Messy, cluttered rooms can make you feel stressed out. The good news is that you don’t have to devote every waking hour to tidying and cleaning to enjoy a comfortable, clutter-free, sparkling home. Here is a useful guide to make keeping your home spick and span simple and stress-free.
Full-scale decluttering
If it has been years since you last tackled your loft, or your garage is overflowing, the first step to take is a full-scale decluttering mission. This might not be the most appealing proposition for your weekend, but you will feel so much better once this box has been crossed off the list. Once you’ve decluttered your home, you won’t need to embark on this kind of operation for months to come, and you can take steps to minimize clutter and keep your home tidy along the way. Clutter makes rooms feel dark and cramped, and it can also affect the vibe and ambiance of your home. When you get back from work, you want to walk through the door and feel relaxed instantly. If there is stuff piled high everywhere, this isn’t conducive to winding down.
If you’re ready and raring to go, set out a plan of action. It’s a good idea to take on the worst-affected areas first. Work your way through each room, putting items you want to keep away and forming mounds of things you want to throw away or donate to a charity. After you’ve finished each individual room, relocate your piles to a central trash pile or a skip in the driveway and put items you’d like to donate to charity in a box or bag. If you’ve been through the whole house, and you’ve still got stuff lying around, the next job is to explore storage options. Investing in storage solutions will free up floor space and make it much easier to keep your home clean and tidy. There are all kinds of options on offer, including basic boxes and tubs for shoes, children’s toys and outdoor equipment, wall-mounted units for displaying frames and ornaments, and furniture, such as beds with hidden drawers to store bedding and towels and tables with shelves for books and TV controls.
Cleaning routines
The best way to make cleaning your home less stressful and time-consuming is to get into a routine that involves crossing off tasks on a regular basis. It’s best to keep on top of jobs like vacuuming, wiping down surfaces and washing bedding and kitchen towels and cloths than to leave everything and devote an entire day to cleaning once or twice a month. Ideally, you should clean kitchens and bathrooms every day or at least a few times a week and you should wash pots and pans after every meal. Bathrooms and kitchens tend to be havens for bacteria, so using antibacterial cleaning products is beneficial. Spray kitchen counters, bathtubs, shower units, sinks and toilets with household cleaning products and take care to clean faucets, flushes, and plugholes. Vacuuming is an effective means of removing dust and pet hair, and it’s also important to mop floors to get rid of stains and keep surfaces clean. If you have a dog or a cat, you may need to vacuum your home daily or at least 2 or 3 times per week.
Many of us are aware that we need to wash our clothes frequently, but we tend to forget about soft furnishings. If you have fabric cushion covers, rugs, and curtains, it’s an excellent idea to wash them regularly to keep them in pristine condition and remove stains, dirt and pet hair. Clean your rug often, change your bedding once a week, and wash towels and bath mats on a higher temperature. If you have pets, it’s also wise to wash their bedding to reduce the risk of unwanted pests and to ensure they are comfortable and cozy.
Tidying tips
If you’ve had a long week at work, the last thing you want is to have to spend your weekend tidying the house and getting rid of mess. Unfortunately, most of us find that it takes a matter of minutes or hours for tidy houses to become bomb sites. If you have young children, or you share your home with furry friends, you might feel like you’re constantly picking things up and putting them away. The best way to make tidying as simple as possible is to tidy as you go. Rather than closing the living room door on a mess at the end of the day or chucking yet another outfit on the back of a chair in your bedroom, take a few minutes to tidy toys away and put your clothes back in your wardrobe or closet. Just a few minutes each day can save you hours at the weekend. Get into the habit of doing a quick tour of the house after dinner and finding homes for stray items and encourage your children to put all their toys, books and games away before they go to bed. Storage plays a crucial role in making life easier. Even if you only have a small playroom, you can find solutions to store toys and maximize space. A wall unit with drawers, pull-out boxes and cubby holes is a great idea if you’re short on floor space, for example.
Most of us would love to arrive home to a spotless house that is free from clutter after a busy day at work. Sadly, in the absence of a fairy godmother, it can be difficult to keep on top of tidying and cleaning, and clutter can soon start to take over. If your home is cramped and cluttered, and you don’t feel relaxed, now is the time to think about getting rid of all that stuff you don’t want or need. Set aside a day, get family members to help, put some music on and go through each room, putting items you want to keep away and creating piles of things you want to throw away or donate. Investing in storage can help you minimize clutter and keep your home tidy, and it can also enhance the aesthetic of living spaces and free up room. Once your home is clutter-free, stay on top of tidying and cleaning, taking a little time each day to cross off jobs and keep stress at bay.
