The idea of returning to a pristine, well-organized home after a long day may fill you with joy, but the reality is that reaching that point and keeping it that way is not very easy – particularly if you have a young family.
Within minutes, a room can go from being well organized to looking ransacked, and a simple family meal can cause destruction in your kitchen as well as your dining room.
If this sounds like your current setup, and you are looking for ways to keep your home in order, then keep reading. Here are 6 great ways to keep your home looking clean and tidy.
Invest in good storage
If you want a tidy, organized home, storage should be at the top of your priority list. When your belongings don’t stay in a specific place, it is hard to know what to do with them. Once they have a dedicated spot, it will make day-to-day living a lot easier.
There are thousands of home storage options to choose from, including some cool storage hacks, so you should be able to find the perfect solutions for every room in your home.
Be prepared the night before
If you work and have kids, mornings more than likely involve rushing around making sure you are all dressed, fed, watered, and ready to get out the door in time. When you get home, you then have to contend with the chaos you left earlier that day, so try and prepare as much as you can in advance.
Work clothes and school uniforms should be washed, ironed, and ready to go, the breakfast table can be laid in advance, and you can even prepare packed lunches the night before too. It’s also a good idea to make sure your work bag is packed and ready with essentials like your wallet, car keys, antibacterial hand wipes, and anything else you typically take with you.
The more prepared you are, the less chaotic your home is likely to be, so spend a bit of time organizing and planning, and you will be thankful for it when you later return to a clean and tidy home.
Tidy up after dinner
After dinner, you might feel a little tired, lethargic, and tempted to wait until you can muster the energy to clear things away. Although it might seem like a good idea at the time, all it will do is cause a mess in your kitchen and create extra work for you later on.
Instead, clear away your plates immediately after your meal is finished, load the dishwasher or wash and dry the dishes, and wipe down your table and work surfaces.
Adopt a no-shoe policy
Shoes are a breeding ground for germs and can get very dirty, particularly in bad weather. If you regularly find yourself scrubbing mud off your bedroom carpets or scrubbing stains off your hardwood flooring, a no-shoe policy could help.
Assuming you have a hallway big enough, create a dedicated space for jackets, shoes, and bags and have your family put them all away as soon as they get home. As well as keeping the house tidy, it will minimize the amount of cleaning you have to do.
Get rid of unwanted belongings
One of the reasons so many people struggle to keep their homes clean and tidy is simply because they own too much stuff. If your rooms are packed full of belongings you no longer want, need or use, spend a bit of time going through it all.
Goodwill outlets will always be grateful for anything you can offer, or if you want to make a bit of extra cash, why not have a garage sale or use an online app to sell your unwanted goods? Loads of people these days love buying second-hand items, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting rid of it all.
Adopt a cleaning rota
Cleaning your home can feel overwhelming, but if you put together a cleaning rota, it will make your life a lot easier. Instead of tackling everything at once, it will allow you to do sections at a time which will, in turn, make daily and weekly tasks more structured and easier to manage.
If your kids are old enough, give them jobs to do too. It gives them some responsibility, and sharing the load will provide you with more time to spend as a family. If you aren’t sure about age-appropriate chores for children, have a look online for some guidance.