Having a tidy home is essential for keeping the stress level low. There are some tasks that I do daily to maintain peace and order in my home. These daily tips and tricks can also help you on your way to a more tidy and organized home.
Make Your Bed
The first thing I do every morning is make my bed. This small step can make any room feel more tidy. Every morning I pull up the comforter and prop the pillows. Do this as soon as you get out of bed in the morning before the days responsibilities take over your thoughts. Having the bed made makes the room inviting and welcoming at the end of a long day.
Keep Food in the Kitchen
Now if you’re like me and have little people living in your home with you then you may agree with me on this one. Keeping food in the kitchen helps keep the home tidy and avoid big hard to clean messes. Pink lemonade does not come out of carpet and I’m speaking from experience (If you have a great carpet cleaning hack please leave a comment below!)! In our house food and drinks are to be kept in the kitchen (with the exception of water). This makes spills very easy to wipe up and crumbs can be swept away.
Unload and Load the Dishwasher
Keeping your kitchen counter clear of dirty dishes is easy when they have a place to go. I like to run the dishwasher every evening and have all dirty dishes washed. That way we can start the day with clear kitchen counters. The kids take turns unloading the dishwasher every morning and I put away any hand washed dishes from the night before. After breakfast the dirty plates, cups and bowls go straight into the dishwasher.
Repeating this process after lunch and dinner will keep your kitchen tidy. In the evening you can give the kitchen counters a quick wipe down. Even if the dishwasher breaks down you can easily and quickly hand wash the dishes after each meal or snack. I recently experienced this first hand when our dishwasher broke. You can read about that here. This will eliminate any build up of smelly dishes in the kitchen and not to mention having your kitchen free of dirty dishes is very refreshing.
Everything in its Place, Everything in its Space
The biggest and easiest way to keep a tidy home is to put things in there place. Putting items away after using them will eliminate clutter. For example, after getting ready for the day I will put away my hair brush, put my dirty pajamas in the hamper and hang up my wet towel.
You can train your kids to do this also. From the time my kids could walk we would sing the “Clean-up Song” while picking up toys. After they where done playing with a toy or reading a book I would have them put the items away before moving on to the next activity. With kids this just takes consistency on our part as parents to teach and train them. We can also lead by example in this way.
Before bed the kids and I will clean up the house. This only takes around 10 minutes if we have been putting things away throughout the day. We walk through the house and put away any items left out. Shoes into the shoes bin, toys to the kid’s rooms, books back in the basket. Taking a few minutes to put things in there place will save you from feeling unorganized. It’s also nice to go to bed knowing a mess is not waiting for you in the morning!
