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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!!
For our family of seven it has helped to have a detailed chore chart for each room. I have tasks broken down to daily & weekly and so when a child is assigned a room they know exactly what to do. I also put these lists into page protectors so they can mark off each job as they go. It has made life so much easier for all of us! No more, "what do I do next?" or "I didn't know I had to do that." Yay!
I start a load of laundry every morning so that laundry never piles up.
My older children are 8 and 10 so they are old enough to help around the house. I have dry erase boards hanging in the kitchen with their 'daily' chore list. I thought it was going to be a fight, listing all the chores for each day, but they are excited to 'check' off one of their chores so they can finish! They also get $1 per day that they finish their chores, and it helps me a LOT!
Love you plan! With 2 small children I feel like it never gets done…..
I have learned tho at nap time to give my self 20 minutes of me time and then tackle the chores, which will now be one a day- your method! thanks again!!!
Every morning I wake up, make my bed, and put all of the clutter from my bedroom floor/chair/tabletop on my bed before I leave for work. Forces me to put everything away before turning the covers down that night!
twelvetwelveblog.blogspot.com
Every morning I wake up, make my bed, and put all of the clutter from my bedroom floor/chair/tabletop on my bed before I leave for work. Forces me to put everything away before turning the covers down that night!
twelvetwelveblog.blogspot.com
My favorite cleaning tip is to only touch the mail once! As soon as you get the mail, open it and put it where it needs to go (i.e. right in the trash, in a "bills to pay" folder, or on a bulletin board if it's an invitation or something). Do NOT put the pile of mail back down until it is sorted. :-)
I dont really have a routine and don't have much to clean, since I live on my own in a tiny apartment. But, I do like to make sure I leave my house each morning as a clean space.
Makes life so much easier after a long busy day at work.
I love the chore chart!!
I have a bucket for donations in my son's room. He grows out of stuff so fast, it's just easier to keep it in there, and make a trip to goodwill once every couple of months.
An old-school trick my mother taught me was after you Windex your windows, wipe down the glass with crumpled newspaper – no streaks!
Once a month, we open the windows in the kitchen while we pour a little ammonia on the stovetop and cover it with plastic wrap to seal in the fumes. We let it sit for a few hours or overnight. Then, with the windows open again, we unseal it, soak up the ammonia with paper towels and the burned-on stains wipe right off.
I love the chore chart! So much so, it inspired me to clean my bathroom counters this morning before work and I felt so much better for it!
Ok, here are my tips:
1. Everyday make an effort to go through your mail right away and purge all the junk mail into your paper recycling bin. This way you won't end up with a nasty mess later in the week.
2. Try and load the dishwasher as you go… this is hard for me to do but it helps to keep the sink clean.
Last Tip. Pick a cleaning day for the large stuff and knock it out in the AM.
:)
Loved the post! I like having 2 baskets of toys for my one year old in our living room – one contains toys that you would just need to throw in the basket to clean up. The other contains toys that takes me time to put them all together and in their place. So, if she is just going to play for a couple minutes before going somewhere I get out the basket full of easy to clean up toys!
My favorite tips are using toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes to organize small appliance cords. I like using the closure/date tags from bread packaging to label cords. Take a microwavable bowl with water in it and half a lemon and nuke this in your microwave for 5+ minutes, it steams the nasty gunk off the sides of the microwave and leaves a lemony smell behind. I use oven cleaner on hard to clean pots and pans. I use Clorox bleach to sanitize just about everything from the bathtub to the kitchen sink.
I love the chore chart! Thanks for sharing :) My hair sheds like crazy so the dustbuster is my best friend. I "dustbust" the bathroom floors every day after I blowdry my hair in the morning.
I make a cleaning list for me to do, and one for the hubby! This is equal opportunity employment!
My favorite cleaning tip is….when washing towels put a little bit of white vinegar into the wash along with the detergent and the towels come out extra clean and odor free.
I don't have a really good tip, but I love the chore chart. Once school ends in May, I'm not going back and will be a full time SAHM. I've been thinking about how my days are going to be organized and this is great!
I buy only white sheets and white washcloths. Doing so lessens the amount of laundry sorting I have to do, plus I can bleach these guys without fear whenever they get dingy and need a pick-me-up.
I've been thinking about "routine-izing" the apartment cleaning. Right now it's do laundry most days, vacuum on Fridays, run the dishwasher and scoop the litter boxes every night, and tidy up before the kids go to bed (so they can help). Bed gets made every morning, and everyone puts their clothes in the hamper at night. I need to get better about cleaning, not just tidying, so your list looks very helpful!
I keep a container of wipes in every bathroom, so I don't have to carry cleaning supplies everywhere. That way whenever I'm in a bathroom with a spare minute, I just grab a wipe and do a quick clean of the sink, counter, tub, whatever needs it.
Basically, have a place for everything. And edit, edit, edit. Get rid of stuff you don't use! Love your cleaning chart.
I keep a little basket in each bedroom to collect miscellaneous items that somehow accumulate throughout the day. I go through the basket (with my kids, in their room, to get them into the habit) twice a week and put away or donate things we don't need. It's help keep clutter at bay in our home. Well, as much as possible with 3 kids under 4:)
And they're not allowed to take toys out of the playroom. That's helped me a lot.
i agree with you about making the bed as soon as i get out of it – otherwise not a chance!
my favorite organization tip would have to be using tupperware that i cant find lids to in the fridge. i corral small bottles of condiments and spices on the fridge rack door and everything stays upright and nice and tidy!
jordan
http://www.queenofla.blogspot.com
jordanmarisasilverman@gmail.com
I am THE WORST housekeeper. I don't see the mess until it's out of control. Trying to get better though and your plan sounds so simple. Thanks for sharing.
I keep all my bathroom supplies in bins/small containers in my cupboard. If I need something, I can just pull the bins out and everything stays organized.
We try to be as green as we are clean in our home, so we make our own all purpose cleaner by mixing 1/3 water, 1/3 white vinegar, and 1/3 rubbing alcohol. We also reuse the spray bottle so there's no extra waste.
I try to organize each part of the room to a play list/dancing. It makes cleaning so much more fun and I feel like it helps me have a little more of a boost to my day!
I do every room in sections and have a play list set for every room. It makes cleaning so much more enjoyable and it makes me feel ten times more energized
To be honest I do not have any cleaning or organizing tips. I feel like im always cleaning, everyday. And I leave the big stuff; mopping floors & cleaning bathrooms for Sunday. Then my whole day is gone to cleaning. It's no fun. I am willing to give the chore calendar a go!
I clean my kitchen pretty much every morning first thing. For some reason I can't function unless me kitchen is clean. Then the rest of the day depends on errands and how much laundry needs to be done. I have recently started letting the kids (3 boys-ages 7,8,and 9) help clean "big stuff" like vacuuming floors and couches, dusting the living room, etc.
I don't know if I have an tips really. But all laundry must be done on the weekend. Every last sock and rag. And I keep a big bucket in the living room for toys. At the end of the day I dump everything in there, and I can move it to another room if I don't want to look at it!
My tip is to spend a little time each day on the "hot spots" where clutter accumulates – for me, it's the kitchen table because it's next to the door and is where mail and other random things often pile up. Staying on top of this has helped immensely!
I have bins for overflow of bathroom, laundry and office supplies. Rather than keep extra pens, tape, toothbrushes etc. in the given room….I have like a supply cabinet that holds everything. Picture a supply cabinet at work. When the toothpaste runs out, we grab another from the supply. This serves two purposes…keeps our everyday areas less cluttered, plus the kids are more sparing with the supply instead of using it up, because they know a replacement is right there.
A cleaning tip is run the dishwasher often! We always say that we are USING the kitchen, and that's a good thing! And it keeps e smells of dirty dishes away :)
In place of a broom or dustmop, I use my Rainbow vacuum to vacuum all my floors (mostly hardwood; tile in bathrooms and laundry room.) Once a week I vacuum baseboards, window ledges, chair rails, and ceiling corners where cobwebs would form. And I have a stack of cleaning cloths and bottle of Charlie's Soap Kitchen & Bath cleaner under every sink so I can easily wipe down the surfaces daily. (I use Charlie's because it does not bother my allergies.)
i love your cleaning schedule! doing one thing every day definitely cuts down on the stress-factor of it. another thing i do is one load of laundry each day. with 4 kids, it helps keep things moving and seem less intimidating.
I do 15 minute cleaning sessions. Set an alarm and clean as much as I can until I hear it go off. Then, I'm done. It's amazing how much cleaner it is afterwards.
I use these really nifty chore packs for my children. It gets them involved with keeping our clean and give me a little more free time too! Plus all their chores are written out on cards for them to see easily what needs doing and when, so we can go through the house room by room and all do our work together…
I use these really nifty chore packs for my children. It gets them involved with keeping our clean and give me a little more free time too! Plus all their chores are written out on cards for them to see easily what needs doing and when, so we can go through the house room by room and all do our work together…
I loved your chore chart and will definitely be trying it. You make cleaning sound like a breeze! I try to do a load of laundry every night. Then when the weekend rolls around I don't have a huge pile waiting for me!
What a great chore chart! I like to spray the shower walls and tiles/tub with whatever cleaner I think the tub needs at that time (bleach or a green bathroom all purpose cleaner) a few minutes before I get into the shower and then I quickly scrub it with a bathroom scrub I keep in there all the time, then I rinse. takes just a couple of minutes and the bathroom never gets too much residue!
I used to be great at keeping a clean house, and this is the perfect encouragement I need to start up again!
I am going to try some scheduling because I feel that the house gets out of hand for me and I spend all Saturday cleaning. My one rule that has worked for me is to never go to bed with a dirty kitchen.
I fold the laundry while I watch a little TV in the evening, then I get the kids to help me put it away the next morning. Their help makes it take a little longer, but I'm hoping that the training will pay off in the long run!
I invite my mother over regularly. Nothing motivates you to wipe down base boards and teeter atop ladders to dust ceiling fan blades like your mom.
drawers, drawers, drawers. It's the same idea as the basket, but as long as I have furniture in every room that has drawers, they're always stuffed full of the kids' junk, extra papers, etc. I do the deep clean sorting only every once in a while, but as long as it's hidden behind a drawer I'm okay with that! :)
The kids and I pick up every night before dinner. That way, it is much more managable to do the other jobs that need to get done after the kids go to bed. And if nothing else gets done, the floor is still picked up and that makes a huge difference.
Great suggestions. I'm always ready for some suggestions on how to make cleaning less of a chore!
for me, only focusing on one room per day helps me not feel so overwhelmed with what needs to be done in the house. also with the dishes, they must be rinsed and put into the dishwasher once done being used. otherwise they will just sit in the sink until the pile is huge! so simple, but works for me.