When you have kids who naturally make messes and generate clutter, you might think that having an immaculate home is something you can look forward to when they’re grown and out of the house.
However, you can keep an immaculate home even with kids. The following are keys to keeping your home spotless:
Clean regularly.
This is probably the easiest way to keep an immaculate home. Instead of waiting for messes to pile up into overwhelming tasks, clean often. This doesn’t mean you have to spend your whole day cleaning. Cleaning up messes as you go, such as putting dinner dishes directly into the dishwasher instead of piling them in the sink or mopping up spills as they happen, help to keep the house clean.
It’s also a good idea to have a schedule, so you can clean certain rooms on certain days. For example, Tuesdays could be the day to clean bathrooms, and so forth. You should also spend a few minutes each day going through the house before bed and tidying up.
There are many products that will help you to keep an immaculate home with minimal effort, including Swiffer mops, dust wipes, and other disposable cleaning items.
Make boundaries and stick to them.
If you’re going to have an immaculate home, you’re going to have to make boundaries and then stick to them. Some tips for keeping your home clean include:
•No food outside the kitchen or dining room. Don’t allow juice, crackers, and food to be eaten anywhere outside the kitchen or dining room. This will help eliminate carpeting stains or food ground into the floor.
•Make sure kids put away toys when they’re done. Make sure your kids put their toys back in the toy boxes before leaving to do something else. Limit the number of toys that leave their bedroom; you may want to consider only keeping a basket of toys in the living or family room at a time.
•Designate rooms where toys aren’t allowed. It’s a good idea, especially if you have company often, to keep toys out of certain rooms. The majority of kids’ toys should be in their rooms.
Minimize the clutter.
Clutter contributes to a messy home more than anything, but these tips will help you to reduce it.
•Use baskets to organize. Use decorative baskets to organize things like mail, keys, and video games. These look nice while helping to keep clutter under control. It also makes things like dusting and vacuuming easier to handle.
•Identify what areas clutter the most. If your kitchen is always cluttered, make sure you pay special attention to keeping the dishes under control. Or, make sure you put the groceries away as soon as you bring them home so clutter doesn’t accumulate.
•Clean out drawers regularly. Clutter, especially receipts, coupons, and other items like that, tend to accumulate in drawers. Clean them out regularly and organize coupons and receipts into separate envelopes.
•Don’t let book bags, homework, and other items accumulate in entryways or family rooms. Have everyone take their bags, boots, and so forth to their rooms instead of dumping them in the hall or entry way.
You can still have an immaculate home, even with kids. The above tips are easy ways to help keep your home immaculate.