When I was in high school, a friend of mines mother, would not let her leave the house, until her bed was made and her bedroom floor was vacuumed. At this time, in my high school mind, I always thought of this as a total drag. But now? I think her mother was a genius.
To have a clean house, to the naked eye, does not mean you have to have a house keeper come every other day. It doesn’t have to be fully dusted and laundry complete. Do not get me wrong though, I love it when our house keeper comes! Literally, it’s like the best day ever – haha. In the mean time though, there are little things that you can do every day to keep your house (or apartment) looking clean. Especially for guests. To me it’s the best feeling when guests tell me how clean and neat my apartment looks. If your place is messy, it’s very uninviting. No body wants to hang out in your mess. I don’t mean for this to sound harsh, but like, don’t you agree? I mean, mess traditionally makes people anxious and when your friends come over, you want them to feel relaxed 🙂
So the following are my tips. The little chores I try and do every day to keep my home clean and ready, not only for guests, but for my self included.
How To Fake A Clean Home In Six Seconds
- Make Your Bed: Make your bed, every single morning. No ifs, ands, or buts. This is the easiest of them all and if you only follow one of these rules, this should be the one to be followed. Making your bed, not only sets the tone for the whole day, but it will instantly make your bedroom feel less cluttered.
- No dishes in the sink: There is absolutely no reason to leave your dishes in the sink, if you have an empty dishwasher sitting right next to it. This is my biggest pet peeve. If the dishwasher is full & clean, I understand the procrastination. My suggestion is to try to set aside a specific time, a day to unload and load the dishes. For example, Colton and I take turns doing this first thing when we get home.
- Do not have clothes on the floor or laying around: Make it a habit to always immediately hang up your clean clothes and put dirty clothes in the hamper. The longer you wait, the more clothes accumulate. If I decide not to wear something, I immediately hang it up.
- Vacuum or Sweep: Depending on the type of floor you have and especially if you have dogs. I swear, a house could be a total mess, but if I see the carpet is vacuumed, I immediately think the house is cleaner. If you are constantly on the go and do not have time to vacuum. I highly suggest investing in a rumba. We were actually gifted one from Colton’s parents two years ago and it has been a total game changer in the dog hair department.
- Wipe Off Kitchen Counter Tops: These wipes have been complete life savers. They make wiping kitchen counters easy because there is nothing more gross than seeing left over food on the counter. Plus, it’s so easy. Do you have to wipe down every counter in your home? No -lol, but try to make it a habit to wipe off the counter after every meal is cooked.
- Fold Blankets and arrange pillows: We try and do this right before we go to bed. Even though they are just pillows and blankets, it’s amazing the difference it can make if they are folded and in place.
If you have roommates, make this teamwork & delegate duties . For most of these, Colton and I have our responsibilities down so that we know they are always done and our home at least looks tidy, even when it really isn’t
What are your tips for a tidy home?
xo,
Lauren
