How to Keep a Clean Home

Over the past few weeks, a few people have asked me how I keep my home clean and organized. Just like most people out there, I get so busy with day-to-day life and don’t want to spend the majority of my day off doing house chores. I have to admit that I am one of those people who enjoys cleaning and gets such satisfaction afterwards.  Although, that doesn’t mean that I like it taking up too much of my time.

If one of your New Years’ resolutions is to get organized and maintain a clean home in 2019, well then this one is for you. I will be sharing with you my routine on how I keep my house clean without having to spend a full day cleaning. This routine has especially become handy in the past few months since I went from a townhome to a house. The routine is set up on a weekly schedule and broken down to specific rooms in the house. I  try to follow this as much as possible but if I can’t do a specific cleaning day due to whatever reason, I just add the task to another day or push it to my flex day. Just a word of advice, don’t stack more than two rooms in one day or else you’ll end up spending too much time cleaning.

My Weekly Cleaning Schedule

EVERYDAY

• Wash dishes or place dirty dishes in the dishwasher

• Wipe counters (including kitchen and bathrooms after use)

• Quick pick up (for me this usually means putting away my clothes and dog toys from around the house)

• A load of laundry (if needed)

• Take out the trash/recycling/compost

MONDAY – – – Living Room

• Dust

• Vacuum

• Straighten items on shelves/coffee table

• Wipe down remotes

TUESDAY – – – Kitchen

• Clean sink, counters, stove

• Sweep/mop floors

• Start and empty dishwasher (if needed)

• Reorganize and wipe down cupboards (if needed)

• Reorganize pantry and throw out any expired items

• Wipe down the fridge and throw out any expired items

• Wipe down microwave

• Add missing items to the grocery list for the week

WEDNESDAY – – – Bathrooms

• Clean sink and mirrors

• Clean tubs/showers

• Scrub toilets

• Vacuum and mop floors

• Reorganize shelves/cabinets (if needed)

• Wash or change towels and bath mats

THURSDAY – – – Bedrooms

• Wash bedding (wash pillows and duvet every other week)

• Flip Mattress (every other week)

• Reorganize clothes and put away laundry (if needed)

• Dust

• Vacuum

FRIDAY – – – Flex Day

SATURDAY – – – Halls, Basement, Dining Room

• Vacuum

• Dust

• Mop Hallway floors

• Reorganize Basement (if needed)

SUNDAY – – – Choose one or two of the following tasks that need attention

• Vacuum under couches

• Wipe down baseboards

• Clean blinds

• Clean windows

• Wash curtains

• Deep clean of tiles/grout

• Wash pillows, throw pillows and throw blankets

• Clean / dust vents

• Clean under fridge / oven

• Wash out garbage bins

• Wipe down doorknobs and light switches

• Wash small appliances

• Clean and dust Vents

These daily lists might seem like a lot but some of these daily routines should only take 10-15 minutes (or less),  while some might take up to 30 minutes. Point is that if you spread it out, you still get time to enjoy the rest of your day/evening without feeling overwhelmed by tackling a full day of cleaning. Also, it is way more rewarding since you are maintaining a clean home throughout the week without ever getting that discouraging feeling of having a messy or unorganized home.

Wishing you a clean and organized 2019!