We have a family of 6. Right now, my kids range from 4 to 13 (my oldest will be 14 in a few more days). If we don’t make keeping the house clean a priority, things just get dumped and dropped all in the front of the house. I really do think the worst days are when we’re home just long enough to get ready, eat, and leave; get home and dump everything when we walk in the door. Even when life gets busy, it helps to have practical tips for a tidy home.
Over the years, I have listened to countless hours of podcasts on housekeeping and home organization. These are the best tips I’ve come across. These aren’t just great ideas, these are the nuggets we use all the time to keep our house “tidy.” To be honest, my house stays in pretty good shape most of the time. It’s definitely the worst when we’re swapping out seasonal clothes from the attic or decorating/undecorating for Christmas.
With six people, I would say our house also looks “lived in.” However, since we’ve been using these tips, my home is ready for summer company to just drop by to swim in the pool pretty much every day. It isn’t embarrassing for someone to just drop by. Also, I used to spend all week before a party decluttering and tidying the front of the house. Now, we’re about 30 minutes from it being straightened and ready for any event.
Let’s jump right in to the top 4 tips for keeping a tidy house!
The “1-touch Rule”
This is just like it sounds. When you walk in the door with arms full of stuff, you put everything straight where it belongs. If you open a box from amazon, you put the items straight into their homes. The key is: you only touch it once and put it straight where it goes instead of setting it down somewhere and having to touch it later. This makes the hugest difference when you first get home. If six people drop everything right in the doorway and all over the island, the entryway just got a lot messier. It only takes about 1 more minute to put backpacks, purses, and other items where they belong. I don’t always feel like taking that extra moment to do this, but it makes a huge difference later.
Everything Has a Home
The first rule only really works when you have the second one in place: Everything has a home. Things need to have a place where they belong. It’s a lot easier if it’s near where you use it. I’ve found this tip really helps when I’m decluttering a random pile. Some things just don’t belong anywhere yet. So, assign it a home and put it there. What makes the most sense? Make sure your family knows as well. If you’re organizing an entire cabinet or drawer and not telling anyone else, it probably won’t stay that way. My husband has gotten to where he’ll just ask me where something is that he is looking for, because chances are pretty high I’ve got it organized and put away somewhere. It sounds simple, but make sure every item in your house has a “home.” It’s impossible to put something up if it doesn’t go anywhere in the first place.
10-minute Speed Clean
The kids and I do two 10-minute power cleans each day after lunch, one in the front of the house and one in the bedrooms. First, I set a 10-minute timer on the stove. The kids team-work straightening the living room (putting away toys, throwing away trash, straightening pillows on the couch), while I work on the kitchen (clearing clutter from the island and counters and table). Because we do this pretty much every day, the front of the house stays mostly clean.
It isn’t perfect. Yes, my 4-year-old will probably bring out a few more toys before bedtime (like in the picture above), but it makes a huge difference. When we do this every day, it stays tidy; when we miss three or four days in a row, stuff accumulates all over the front of the house. Sometimes I do add time if we skipped a few days or the kids are just sitting around during the speed clean instead of cleaning. When we get super busy and miss a few days, I’ve found that just one or two 10-minute speed cleans has the front of the house looking normal again. Some days, I’m not even having to tell the kids to do it because they’re already working thru their chore list and knocking it out. Other days, I’m having to be a drill sergeant and make sure every item gets picked up. Lately, my 4-year-old has been jumping in and cleaning it on his own before anyone else gets in there because he wants to earn tech time on his kindle.
The key is to have a speed-clean as part of the daily routine. It’s amazing how much you can get done in just 10 minutes. After we do 10 minutes in the front of the house, we do the same thing in the back. I do my bedroom, make our bed, straighten the bathrooms, and make sure the hall is nice and empty. The kids work on their rooms. I have found that they do better when the room is mostly straight to do a quick clean-up or if they have something specific to pick up (like put all dirty clothes in the hamper, pick up all “legos”). When it gets extra messy, actually spending 10 minutes in there overseeing and helping put things in their home really helps (especially in the boys room). If I don’t do this, they get overwhelmed and just play while I speed-clean my room. Once it’s clean, they are usually excited and want to keep it that way.
Start the Dishwasher Every Single Day
This is essential for a family of 6. Feel free to adjust it to your own needs. When we have company, I find myself starting a load after lunch and again after dinner. If it’s just me and Rusty at home (which rarely happens), then I can get away with starting it every other day. What works best for us is loading and starting the dishwasher before bed every night. When we get up, the sooner we unload it, the more dishes can be put right into the dishwasher as they’re used throughout the day. If we get busy with school in the morning, sometimes it’s after lunch before we get to unloading. However, just taking a few minutes to get one of the kids to unload and me to load makes dinner dishes that night that much faster. It’s so much easier to clean dishes from one meal instead of three; and it’s a night-and-day different task than cleaning dishes from multiple days once all the food has hardened and stuck to everything.
Every single night, my sink is empty and clean, and the dishwasher is going, ready for the following day. The older my kids get, the more they are able to help with this chore. Even when I do it on my own, it doesn’t take much time to: unload the dishwasher after breakfast, load everything right after lunch, and then do a kitchen clean-up each night. Also, my whole family helps with kitchen clean-up each night. I do the dishes, my boys take turns wiping and drying the counters and table, my daughter vacuums the floor, and even my husband helps put up all the food. When we have already done some dishes earlier in the day, this is usually a 15 or 20 minute task and the kitchen stays clean.
Do These Tips Make a Difference?
These are the top 4 tips that have really helped us over the years. They are now an integral part of our daily routine. It’s literally just a few minutes here and a few minutes there. It helps to prevent those out-of-control messes that stress you out and those embarrassing moments when someone drops by out of the blue. Because it’s part of the routine, you can enjoy the moments that really matter instead of having to spend hours cleaning the house. Like I said before, our house looks “lived in,” but it doesn’t have to stay a mess. Even little ones can learn how to straighten up. My four-year-old is one of my best cleaners. If you have multiple kids in your home below the age of 5, I would also give yourself grace. Having big bins you can dump toys into helps so things have a place to go. Kids will only be small for so long. Before you know it, you’ll have teenagers who can help wash the dishes for you. Until then, teaching them how to do these small steps as part of their daily routine will help them learn how to keep their surroundings in order and will help your day have less stress and be ready for anything that comes your way (and anyone who drops by).