Life is busy enough for many people without throwing cleaning into the mix. And yet, a clean, well-organized home functions so beautifully; it can make our lives less stressful. While it can be challenging to devote part of each day to cleaning tasks, doing so will help you keep up with what might otherwise feel overwhelming. Leaving all the functions for a Saturday ruins your Saturday and might be challenging, especially if you have last-minute company or want to make other plans.

Here, we’ll provide many tips to cut cleaning tasks down to size. With our checklist and recommended cleaning routine, you can maintain a clean and well-organized setting so that your house is always ‘relatively’ company-ready and, assuredly, designed for your comfort. With these tips, you won’t have to devote another Saturday to daylong cleaning tasks again!

Whole-home declutter

Decluttering your home affords you many benefits. When you clear away the clutter, you’ll find it easy to get and stay organized. It is challenging to keep track of plenty of ‘stuff.’ Your home will function better with fewer items. For many people, fewer clutter results in less stress and more serenity. It can be challenging to part with valuable items even if you don’t use them. Here, we’ll explore a few ways to eliminate clutter to clean and organize your home more accessible.

Channel your inner Marie Kondo

Marie Kondo has become the poster declutterer with her minimalist aesthetic and has refined decluttering into an art form. If an item isn’t used regularly and doesn’t “spark joy,” remove it. Even so, her methods are known to be drastic; you might find that a little Marie tackling closets and your pantry goes a long way.

Everything in its place

Another way to tackle your clutter is to ensure that the items you keep have a place. Storage is critical, but you don’t want to live in a warehouse filled with stored items. Be sure you have the proper space and receptacles to store things. If not, consider the item. Is it functional and worth the effort it will take to find a space to store it? If not, it may be time to add it to your donation pile.

Donate, recycle, or sell

As you go room by room in search of items to get rid of, you should also keep these discarded items organized. You may have things you can sell and items you can recycle or donate. Just because it’s clutter to you doesn’t mean it won’t be beneficial to someone else. Don’t let your piles of stuff sit for too long; be sure you donate or sell them quickly to keep your household cleaning and organization on track.

Do you have computers, laptops, or other IT hardware you don’t use anymore? Instead of leaving them to sit and gather dust in your storage area, consider selling them for reasonable prices. You only need to find a reputable online e-cycling company that offers fast and seamless transactions. The company may instruct you to ship your IT gear to them at their expense. Then they’ll evaluate it and send payment by check or online bank transfer.

Selling your used IT hardware benefits you and the public. Aside from finally discarding unnecessary stuff from your home and earning little extra cash, you also get to minimize electronic waste.

Create a cleaning supply station

After eliminating the clutter from your home, you can create a cleaning supply station. Setting up this type of station will make routine cleaning more manageable. When all your cleaning supplies are in one place, you won’t have to search for them each time you need to perform a cleaning task. Please choose a location where you’ll keep these supplies and organize them with buckets, baskets, or shelves. Although you can stock your cleaning station with commercial products, you can create eco-friendly cleaners using ingredients like baking soda and white vinegar.

Design your perfect cleaning schedule

Cleaning your home need a perfect schedule

You can break up cleaning tasks into a manageable schedule to avoid spending an entire day cleaning your house. If there are other household members, you can even delegate tasks to them. The most simple yet effective plan is to divide chores into daily, weekly, and monthly schedules. Use our cleaning schedule as a basis for your own:

Daily Cleaning Tasks

  • Hang up or put away outer garments
  • Make beds
  • Wash and put away dishes
  • Clean kitchen surfaces (counters and stovetop)
  • Sweep kitchen floor (as needed)
  • Clean kitchen and dining room tables
  • Clean bathroom sink

Weekly Cleaning Tasks

  • Laundry
  • Clean bathrooms (sink, toilet, floor, and tub)
  • Clean kitchen surfaces (floor, refrigerator, and other appliances)
  • Vacuum
  • Dust
  • Declutter
  • Change/launder sheets and pillowcases

Monthly Cleaning Tasks

  • Launder blankets/bedspreads/washable rugs
  • Clean mirrors
  • Sweep out fireplace
  • Tidy bookcases or shelves
  • Deep clean kitchen (i.e., refrigerator, stove burners, cabinet fronts)
  • Disinfect trash bins
  • Remove cobwebs
  • Clean your dishwasher
  • Descale your coffee maker
  • Clean upholstered surfaces
  • Dust ceiling fans
  • Wash windows
  • Clean curtains/draperies (as needed)
  • Wipe down blinds
  • Clean return air vents

You may want to address cleaning tasks as needed, like having your carpeting and rugs steam cleaned. You may notice that closets and cabinets become disorganized, so you’ll want to set aside time to address these tasks. Cleaning your outside windows and washing walls might be a task you perform twice a year. You can work these as-needed chores into your overall cleaning plan.

Depending on your home, you may need to perform some tasks more or less frequently. Homes with pets may require a weekly vacuuming of furnishings, for instance, and homes with kids may require more emphasis on organization and decluttering.

Read more: The Advantages of Roller Blinds: A Modern Solution for Window Coverings.

Cleaning tips

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As you become adept at cleaning your home, you’re sure to develop some of your tried-and-true techniques for efficiently cleaning. Until then, here are some of our helpful tips to keep in mind as you clean your house or apartment:

1. Choose a start and endpoint

Keep cleaning from becoming an overwhelming chore by choosing a start and endpoint. You might keep cleaning for an hour, like an hour. Or, you might limit your cleaning to a single or several tasks.

2. Load your supplies in a cart

A cleaning cart makes transporting your cleaning supplies from room to room easier, and it’s why many professional cleaning services use carts and totes too. Be sure your cleaning station has room to stow your cart or tote.

3. Clean in waves

Cleaning tends to be a process, so don’t combine tasks, or you might feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Instead, clean in waves. Set aside one cleaning session for decluttering and another for sanitizing surfaces. This way, you can focus on one type of chore and perform it with efficiency.

4. Clean in sections

Focus on one area or section at a time to maintain an efficient workflow. For example, dust top shelves first and work your way to the bottom of bookcases and shelving units. Similarly, you can focus on one room at a time and combine tasks like your kitchen, living room, or bathroom.

Last-minute guests

Cleaning your home effectively on last-minute guests

Even with great effort and the best intentions, it’s not always possible to maintain a home that’s perfectly ready for company. If you find yourself facing a countdown until your last-minute guests arrive, here are some tips to put your cleaning tasks into overdrive:

1. Start with the kitchen

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A clean kitchen is a must when entertaining guests. Many people naturally congregate in the kitchen, and you can’t expect your guests to feel comfortable eating snacks or a meal prepped in a dirty kitchen.

Read more: Tips on Keeping Your Kitchen Tap Clean.

2. Bathrooms next

Although you might be sorely tempted to dust your living room, your guests are more likely to forgive a layer of bookshelf dust than a dirty bathroom. Focus on the essentials:

  • Remove toothpaste from the sink
  • Sanitize the toilet
  • Replace hand towels with fresh ones
  • Scrub away noticeable dirt from the floor
  • Scour the tub (if there’s no time, keep the shower curtain closed)

3. Living room/family room/dining room

Next, tackle the room where you plan to host your guests: sweep, vacuum, and dust. Often, quickly vacuuming and removing clutter will freshen up these spaces adequately. If you have pets in that shed, you may also want to ‘de-shed your sofa and chairs for your guests.

4. Entrance/foyer

Finally, check your entrance for signs of clutter or dirt; this area is the first your guests will see. You might want to spray room freshener and sweep the floor to give visitors a great first impression.

Wrap-up

With small daily efforts to clean and maintain your home’s organization, you can avoid the need to devote your weekend to cleaning and achieve a home that’s ‘mostly’ company ready. You’ll find that when your home is clean, you’ll feel less stressed and more relaxed to know that your belongings are stowed in their place and that your environment is fresh and welcoming.

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