Friday, March 4, 2011

Keeping the House Tidy

For me, keeping a tidy house is an important part of my service. I feel like having a neat and clean house for Sir to come home to makes things more relaxing and pleasant for him. Part of keeping the house neat and tidy is taking some time every day to maintain it.

Having a systematic way to move through the house and tidy as you go is important. One of my favorite tips is to take a laundry basket or other basket with you and place items that need to be removed to other rooms into it as you go. This is nice if you have an especially large house, or more than one story to tidy. Also taking tools you need with you in that basket is helpful as well.

I work from the kitchen to the back of the house, because our kitchen is the center of our house and the table seems to be a catch-all for everything that comes in the door.

Kitchen/Dining Area

* Make sure all dishes are washed or moved to the dishwasher
* Clean off kitchen table, remove all junk, sort mail and place it next to Sir's chair.
* Wipe down table, counters and stove. I use a microfiber cloth and anti-bacterial spray or vinegar and water solution.

Living Room/Family Room

*Corral the remotes and either place them on top of the appropriate equipment or on the table next to Sir's chair.
* Use electrostatic duster on all surfaces and TV screen

Bathrooms

* Check the mirrors for spots and wipe down.
* Using sanitizing wipes, wipe all surfaces (I prefer Lysol wipes with the scrubbing surface)
* Use toilet brush in the potty. I keep mine in a mixture of 1 cup bleach/1 cup water. I would not recommend this if you have small children or pets that can knock it over or if it doesn't have a lid that seals the top of it off.

Hallway, Office, Bedrooms

* Run duster over surfaces
* Straighten pillows/bedspreads
* Tidy desks, side tables and dressers

I also sweep the floors. I have hardwood so I just use either my broom/dustpan or a small stick vacuum. I do it every day because I have cats so there is hair and kitty litter that needs to be swept up. Plus, I clean litterboxes ever day.

Another thing I do is try to do at least one load of laundry a day. This way it doesn't pile up. I say try because laundry is not my favorite chore. I'm okay with the sorting and washing but the folding and putting away I despise.

I have found that if I make an effort to tidy every day it takes me less than 20 minutes, dinner dishes not included.

4 comments:

  1. Martha had a good suggetion. Sweep the kitchen floor every day. Dirt collects there and gets brought into other areas from the kitchen. By sweeping it each day, you help to keep the whole house clean.

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  2. I do :) I have kitty bowls and messy kittys.

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  3. All great ideas but I avoid bringing a hamper or anything to cary bulk items to their proper place. By walking back and forth I get my exercise and that makes up for the days I run out of exercise time.

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  4. I remember the days of no small people in the house *laughs* now with 2 small people, I do all the things you mentioned and then some daily and still on any given moment my house can look like the latest tornedo just blew in. Only once per day is everything all neat for more than 2 minutes, and that is after the little people are asleep. But within minutes of them waking, the tornedo seems to strike again :) wouldn't trade it for anything.

    Oh and we do the basket thing too! even the little people help with that.

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