find something quickly.
Also, you can have separate laundry bags for lingerie, whites, and coloured clothes. This way, you know exactly what to put in the washing machine instead of having to upturn your huge laundry bag to sort items before washing.
Similarly, fold clothes as soon as they have dried and store them. This way your cupboard stays neat, and you can pull out items easily.
3. Wipe Surfaces Regularly
Whether it’s the bathroom, kitchen, dining table or dressing table you are using, make sure that you wipe counter surfaces regularly. This keeps things looking clean and good as new. For this exact purpose, keep a small cleaning kit which includes a cloth and perhaps a cleaning agent nearby, depending on the kind of surface.
Daily cleaning is important for kitchen countertops as it gets riddled with food stains, grease, and grime on a daily basis. The buildup is tough to deal with, so wipe down your stove, food prep area, and backsplash as soon as you finish cooking. This will only take you a few minutes.
Also, ensure that your counter surfaces are clutter-free by putting items where they belong; put toothpaste, brushes, and soaps in their respective holders in the bathroom, and store your masala jars and cooking staples in kitchen cabinets.
4. Shoes Stay Out
Leave your shoes at the door so that dirt and germs are not dragged into the house. Invest in a shoe rack depending on the size of your footwear collection and stack your shoes neatly on the rack before entering the house.
Keep a shoebox nearby where you can keep brushes, laces, and polish. Another good way to keep dirt away is to have a mat both inside and outside the front door. This ensures that muck does not enter the house. You could use this for different rooms of the house.
5. Tend To Dirty Dishes & Sink Immediately
Wash vessels as soon as you are done cooking or eating. Doing a few vessels every day is better than doing a huge, stinky pile at the end of the week.
Also, this way, you don’t have to deal with hardened food residue, which is much more time consuming to clean. If you are in a hurry and can only tend to it later in the day, fill the vessels with a liquid detergent solution. This way you can remove food stains with ease.
Ensure that you have a good organization system for vessels too. Sort small items like spoons and knives from large pots and pans.
Don’t forget to clean the sink as well. It is a hotbed of germs so make sure you wipe it down with detergent and brush after you wash the vessels. This daily routine keeps germs and ticks away in the long run.
6. Everything Belongs Somewhere
Create an organization system to sort things out. Have a file for bills, coupons, other paperwork; keep a shelf free specifically for electronic items; buy a small bowl to keep keys, sunglasses, and other knick-knacks on your coffee table.
You might also have other more trivial chores to do like watering the plants, arranging throw pillows on the divan, taking the trash out, etc.
It is normal for things to get disruptive now and then but you can make this a fun exercise. Set a timer or play some music for 10 minutes and try to do everything within that time. This is a great way to organize things quickly.
7. Do Away With Extras
Your cleaning routine will be much simpler if your house only has items that you frequently use. Take a look around and identify items that are hardly ever in use. This could be anything – clothes, packaging items like boxes, extra bags, etc.
Keep an empty box in your house where you throw in items which you don’t use. At the end of the month, give it away to people who need them. This reduces clutter in your house.
These simple daily habits yield instant results, and you can keep things organized without getting overwhelmed. Your home will be a clean haven that you will love to spend time in!
