I may not be the only one who's a little OCD when it comes to a clean home and that's A-okay! I always grew up with expectations of having my room picked up, things were in it's place if it wasn't being used and I was my mom's helper every Saturday cleaning the inside of the home and grocery shopping while my brother helped my dad outside with landscaping and maintenance. I think those expectations for our kids are great core values and teaches and molds them to be more responsible and clean adults.
It's often people ask me how I keep my home clean and picked up with 2 kids and a big dog running around and I think it's simply because I've worked hard to instill those values with my kids already. Drake has a list of chores he's expected to do on a daily and weekly basis and when bigger projects I need to tackle once a month come up, he's expected to help right along with me. Of course, we pay him a weekly allowance and it's something we also require him to tithe, save and then use to his discretion. With Emery, she's all about being my helper so she's expected to pick up, clean up after her meals and always is beside me doing the laundry- it's her favorite!
That all being said, I wanted to share a few tips I have to maintain a "clean" and up kept home on a daily and weekly basis but also a few products I've been using and loving.
ALWAYS PUT AWAY WHAT ISN'T BEING USED
This is really the key to keeping your home looking up kept and in order. If the kids have toys out that aren't being played with or move on to a new toy, they are asked to put the other one back. Likewise with me and if I have the laptop out or laundry that isn't folded... I get to it right when I'm done using it to keep things in it's place.
WIPE THE COUNTERS DOWN NIGHTLY
After dinner every evening I wipe down the counters (with Emery's help) and the appliances in the kitchen. It keeps things free of crumbles, debris, sticky spots from the day and toddler hand prints on all the stainless around the kitchen. ;)
INVEST IN A FEW STYLISH BASKETS
If you don't have kids, this would be for overflow like shoes, electronics, blankets... etc. but for those who have them, this would be great collecting areas for toys that are used frequently but you want concealed, shoes, blankets, more electronics or movies, remotes, dog toys... etc. We have a few from Target and have them next to the console table in the family room and by the garage door and front door.
HAVE SECOND SETS OF SHEETS & TOWELS READY
This is a good rule if you're a household that follows the "10 minute ready" rule, as we do! In short, if someone calls and says they're 10 minutes from your place to stop by, your house is always 10 minutes away from being guest ready. IE: fresh towels, things picked up, counters wiped and a candle lit. We have a few favorites when it comes to our sheets and towels so I have 2 sets of everything so I can easily swap those out with the unexpected house call and everything is clean, fresh and smells divine!
CREATE A STRUCTURED CLEANING SCHEDULE
Based on only wiping the counters down during the week and a load of laundry here and there, it's so helpful for me to know that weekly I'll do certain tasks and monthly too. Here are a few things I do weekly and monthly to actually clean the house so dirt, dust and dandruff isn't exploding at every corner
3-5 loads of laundry
-kids
-bathroom and kitchen towels
-sheets 1x/wk (each bedroom being used)
-adults
dust all rooms
*Drake does this
clean bathrooms (excluding showers)
vacuum
mop
3-5 dishwasher loads
*Emery unloads this with Drake
water plants
*Emery does this with my supervision
clean showers
*I hate admitting I only do this monthly but I hate this task and it works for me not stressing on it weekly
wipe down blinds and baseboards
purge pantry & restock basics
go through kids closets & donate too small items or unused toys
I personally do everything in one day (Saturdays) and love waking up Sunday as a family, when it's Andrew's day off where we can simply enjoy the freshness. On the week it falls doing my monthly duties, Drake pitches in and helps with the blinds and baseboards while I do showers and we collectively work on their closets and the kitchen pantry.
It may sound simple how I'm putting it all but it's a task, as is maintaining any home but with a few things spread out during the week and really maintaining the basics like toys and clutter, you can keep your home always appearing clean without it actually being scrubbed and dirt free. You know what I'm saying?
MY CLEANING ESSENTIALS