apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I must sweep the floor at least every two days because with dogs and a 9 month old crawling around, the dog hair can get pretty disgusting if the floors are not swept at least that often. I also check the fridge for leftovers or things that are going off about every two days because the fridge is another place where things quickly can get out of control. Lastly, the toys have to be put into their bins at the end of the night. If they are on the floor, the house ends of up looking like a total disaster. At least if the toys are picked up, I can see the floor and I know that much is clean!

I get my kids (5 & 3) to help pick up their toys every day before bed time. It's now part of our routine. I also finally started sweeping our kitchen & dining rooms at the end of each day (well, sometimes it needs it more than once) after the kids are in bed. That has helped with the overall tracking of crumbs everywhere.

Cleaning the kitchen (at very least, tidying it up/loading dishwasher and/or handwashing dirty dishes) is crucial. Waking up to a messy, dirty kitchen in the morning throws my whole day out of whack!

That sink is gorgeous, any idea where I would find that?
The only thing that I have to clean everyday is the dishes and clear the kitchen counter, can't stand the clutter that accumulates. Also, my 2 yr. old son has a toy vacuum, so every few days, when I need to vacuum, he's eager to help out.

I'm very anti-clutter. No dishes in the sink ever. No big piles of jackets out. Shoes can be left out on one little rug I have by the door. My downfall is mail . . . I have a box that it is supposed to go in but it just piles up in the box and overtakes a corner of the counter. But I've noticed that if I keep the big clutter out of the main room, the dust and carpet bunnies are a little less of an eyesore.

When we had a crawler, we vacuumed and swept every morning before breakfast. We keep the kitchen and bathroom sinks and counters wiped off (and cleared off therefore) - the one not giving the bath does the kitchen at night, and the bathroom wipe-off happens with a wipe after toothbrushing in the morning when water is everywhere anyway. We make the beds after getting dressed, and change them every Saturday morning. We vacuum our one carpeted room when we have, have, HAVE to.

We do a deep cleaning once every six weeks of the kitchen and bathroom, it takes two hours. We don't dust ever and rarely mop, two things that were part of my routine before.

Good enough was a new thing for me, and overall the house is at an even level of tidy all the time now, versus cluttered-to-spotless all the time like before.

My secret is having cleaners once a week.

For every toy that comes, two must leave. I do not use storage bins; if I have that much to store, I'm doing something wrong and not giving enough away.

Keep things organized and put away to avoid clutter. This is daily.

I hate clutter but I know kids love to see their toys out so I deal with it until bed time. Then I clean up what they haven't.
When they are big enough they pick up what they are able to before they take more toys out.
My grandma and mom always said "Never leave a room empty handed" So when I leave one room and there is something that belongs in another room I take that with me, if there is something in that room I take t to where it belongs.

Great post, I am a firm believer in not letting chores and cleaning take over our lives: clean enough is good enough!!! We do a quick tidy up round the house before meals, everyone gets a room and packs up anything that may have come out: books, toys, cushion forts and so on!!! We have quite a strict rule that "things" don't travel from room to room...

Otherwise we do chores twice a day: about half an hour before breakfast: clean the bathroom, hang the laundry and so on... and in the evening before supper: clean the kitchen surfaces, pack the laundry away and clean up any messy projects.

The kitchen I clean as we go throughout the day, as we finish a meal the dishes get loaded into the washer and whoever finishes first sweeps under the table...

I guess for us its all about keeping the chaos in check and meals are our great motivation: as soon as we finish we eat!!!

Here is a post on chores for kids I did recently, and how we keep the chaos vaguely under control:

http://www.se7en.org.za/2009/08/28/se7en-chores-and-life-skills-we-do

clean schween. I want to know where I can get that wall-mounted trough sink in the photo.

Flylady!!

Seriously. I resisted for a long time, but now I've been on Flylady for over a month, and the difference in my apartment is amazing. Flylady routines are a lot like the ones listed above.

I second the Flylady suggestion (www.flylady.net). It is an awful overwhelming lot of emails at first, but if you set up smart email filters and give yourself permission to delete some even though you haven't read them all, it's perfect.

In Germany, there is a saying: "Dirt cleans the stomach" (Dreck reinigt den Magen) -- it doesn't have to be spotless, and small children will eat a handful of dust or dirt every now and then anyway.

Every night after my daughter goes to sleep, I take 30 minutes to do these things:
- put toys/books away in toy box and bins
- tidy kitchen
- tidy livingroom/diningroom
- tidy front door area
This makes a big difference to my stress levels the following day. Then, once a week (usually saturdays during nap time) I vacuum, deep clean the kitchen/bathroom, and dust.

Wow! Reading these comments makes me feel like a dirty freak or something, and I had thought I was pretty tidy. Although I have a dog, a cat, and an 8-month-old crawler, I limit my real cleaning (mopping, vacuuming, sweeping, and scrubbing bathrooms, and mopping) to two hours on the weekends. Sometimes I'll even skip a weekend if we need to do yard work, or I decide that it would really be better for our sanity if we had an impromptu picnic in the park instead. Sure, our floors are often covered in dust and pet hair, and these things often wind up on my son's knees, but I try not to stress out about it. After all, both my husband and I work full time, so there's plenty of things other than dirt to stress out about.

The one thing I'm a stickler for is clutter. So, as soon as I walk through the door (my husband and son are already home), I spend 15 minutes in a decluttering frenzy: throwing out the junkmail, putting everyone's shoes and bags in closets, hanging up discarded clothing, etc. Then I have a beer and chill out with my guys before we start on dinner together. Just before bed, I do the same thing all over again (minus the beer), so that I don't wake up to clutter in the morning. Yeah, we may be "dirty" but it's good enough for now.

Oh, and I keep Method cleaning wipes under the bathroom sink, so that whenever I feel the sink or the tub or the toilet is really dirty (usually just before a guest arrives), I've give them a quick once-over. Those Method cleaning wipes work remarkably well.

We try to keep things clean enough for company everyday or every other day... no stuff left around the house, no clutter and all. Kitchen floor usto get cleaned everyday and vacuuming was done daily... now it's weekly, along with sanitizing. Fridge and cabinets checked for expiration dates monthly and rearranging decorations is done monthly. Things that need a new place get put into to-do piles for a month to see how enormous that pile gets then purchase storage for it accordingly.

A housekeeper once a week for deep cleaning is the last luxury I would ever give up. Total sanity saver.

She doesn't currently do the laundry but we are considering that as well. We are up to seven loads a week.

Having enough of everything so laundry can be done once a week, except for diapers which get every other day.

No clutter. Toddler is learning how to pick up toys before he starts a new one.

Kitchen clean at the end of the day.

The one thing I cannot do without is the evening kitchen cleanup. That way in the morning, I can enjoy a little time doing a project with my daughter instead of cleaning the kitchen.

Our home has 2 floors, so I rotate. One week, upstairs, the next I clean the main floor, with the exception of vaccuuming our main living space every three days. That makes a difference in how clean our home feels.

I stay on top of the laundry. Even if there is only one load of laundry, I put it in. This makes all the difference in my sanity.

Thanks for the great post:)

Cleaners every other week is a HUGE help. They scrub and mop (I used to only mop when it was absolutely mandatory and then only the kitchen - they do the whole house!).

We
Like someone else said, never leave a room empty handed, or from my table waiting days - consolidate trips.

I have my 3 year old do as much as he can with his stuff. No new toys out until other toys are away, take your shoes to your room and shoe tray, take your plate to the kitchen...

I try to wipe/clean as something needs it/happens.

Part of my post got stripped? ... my husband and I are fans of our roomba vacuum - it helps with clean up a ton.