No one needs me to say that cleaning isn’t the most glamorous job. Sure, we can put our music on blast and pretend we’re not vacuuming crushed crackers out of the carpet; in actuality, though, most of us wish we could do it less or at least make it easier. Well, look no further, y’all, because there are ways to make your home easier to clean—we have them right here.
Organize
Growing up, I always heard it said, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Well, there’s a reason I always heard it said. It works! When everything in the house has a spot, clutter virtually vanishes. Find baskets and shelves to put all your odds and ends from old magazines to toys. Then go through the storage areas like your pantry and linen closet; make sure everything has a spot there, too. If you notice there’s a lot of stuff you just can’t find a place for, consider finding it a home in the donation bin.
Stick to Eating Areas for Dinner
Dinner can be open season sometimes, especially when there’s something good on TV and everyone want to cozy up on the couch at dinner. However, a dinner plate is like a painter’s pallet of stains and your living room is a potential canvas. If you make dinnertime a strictly tabletop affair, you keep all the food mess to one spot which is way easier to clean. And, if you want to have a movie night in front of the TV, bring out an old blanket for your kids to eat on. They’ll have fun with their indoor picnic, and your floors will have fun not getting covered in ketchup and gravy.
Fewer Things on the Counter
Real estate on a kitchen counter is in high-demand between your appliances, knife blocks, cookbooks, and old mail. Not only does all the clutter make it hard to find anything, but it makes wiping down the counter after you’re done cooking difficult. Can anyone say crumbs from two weeks ago? If you try to keep your counters clutter-free, wiping them down becomes the work of approximately forty-five seconds and the space looks neater.
Clean the Mess When It’s Still Small
I know, I tricked you. The whole point of this was that we were going to clean less. Ultimately, though, it’s easier to maintain a clean house than it is to clean a dirty one. Start small. Declutter a little at the end of the day so that you don’t have to fight a toy tsunami. Wipe the counter and stove down after dinner, so you don’t have to remove 6-month-old grime with a chisel. The house doesn’t have to be perfect, but little habits like this will stress you out less. We can’t escape cleaning, but we can make it easier on ourselves by finding ways to make our homes easier to clean.
