How to keep your house clean and tidy in 5 easy steps

Whether you rent or own your home, if you’re looking at buying a new house, chances are you will have people inspecting your place at the same time. It could be potential buyers, agents, potential renters, tradesmen…whoever it is, you’ll want to be making sure your house is looking clean and tidy.

I’m all for making my life easier, so forming a daily house cleaning and tidying habits is an easy way to keep everything more manageable.

We have a family of 5, including a 1 year old and 2 teenagers, plus a dog, so things can get pretty messy and dysfunctional if we let them. To save my precious sanity, I try to do a few tasks on autopilot each day. This takes away the overwhelm and creates a calmer more harmonious environment. Ie, I’m not yelling at the kids to clean up after themselves (as much…) because we’ve all formed habits and know what is expected of us.

The following are 5 daily habits to create. You can choose when you want to do them, but personally I do these each evening, so that when I wake up the house is nice and clean and tidy and it starts the day off in a more positive way than waking up to mess.

Pack up

After dinner pack everything into the dishwasher and set the dishwasher going. Wash up anything that doesn’t fit and pack away any food items you used, back into the cupboard or fridge. Leave the kitchen and dining area clear of clutter and dirty dishes.

Pick up

Do a quick walk through the living areas and pick up any toys, books, discarded bags, junk mail etc,  that doesn’t belong on the ground or in that particular room. Put each item in it’s correct home. I have storage bins for my 1yr olds toys, which are sorted into different types of toys; soft toys, art stuff, train set and cars, lego, books, etc. This way everything its easy to find, plus she learns to sort things too.

Put away

Take any laundry off the line or clothes airier, fold it and put it away. Pick up and clothes that are lying on the bedroom or bathroom floor and put then into the laundry basket or away in wardrobes or drawers. It’s much easier to do this on a daily basis than wait until you have an overflowing washing basket at the end of the week.

Wipe Down

Always have antiseptic wipes, or a cleaning cloth and any products handy in each room that you use them. For example in the kitchen cupboards as well as the bathroom, toilet etc.  Each night do a quick wipe down of the counter tops, basins, tables, or any other surface you have that gets used. My routine involves a high chair and the front of the rubbish bin cupboard, because these always have spilled food on them.

Wipe Out

This last tip is not so much a house organisation tip, but a digital one for healthier wellbeing. Every day, make sure you’ve cleaned up your digital space. That means deleting unwanted emails, messages, requests, photos etc. Holding onto extra clutter in your life in whatever form, is an instant way to make you feel overwhelmed and can weigh you down.

Doing these simple things at the end of each day makes your weekly clean that bit easier and less daunting, plus you’ll have a sense of control over your living environment which I believe makes for a happier life.

Give these tips a go, even if it’s just for a week and let me know how you feel!