So apparently not everyone enjoys cleaning and tidying up as much as I do. I know, mind blowing, right?
If I’m being entirely honest, I view cleaning as a kind of stress/anxiety reducer. Although there are still occasions where I despise it. Less clutter helps my mind to stay focused and the before/after of a dirty, cluttered room turned clean and organized? I Literally Have No Words.
But it wouldn’t be fair to allow people to think I walk around our home all day in an apron and rubber gloves with a bucket of cleaning supplies in tow. In reality, it’s most likely yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt I snatched from my husband’s side of the closet. And I can assure you that there aren’t any cleaning supplies within arm’s reach.
But since a tidy home is a happy home (that’s a thing, right?), I’m sharing my top 2 tidy tips. These are simple tips to help give your home, and your busy life, a little bit of peace in the new year. While there are several more tips I could list, it’s best to start with manageable changes and build from there. Your home is a huge part of your family’s life and the setting for countless memories you’ll share with each other and friends throughout the years. Don’t let cleaning it overwhelm you to the point of misery. Really, don’t. If you put these tips to good use, I promise you won’t regret it.
Tidy Tips:
1. Pick your poison.
– Okay, I’ve actually switched to all natural cleaning supplies in our home (no, this isn’t an ad) so they’re not at all dangerous, but “pick your all natural, child/pet-friendly cleaning supplies” just doesn’t flow as well. For no particular reason, I typically start with dusting. Maybe because it’s an easy, quick way to make your whole house smell like lemons? Or citrus? Or whatever other scent you prefer.
Regardless of your “poison” of choice, spend 15-30 minutes, five days a week and pick one type of cleaning to do on each day… just one. *Dusting, *Cleaning the bathroom(s), *Cleaning the kitchen – appliances and countertops, while remembering to lift things up to disinfect underneath – like the toaster, coffee maker, knife set… (and don’t forget the butter that popped all over the inside of the microwave). *Clean the glass surfaces in your home – including mirrors and the inside of your windows.. possibly the outside of the back door if your dogs are anything like ours and let you know they’re ready to come in by wiping their muddy paws all over the door. *I also recommend that vacuuming/mopping be on the list each week. Especially if you have pets, or kids, or pets and kids.
The main idea is that you don’t have to, and shouldn’t be trying to, clean your entire house in one fell swoop on any given day. That becomes exhausting and inevitably a day that you (and your family) will dread every week as it approaches.
2. Put things back where they belong. Now. Today. Not later. Not tomorrow.
– This one will be hard until it becomes a habit. When you’re in your own home it’s so easy to get up off the couch and leave a blanket there or to leave shoes out, jackets, remotes, cups, a board game, a bag of chips you closed up and set on the coffee table. But these items will start piling up. Fast. And when there are other people living in the house, it’s your clutter x3.
You’ve heard the saying, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Well this tip is that phrase lived out in your home. Everything should have its own place. Remotes in a tray on the coffee table, shoes in a cubby or on boot tray near the door, blankets in a basket or on a blanket ladder, jackets hung up and chips in the pantry.
My top go-to storage solution is a cubby shelf with fabric storage bins. One of my favorite areas in our home is the play area I designed for our boys (below). It’s cozy, which I love, but more importantly it’s practical. And the best part? Cubby systems and fabric bins can be inexpensive if you browse online for deals! Believe it or not, our play area looks like this every night. It took a good amount of reminding on my part but eventually our boys realized that tossing their toys back into a bin and pushing it in like a drawer is super fast and easy. So they clean up when they’re finished playing! Usually. Although, I don’t recommend actually using the term “toss your toys” because, well, boys..
SIDENOTE: Their larger toys, like swords and baseball bats, are stored in a collapsible hamper in their closets!
My second go-to is baskets. I use them to store blankets on our fireplace hearth (below, pic. 1), sports balls for our boys (below, pic. 2), a magazine style basket for papers our boys bring home from school and even wire-lined, rectangle baskets for DVDs. Yes, we’re that family that still owns DVDs. And actually watches them. Our DVD baskets are nestled neatly on the shelves of our TV stand. Whenever I see a cute basket on sale – or even better.. clearance – I grab it! Trust me, you can find some great ones in all different sizes for $10 and under if you keep an eye out for them. Even if you can’t think of a use for it at that exact moment, scoop it up! I promise it will come in handy and if not, baskets make a great “gift bag” for a friend’s housewarming gift.
Want in on a little secret? Those two small cabinets in the bench above… they store our boys’ shoes! We refer to it as “the shoe bench” because we’re super creative with names like that.
The best part about this tip is that your storage solutions double as cute décor! You won’t find a single basket, bin, cabinet, or cubby in our home that doesn’t first and foremost serve as a storage solution. What I’ve come to realize is that if we have so many things that we can’t find a ‘place’ in our home for each one, then it’s probably time to consider donating some of them.
Well, there they are! My top 2 tips for a tidy home. They’re not complex or expensive but they’ll make a huge difference. I promise. So there’s only one question left. What’s your poison of choice for today?
The Log Farmhouse 