I’ll be the first to admit I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with cleaning. I hate to clean (unless I’m upset or angry then it’s the perfect way to take out my frustrations) but I have always loved the feeling of a clean house. Whether you’re a mom who works outside the home or a stay at home mama, the last thing you want to do is spend every minute of your time at home cleaning. So I have finally worked out this schedule that focuses on tasks for the morning and then some in the evening. We have had our house on the market for the past 4 months and this easy cleaning schedule has allowed us to keep our home picked up and always ready for a last minute showing. Keep reading for my easy cleaning schedule.
1| An empty sink.
If the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, I typically put them away as I’m getting breakfast ready for the kids. Then I can eat with them and I have an empty dishwasher to load our breakfast dishes into.
2| Clean up breakfast right away.
In my days of working full time, it wasn’t unheard of for me to leave the empty plates or cups on the table to run out the door. And more often than not, when I did clear the table, I didn’t take the 30 seconds to spray it down and wipe it clean.
3| Clean the litter boxes.
This is especially important when your home is on the market and you want to be ready for a showing at any time. Let’s be real, someone will be fine with toys on the floor. They’ll probably be fine with dishes in the sink. But they will not be fine when they walk into your home and smell your cat(s). Choosing a kitty litter that’s working hard to keep gross odors away is important! We use Purina® Tidy Cats® because 1) it controls odors and 2) our cats like it, which is obviously important.
4| Start the laundry.
Now this can be up to your digression. I’m the type of person who would be totally fine throwing in a load of laundry when I woke up in the morning, with the intention to throw it in the dryer before heading to work. If it didn’t make it into the dryer, it wouldn’t bother me to have it sitting in the washing machine throughout the day. If that bothers you, then wait until the evening to start.
1| Finish up the laundry.
I finally found that doing just one load of laundry per day typically means I won’t have to do any over the weekend. (For 2 children and 2 adults.) I have always been the person who has to rewash things multiple times before I actually move them over to the dryer. So I’ve worked on that, and now sometimes they just happen to live in the dryer for a bit. But, I have decided that if I put the clean laundry onto our (clean) kitchen counter, then I will fold it and put it away immediately. Once I put it onto my faithful laundry chair in the living room or throw it onto a bed, it slowly makes its way to the floor and then is so wrinkly by the time I get to it a week later, I usually end up rewashing it.
2| Kitchen clean up.
After dinner, we make sure the sink is empty. It’s also when I sweep the floor and clean the counter tops.
3| Pick up before bed.
Before Blaire gets ready for bed, we typically have her pick up. While she’s doing that, I usually pick up anything sitting out in the kitchen or in the bedrooms. One both kids are asleep, I like to do a final sweep to make sure everything has made its way to its rightful place in the house. I like to sit on the couch watching TV knowing the only thing I’ll need to do before crawling into bed for the night is to throw the Cherry Pepsi I’m drinking into the recycling bin. ;)
Do you have any hacks to help keep your house tidy? I’d love to hear them!