Simple Tips for Keeping a Tidy House

With two small boys and a husband who is remodeling another home, there is always something on the floor, whether it’s dirt, dust or Legos. For a while, I despaired of ever having my house fit for visitors, and would look forward to the days my mother came to see me because I knew she’d have pity on me and help me clean up. But I’ve learned some things recently that have helped me tremendously, and I thought I’d share them. Don’t despair! You can have a tidy house, even if it’s fully of messy, busy people.

Here are the tools you will need:
Several large boxes that fit under your couch or side-tables
Lots of dusting/cleaning rags
Spray bottle with your all-purpose cleaner of choice
Broom and dust-pan
Dust mop
Bucket for soiled or stinky laundry and your cleaning rags
Several highly-scented candles or some other aromatic device
Large supply of baking soda and vinegar

The first rule of thumb for keeping a house basically tidy is to pick up after yourself immediately. If you move on to a new project or activity and allow the detritus of previous activities to accumulate, you will find yourself looking at a despair-inducing mess at the end of the day. When you take off your shoes, throw them in the closet. Make the beds as soon as you rise. Wash dishes as they’re dirtied – or at least rinse them all and stack them neatly or stick them in the dishwasher. When your children are done with toys or books, help them to put everything back in it’s place before they head for the next activity. Even a 1 year old can tote toys and throw them into a conveniently placed basket or box.

Secondly, make sure that you have lots of storage space conveniently placed around the house. Shallow boxes can slide under beds and dressers, and baskets look nice while hiding toys, books, papers, and odds and ends that collect. If you make sure there is a place to put everything, you’ll find it much easier when it’s time to pick up, especially if you’ve got unexpected visitors and need to clear a path through the living room in a hurry.

Deep cleaning is important, but you may have weeks (or months) when you simply do not have the time or energy to do so. But you can fool your guests into thinking you have. If you have carpet, be sure to run your vacuum cleaner through the areas of your house that are used regularly, and pay special attention to doorways and under meal tables. For floors that are uncarpeted, make use of a dustmop to quickly collect dirt, dust, and grime. I like to hand the dustmop to my toddlers and while they enjoy “driving” it all over our upstairs floors, little do they know they are also helping me keep those floors free of grit and dirt. My dust mop doubles as a wet mop, so that if there’s a noticeable mark or smear on the floors, I can quickly deal with it, without having to mess with a regular mop and a bucket full of suds.

Do pay special attention to your kitchen and bathroom, because those are supposed to be clean. Baking soda and vinegar will do wonders for a messy stove top or stubborn spills. Cover the mess with baking soda, and dribble vinegar over it. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then use a paper towel to wipe up the whole gooey, disgusting mess. Wet another paper towel and rinse it off. Keep baking soda in the bathroom to cut smells, as well. Sprinkle it in the toilet, down the sink drain, or in your soiled-laundry bucket. Keep a good stock of cleaning rags and a spray bottle of cleaner to wipe things down regularly – it really doesn’t take long. Start with the mirror, move on to the sink, then to the toilet, and so on. If you don’t have the energy to scrub the tub, close the curtain and nobody will know (you can also throw potty chairs, laundry buckets, and other miscellanae behind that curtain when your guests arrive)! You may want to keep a seperate broom and mop just for bathrooms. Again, you don’t have to go all out every time you clean. Just give it a quick sweep, spray disinfectant on the floor, and do a once-over with a damp mop.

Finally, with little children in the home, and life in general, there will be smells. If you’re worried that your guests will wrinkle their noses when the enter your house, make liberal use of sweet smelling candles, air fresheners, and the like. If you happen to be caught without any of these things, put a couple orange peels into a pot of boiling water with cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, and you’ll be fine!