By I wouldn’t say our house is clean all the time but we do keep it pretty tidy and picked up most days considering my Mom watches both my daughter and my niece at our house during the week and babies are messy! We’re lucky enough that while my Mom is there she does everyone’s laundry, the dishes, and pretty much anything else I ask for her help with, so I’m grateful for the extra help! Thanks Mom!
So, while the deep cleaning is usually a bi-weekly chore around here, it can be hard to keep up with all the household duties on any given day but the tasks below are ones I do, do every day or are key factors in keeping our house in relatively cleanish shape all the time.
Choose Washable/Wipeable Furniture
I love the look of a light colored sofa but when it comes to kids and even adults, messes are inevitable so keeping it clean is important to me. One of the many reasons I love our sofa (more about that here) is because whenever those messy life moments occur, it’s as simple as stripping all the covers off the couch and throwing them in the wash! Our sofa has taken a beating – from blueberries, blood, and bottles – so after a quick wash in the washer and it’s as good as new.
Our dark indigo wool rug and molded plastic dining chairs are also clutch when it comes to keeping things looking clean and tidy. Any spills or grape smashing is easily cleaned up with a quick scrub of a baby wipe. Easy peasy!
Nightly Quick Pick-Up
After the baby goes to bed I usually do a quick 15 min pick-up of toys, clothes, shoes, returning approx 45 balls back to the ball pit, etc. I’ll fold throw blankets and put them away, fluff the couch, sort the mail, but it’s usually just a general put things where they belong session that I tackle nightly. Some nights I get distracted and take on a bigger task but most nights its just a quick sweep through the house to get it ready to be destroyed all over again the next day.
Make Toy Clean-Up Easy
We have a cabinet full of toys in the living room built-ins but we keep one large basket of toys out in the open. We rotate the toys in and out of the cabinet into the basket in the living room but having the basket out not only promotes self play but it makes for easy clean-up too. When I’m doing my quick pick-up, I literally toss the toys into the basket and I’m done.
Same for books in the nursery…we opted out of book shelves or book ledges in favor of 2 large baskets filled with books which makes putting the books away a breeze. Making toy clean-up easy and uncomplicated also allows our daughter in on the action. She’s now at an age where she can participate in the clean-up before she goes to bed and it teaches her about cleaning up after herself.
Vacuum Frequently or Go Automated
I try to vacuum the rugs and around / under the dinner table every other night and this is my go-to vacuum of choice. It holds a 20 min charge which is just enough time to get the most trafficked areas vacuumed without having to drag out the big guns. When it comes to whole house vacuuming, I enlist our robot vacuum for that! I usually run our Neato, Flo, on Saturday & Monday – usually right before we head out the door for an errand so that when we arrive back home, everything is freshly vacuumed and looking good!
These 4 simple tips are what we subscribe to around here and help keep our spaces mostly clean, most days. Any other quick tips you’d like to share?
