Prior to getting married, I was a slob. Anyone who asks my mother about my cleaning skills while I lived in her house will hear the same thing. I have always been able to easily look over a mess and pretend that it isn't there. Messes have simply never "bothered" me.
Well -- messes never bothered me until I got married and realized that either my husband or I were the only ones who would be cleaning UP our messes! I had absolutely no idea how much work went into keeping a house/apartment clean all the time.
When Kevin and I first got married, I had a VERY hard time keeping our apartment relatively tidy during my busy work week. Then, I was always WAY too tired to clean the apartment on the weekends -- because I really wanted a time to rest! Needless to say, our apartment was ALWAYS a wreck.
Recently, Kevin and I decided that it would be best if I stopped working and became a stay-at-home wife and mommy-to-be. I quickly fell into a routine that has changed our lives when it comes to housework. I learned that my biggest problem when I was still working was although I was TRYING to keep everything clean, it all seemed so overwhelming. I was focusing on the little details instead of the big picture.
I have finally figured out the 5 simple things that I need to do everyday in order to make my life easier. Ever since I made these 5 things a top priority every day -- I have been getting SO much more done!
1. Make the bed.
When I was younger (and even when I first got married), I never understood why making the bed was even relevant in my day. My thought was, "I'm just going to mess it up again in a few hours". However, I have started making this the very first chore that I do everyday. Here's why.
First: Kevin and I have two furry feline roommates (Zax and Misty). Our two fur-babies absolutely LOVE to sleep on our bed. If and when our bed is NOT made... they sleep on the sheets. When this happens -- we end up having hair covering our sheets. This is NOT fun to sleep in. It makes us sneeze. It's also just gross to think about snuggling up in a pile of cat hair every night -- yuck!
Second: Making the bed makes our room look SO much neater. That way, if we have surprise guests during the day -- we don't have to make them avoid our bedroom at all costs.
Third: It just plain FEELS good to slide into a freshly made bed every night!
2. Do the dishes.
Okay -- so before I get into this part of my day let me first disclose something. Kevin and I do NOT have a dishwasher. So -- doing the dishes for me takes at least 2x longer than for the average person with a dishwasher.
Doing the dishes was and is the chore that I have the most struggle with. I absolutely hate doing the dishes. More than any other housework. This very reason alone is why doing all the dishes every day is crucial for having a clean house. However, here are a few reasons why I think it's important to do the dishes everyday.
First: I do the dishes very frequently because it helps prevent the build up of MORE dishes. When I have a HUGE pile of dishes -- it is not likely that I am going to do them. I will keep putting it off and putting it off. So, keeping up with them is absolutely SO important.
Second: Having a clean kitchen prevents bugs and other yucky critters from making an appearance. I HATE bugs -- so anything I can do to keep them OUT is worth it!
Third: It just plain LOOKS nice to have a clean kitchen without any dirty dishes. I feel better when the dishes are done -- so if we have random visitors I won't feel the need to apologize over and over for the dirty kitchen.
3. Finish all laundry.
Back in my messy-house days, I would allow the laundry to build up all week and then have a "laundry day" once a week. However, "laundry days" take a LONG time. Not to mention -- it frustrates me SO bad to spend all day doing nothing but laundry -- only to have MORE laundry to do before the day is even over with! Doing the laundry every single day makes me expect to have dirty clothes to wash everyday -- which makes me less frustrated! Here are a few more reasons I switched to having all the laundry done every day:
First: My sweet husband has to wear a uniform to work everyday. The company he works for only gave him so many shirts and shorts. Therefore -- keeping the laundry done all the time means that he always has a clean uniform to wear to work.
Second: Keeping the laundry DONE keeps the laundry OFF of the floor or in piles -- which means a tidier house!
Third: Doing a load of laundry or two every day keeps the laundry from piling up -- which prevents from having to have a "laundry day".
4. Vacuum.
Many people probably think that vacuuming the whole house every single day is a bit excessive. --And maybe it is. However, I do not feel as though my house is tidy unless I vacuum. Here are a few reasons why I find it so important:
First: Remember those fur babies I was talking about earlier? Well -- they are my two VERY furry reasons that I vacuum the house every single day. They shed like CRAZY. It is amazing that they even have fur left over at the end of the day.
Second: I typically have a quilt to work on every single day. Quilting and sewing gets THREAD all over the floor. Which -- if any of you have animals -- this is extremely dangerous. If a cat swallows a piece of thread, he/she could be in serious danger. So -- I vacuum every day to protect my sweet little fur babies.
Third: Kevin and I both have allergies. We both are in and out of the house on a regular basis -- so we bring in a lot of yucky stuff from outside everyday. Vacuuming the carpet everyday helps get rid of all those nasty particles that cause our constant sneezing!
5. Take out the trash.
Okay - Okay. So, I admit. I don't take out the trash. I get the hubby to do it. But -- there is one reason that I ask him to do it everyday. IT STINKS AND HARBORS BACTERIA AND BUGS! I think trash is super disgusting and it has to get out of my house every single night! I don't need to explain this one any further!!!
So -- although these are VERY basic cleaning tasks, doing all 5 of these every single day helps keep our house spotless. Although I do stay at home all the time now and have much more time to clean... I find myself having much more time to do EVERYTHING else, too! Since the house stays tidied up, I have less to do everyday.
Feel free to share any house-tidying tips -- I'd love to hear!