I read a post on another blog today about cleaning tips for fall... if you're like me, it's quite possible that there just aren't enough hours in the day to "wash all of your drapes according to the instructions" or "vacuum under your mattress, wash and change out your "spring" linens for your winter ones" or anything of that nature. (seriously, do people actually have "spring" linens and "winter" linens? Maybe that only applies to places that actually experience seasons, instead of just two temperatures -- hot and cold). We have a blessing of a cleaning lady that does the hard stuff in our house, like mopping bathroom floors, cleaning showers, and scrubbing toilets. But she only comes every-other week. So I employ a method that helps me keep the house at a decently-clean level. Because, seriously, who wants to come home at the end of a 12 hour workday to a messy, disgusting house? Not me, that's for sure.
Here are my top 10 tips to keeping things tidy:
1. Sort mail every day. Mail is an issue. Frank brings in the mail every day when he gets home from work, and there are always 5 or so catalogues and a variety of paper ads in the pile. We immediately sort the mail -- Catalogs we don't read go into the trash/recycle bin, post-card ads are tossed, bills go into the office in an organizer to be paid, and the catalogs I want to read are set aside. If it's a monthly mailer (J.Crew, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, etc.) I typically read those after dinner while we watch a little TV, and then throw them away. Immediately. Magazines like Elle, Marie Claire, Traditional Home, etc. are read and saved for a while (and then likely end up in the recycle bin, unless there's something important in them I'd like to save).
2. Take 10 minutes at the end of the day to "pick up" after yourself. Before I go to sleep every night, I remove all of the cups, Popsicle sticks, read magazines, etc. from the den and put them away. The pillows are fluffed ottoman pushed back into place, and the TV remote put back into the tray. Things are put away in the kitchen, sweaters hung in the closet where they belong, and shoes tucked neatly into their box. If I waited until the weekend to try and put away all of the accumulated clutter that occurs after the end of each day, it would take me an hour. 10 minutes is much more manageable.
3. Have a place. For everything. If things have a "spot" somewhere in your home, it's easy to put them away. Having a designated place for most of your belongings eliminates the "Now where in the heck am I going to put this?" game that so many of us play. Your socks, shoes, sweaters, pants, jewelry, laundry, mail, -- everything should have a designated spot. That way, when it comes in the door, you know where it's going. And it doesn't end up in a pile in the corner.
4. Keep the floor of the closet clean. The fastest way to create a lengthy cleaning session for yourself is by throwing clothing on the floor of your closet and leaving it there. (I know mom, I am a reformed closet-floor-clothing hoarder). That goes for shoes, towels, bags, you name it. It's a lot easier to hang a sweater, dress, and top up at the end of the day than it is to hang up 5 sweaters, 2 tops, 3 bags, 7 pairs of pants, 8 pairs of shoes, 2 belts, a few necklaces, and those shopping bags of new purchases, right? I also always find that if I'm super tired at the end of the day and just leave my things on the floor, that they tend to multiply. And then you're left with wrinkled dirty clothing that smells like feet because it sat on top of your shoes all night long. Ick. I have an organized place for everything in my closet too, and use special hangers (the new velvet slimline version) to keep clothing from sliding off. That way, I'm excited to get dressed every morning -- rather than ticked off that I keep stepping on the stiletto heel of those fabulous black suede boots I wore to work yesterday.
5. Clean out the pantry/fridge when you bring home groceries. I typically buy groceries every Saturday morning, if at all possible. When I return, as I put things away I also throw out things that have expired or are empty. This is common sense. Why wait until you've designated a "time" to clean out the fridge when it takes two seconds to check the expiration date on the jar of pickles or squeeze mustard that you just put brand new mayonnaise next to? Save yourself the hour it would take, and spend less than 10 minutes when you bring home groceries to keep things in order.
6. Fold and put away laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer. This is a big one. I'll admit, it's a pet peeve of mine to see towels that are left on a table long enough to become heinously wrinkled prior to folding. Same goes for sheets. Or shirts. Or socks. Or white undershirts (Frank) for that matter. Just as with everything else, it's easier to fold one load of laundry and put it away than it is to fold 10 loads of laundry and spend an entire half a day finding the place where said piece of laundry belongs. I try to set aside one day a week where I will iron things that need to be ironed, most of which belong to Franklin (except for our sheets). Once things begin to pile up on our laundry table downstairs, I tend to employ the forgetful avoidance technique until the pile builds up beyond belief. And then I'm disgusted with myself for letting it get to that point, and sweaty after the 20 trips up and down the stairs it takes to put everything away. Are you sensing a theme here? 10 minutes today saves you an hour later.
7. Keep cleaning wipes underneath your bathroom sink. If you're a woman who wears makeup, I'm sure you've noticed that the powder and blush you put on your face each day tends to settle on your bathroom counter. Add into that toothpaste, beard trimmings, moisturizer, contact lens solution, etc. and the bathroom counter can become a rather disgusting place pretty quickly. Thus, I do a quick wipedown of our bathroom counter every morning after I brush my teeth before I head out the door. Bonus, it also protects against germs in cold and flu season. I prefer Clorox Green wipes, but every brand has their own version at this point and I'll typically use whatever I had a coupon for instead.
8. Avoid the tendency to stack things on the kitchen counter. My husband is a clutter monster. He currently (thanks to United Airlines Skymiles' program) subscribes to about a MILLION magazines which arrive at least 2 at a time in the mail every day. These magazines would typically end up stacked next to our stove on our kitchen counter, if I were not the kitchen counter nazi. Along with those magazines, a variety of Fritos or Tostitos products, bills, leftovers, bread, keys, cell phones, glasses, sunglasses, and numerous other odds and ends would also end up sitting on our already crowded kitchen counters at the end of the day. Now, imagine at the end of every day walking into your home, and the first thing you see is a kitchen counter with every inch of counter top covered by clutter. I don't think so. Find a place, and put it away.
9. Have a system. If you can tell, items 1-8 are my "system." If you find a routine that works for you to contain the daily household clutter, use it -- the same way, over and over and over again. I'll admit, I am methodical to a fault. I get ready the same way, in the same order, every single day. I put my makeup on the same way, in the same order, every single day. Routine seems to make things easier for me (hello, OCD?) but I also think it's ok to use autopilot to keep things going when your 1 year old wakes you up at 3:45 AM (like mine did last night). At this point, our routine really is on autopilot. And while I keep up with the routine, it's easy to perform it... which brings me to the final point--
10. Be diligent. The fastest way for my house to get uber-cluttered and gross is for me to be super busy at work and just "let things go" for awhile. That typically results in a months worth of clutter everywhere from the kitchen counters to the downstairs laundry table, and a bunch of clothing that must be taken to the dry cleaners because it smells like feet. And then it takes me a day -- or two-- on the weekend, when I'd rather be spending time with my family, to put things back in order. 10 minutes a day saves me a lot of time later, and the best part is that those 10 minutes are typically after Franklin has gone to bed-- meaning I haven't lost any of my time with him at the end of the day.
So that's how things run in our household. Frank would tell you that I'm a cleaning nazi. I agree. But it seems to work for me... and I don't have a mini heart-attack if someone drops in after work without notice, or wants to stop by on a weekend. Happy Hump Day!
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