This post is sponsored by the makers of Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes, the quick and easy way to clean and disinfect your home!
I get a lot of emails asking about my cleaning schedule after I wrote about my typical day on Joanna’s blog. I truly do not love cleaning, but I know that I’m so much happier with life when my house is clean. Don’t you feel the same way?
A couple years ago, right after I had Claire and when Gracie was old enough to really start doing some damage, I was feeling like I would never have a clean house again. (I also thought there was a good chance I would never get to sleep through the night again. :) good times) I was picking up the house all week long it felt like, and then I would do all my laundry and deep cleaning on the weekends. That meant my Saturday was completely gone and that the house was totally dirty again by Monday morning. Stresses me out just thinking about it.
Then one time I was visiting a friend’s house who had three rambunctious toddler boys. I walked into her house for the first time and my jaw dropped. Her house was CLEAN. Like, I’m not talking about tidy – tidy is not always possible during the day with kids, but it was clean. She is one of those amazing mothers who is really active with her kids, so I knew she didn’t spend all day neglecting her boys to clean the house. I was surprised and a little jealous of her sparkly floors so I begged her to share her secret. She laughed and said she kept a chore chart, which I thought was hilarious! What grown woman has a chore chart?! Suddenly I had to have one!
I copied her chart and have been using a slightly tweaked version ever since. I can’t say that I’m always following through here, but when I do, my house is practically spotless and best of all, I don’t feel like I am cleaning all the time – which honestly was the hardest part for me of being a stay at home mom in the early years.
It looks like a lot, but I think even on the most intense days I’m only spending 30 or 40 minutes in aggregate cleaning (though we live in a 1500 sq ft apartment, so your home might require a little more time). I’ve listed the chart here below, and here’s a simple printable version.
So the basic idea is this: there are daily chores – easy things you should take care of almost habitually in the morning and in the night, and then there is a single special chore of the day. Most of these chores end up getting done once a week (for example, every Monday I do a deep vacuuming of all our rugs. I took only one interior design class in college and I only remember a handful of things from that class. One of them was a tangential comment my professor made about vacuuming. She said that you should go over the same area on a rug SEVEN times super slowly to get it clean. Isn’t that just nuts? I don’t do that, but I do try to do a slow vacuuming on Mondays.). Friday though is the swing day, where you rotate in chores that need to be done less frequently, like scrubbing the microwave.
I’ll walk you through today’s cleaning schedule. It’s Tuesday. I wake up and make our bed. It won’t get done unless I make it as soon as I get up. The girls are getting good about making their beds too. After I finish getting ready I wipe down the bathroom counters and the sink. While I’m making the kids breakfast I empty out the dishwasher.
Then life happens and the house sort of falls apart during the day.
Then at night the girls help me clear the table and load the dishwasher. Michael does the trashes. Once the kids are in bed I quickly sweep or vacuum the kitchen and dining room and I might pop into the living room too. I keep a wet rag with me and as I go I’ll spot clean the floor. My goal is fast and furious cleaning!
And here’s where my baskets come into play. I keep them everywhere. I really love this basket that I posted about yesterday because it is super sturdy and holds its shape. I zip through my house every night with this basket, throwing in every misplaced item, then going back to each room once and put the things back where they belong. It takes me just a few minutes to pick up a day’s worth of clutter this way. No more running back and forth and back and forth from room to room putting things away. Try the basket method – you’ll never go back!
Plus – another bonus of having your pretty baskets out in every room? If you have a friend coming over right away, you can just corral everything in the basket super fast and no one’s the wiser.
Once the house has been de-cluttered, I do my chore of the day (today was cleaning the mirrors and windows), and then I’m done! It might sound like a lot, but I promise it isn’t. When I’m consistent with this schedule, I never have to do one of those marathon cleaning days to get back to ground zero. The house never has a chance to get really dirty, so the cleaning never feels like a true chore. It feels easy and, dare I say it? Pleasant?
So that’s my approach to cleaning in a nutshell. I know we all have our special tricks, and I’d LOVE to hear yours!
Today’s super-sized give away is $350 to Target AND $150 to the Container Store and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment sharing your favorite cleaning or organization tip. I can’t wait to see what you guys do to keep your spaces sparkling! Any other crazies out there with a chore chart? :)
Contest ends March 22. Winner will be announced on the 23rd. Contest rules can be read in full here. Good luck!!
My grandma always did the 'wet' cleaning on Mon and 'dry' cleaning on tues. I'm lucky if I get to it once a month! But when I do I always use good old vinegar. Works better than anything else out there for floors.
I try to do one load of laundry every day since it's my least favorite thing to do. I LOVE cleaning the bathrooms! I keep small plastic baskets in the drawers to help keep them organized.
I'm ashamed to admit I have no "plan of attack" for cleaning. My apartment is small and although you'd think it would take no time to clean, it gets dusty and dirty — and anyone who walks in the door can see the mess. Ugh. Thanks for these ideas…will try to implement them in honor of "spring cleaning" time!
I've been meaning to do a chore chart for myself – I think today is the day! I love the baskets, too. Such a great way to stash clutter without shoving it all into a drawer… which I'm sure I've never done… :-)
My favorite cleaning tip is to do laundry ALL on one day. I like having all 3 kids laundry baskets empty and not worrying about it again for a week!
Making sure everything has a place… if there isn't space, maybe it's time to donate!
I feel like cooking and cleaning the kitchen takes the most time out of my days. So I prepare a menu during the weekend, shop for everything i need and then prep and chop as much of it as I can on Sunday, including salads for lunches etc. Then for busy week nights everything has been measured and I can just toss it into pans or put the dish directly in the oven. I f I am running late I can call my oldest daughter to start things too.
The less "stuff" we have, the easier it is to keep organized. I also just try to do things when I have the time and energy rather than putting them off.
During weeks when I'm really busy, my keep the house sane trick is to spend 5 minutes in each room (using a timer) to do a quick pick up without taking too much time. It's amazing what you can get done in 5 minutes! And another variant on that, which my mom used to make picking up a bit of a game when we were kids, to go into a room and have a contest to see who could put away 5 or 10 things the quickest. My little one is only 6 months old, but she definitely has this "game" waiting for her in a few years.
I like your chore chart – especially for my small apt and no kids (yet) to clean up after this would be a painless and quick process. The only other technique I use is always purging stuff I don't need and giving it to charity. We generally use a one in one out process for new clothing, shoes, etc. Keeps a small condo manageable!
I love your chart! And I am also a true believer in the "basket method" of tidying up. Before I started using a basket I would pick something up in one room, take it to where it belonged, where I would promptly get distracted and start a new chore before going back to the chore I started with. I wasted a lot of time. But with my basket at my side – not anymore!
Favorite organizing tip is to have lots of ziplock bags to put away things like, nuts, bolts, nails, toothpicks. etc…
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I do a few loads of laundry every day. If I make sure it is sorted and ready the night before, then I can put it in as soon as I wake up. I usually have a couple of loads finished and folded by the time my girls leave for school.
I do a few loads of laundry every day. If I make sure it is sorted and ready the night before, then I can put it in as soon as I wake up. I usually have a couple of loads finished and folded by the time my girls leave for school.
I do a few loads of laundry every day. If I make sure it is sorted and ready the night before, then I can put it in as soon as I wake up. I usually have a couple of loads finished and folded by the time my girls leave for school.
I do my chores according to Television. No really. I TiVo everything, and if I want to watch Real Housewives of Whatever, I know that that means I have to fold laundry while I do it. If I want to watch The Bachelor, I know I'll also be dusting and cleaning windows. The Walking Dead is sorting mail, because whenever a scene is too scary, I can pretend I'm reading the Michaels ad.
Wow! I love this chart! I've starred it in Reader and will be printing and using it.
One of my tips is to get a cleaner you can actually stand to smell. I love using Method's All Purpose Cleaner in Pink Grapefruit. That citrus-y scent makes everything feel fresher and entices me to clean.
Every night, no matter how many dishes there are in it, I run my dishwasher. On the nights I don't do it for some reason, the next day the dishes get out of control. It always feels great to get up in the morning, put away the dishes and start fresh with an empty dishwasher for the day. I also love Clorox wipes and have them in my kitchen, both bathrooms and laundry room. I use them for everything. Thank you for the great contest! I love your blog. Sincerely, Patti Hill Livonia, Michigan
I do a load of laundry a day and try to clean up the kitchen during meal prep. I keep a sink full of soapy hot water and clean as I go.
I listen to podcasts while I clean – it makes me forget a little about what I'm doing…
I just try to make sure my kitchen is clean before I go to bed. Then I try to straighten up in the mornings before I leave for work, especially Friday mornings. I'm much less stressed out when I start the weekend with a straight apartment.
In a required "Family Living" class I took in high school, I learned only one thing and have never forgotten it. The principle of organization = A place for everything and everything in its place. It helps to keep me from making piles of placeless items around the house.
For the general cleaning, I have a cleaning chart but then for organization, I have a ridiculous number of bins – in all sizes – that keep everything in its place.
I live in an old house with wide trim that seems to collect dust daily! To minimize the dust, I wipe the trim down with dryer cloths. They are cheap & the dust clings right to them!
i am generally a messy girl who doesn't have room to put away all my clothes and shoes. :) recently, i have decided to tackle the clutter in my bedroom by cleaning 20 minutes a day, no more and no less. that keeps me motivated to do it and not dread it. and it really makes a difference!
Oh man I am a CLEAN FREAK!! And Im not just saying this but Clorox wipes have SAVED me! I use them in my kitchen after dinner, in my bathroom after I get ready to wipe up the hair, makeup, etc. They are the best! They keep my house clean on a daily basis.
I feel more at peace & happy when my home is tidy and clean. My best tips are 1- do laundry every day. 2- microfiber cloths work wonders. i have one color for the kitchen and another color for bathrooms and floors. 3- stay on top of the paper monster!
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i don't have a schedule and can always improve my habits, so your post and all of these comments are inspirational. baskets, keeping clorox wipes under all the sinks, and vacuuming are my standards.
I could definitely use some new cleanine tips. I do like to seperate my clothes from my boyfriend's in the laundry in mesh bags. Less sorting! Thanks Jenny!
I am a tried and true believer in the basket method too!!
I've wanted to come up with a chore plan for awhile. Great methods! It seems like the best way to make a system like this work is to keep it simple — like the baskets method.
I've wanted to come up with a chore plan for awhile. Great methods! It seems like the best way to make a system like this work is to keep it simple — like the baskets method.
My mom always told me growing up that all the floors need to be done on the same day if they're going to stay clean. I find that it works pretty well to keep the hard floors swept and then mop and vacuum once a week. If I do that, my house gets less dusty and my floors stay cleaner.
Also, hot water makes cleaning a breeze. It cuts through dirt and grease wonderfully! I just make sure to wear gloves when I'm handling it.
Put everything away as soon as you're done using it! Also, ammonia. You have to ventilate and be careful, but it cleans so well it's worth it!
I confess….I have a chore chart too!!
Bins and baskets are everywhere in my house too…definitely a universal solution to everyday clutter:)
I fall into the "all-day cleaning every once in a while" category, but I really need to use this chore chart! I've tried to use other charts before, but so many of them are tweaked for people living in houses with laundry machines & dishwashers as a default, and nyc apartments just aren't the same. Thank you!
I never leave a room without taking something with me that needs to go back to its spot. I need to be better about forcing my kids to clean up!
My husband and I often do a *mad dash cleaning session*: we set the timer for 20 minutes and clean everything we can within that 20 minutes. We usually end up making it a competition and laugh ourselves through the 20 minutes.
lately, the best way for us to stay neat and organized was having the whole apartment painted! we were thrown into enormous chaos as everything we owned was displaced. But as we've put everything back together, we've been purging like mad. The chore chart is inspiring, I think I have to implement this!
My favorite organizational tip: everything has its place!
My tip is along the lines of your chore list, each day I get the house back to "base" it may not be spotless but everything is picked up and tidy. I also believe everything should have a place and should be in it's place. If I am running out of storage it means I must purge. I try not to keep things I don't love or find useful.
Once my boyfriend and I moved in together I realized very quickly that we needed a chore chart. All the "i clean more than you" feelings are not good for relationships! Now we have a day and chore for each person and we can spend our time together talking about other things, not chores!
Thanks for the opportunity for this big win!
I am trying to have my girls take their shopping carts around the house every night to pick up their things to take back to their rooms. So cute to see them both pushing their carts and "shopping" for their toys!
I like the idea of the chore chart and honestly, I was just thinking the other day that I needed one! I think the biggest impact for me is clearing off the kitchen table and counters.. they always accumulate so much stuff!!
For our newborn, we used those light zipper cloth organizers from ikea (you buy them flat and they pop up) to store and categorize his things. We have one with diapers/wipes/cream, one for socks, one for his toiletries and it is easy moving them from room to room to where the baby is at the moment. Similar to your basket idea I guess.
And I wipe down one shelf of his toys or books daily because if I did it all at once I'd lose it.
Cleaning charts are a great idea. I minimize messes by taking my toddler to the park as often as possible! Things get really messy really fast in our small flat. The more time we are out and about the better!
Since we're in the middle of renovating everything, I can't keep up with the amount of dirt/dust/puppy fur that happens to collect. So, I've taken to dusting at least once a week on the weekends. Luckily, I have a great BF that is willing to do some of the other chores.
Because i still live alone I am a sunday cleaner i like to leave all of the stuff until sunday and then perform a MASSIVE clean.
I agree with another comment – fold and put away the laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer – less wrinkles and it doesn't just hang around on the bed or couch creating more clutter. I also LOOOOVE the Mr. Clean Magic Sponges – they really are magical in removing all kinds of spots/smudges.
I need lots of help in the cleaning department! But, I think the biggest help in making the house feel clean is to put things away immediately… and pick up each night.
Great post! Unfortunately I often let things wait till the weekend and do a marathon day of cleaning on Saturday. When I do clean, vinegar and baking soda are my miracle workers when I have any kind of stain/smudge/spot that won't budge!