There’s nothing quite like a thorough, turn-every-drawer-upside-down-and-move-the-furniture-to-vacuum, deep clean of your home. But that’s not always possible—or necessary. Especially if you’re in a good cleaning schedule rotation! (More specifics on that later). Think of a comprehensive house clean as laying the foundation for the rest of the month or season, then employ the following six tips to keep your house tidy along the way without feeling overwhelmed.
1. Spring Cleaning? Get prepped. Have your garbage bags and cleaning agents on hand before you start! Being well-stocked with all-purpose cleaners, sponges, clothes, protective gloves, and whatever else you need will keep you on task rather than running to the store mid-clean.
2. Choose the method that works for you:
- Method #1: Tackle one room at a time. Start in the highest traffic areas, move to the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and garage. Empty every drawer, dust, and sanitize as you go.
- Method #2: Keep, Toss, Donate. Find any 12 items in each category and voila, you’ve decluttered your home of 36 items!
- Method #3: Set a timer and certain task for each cleaning block. Ex: Day 1 or First cleaning day in the rotation, everything paper-based gets sorted.
Find more decluttering tips here.
3. Create a cleaning schedule. Based on your chosen cleaning method, create a schedule for when you clean what, so you’re not left with say, one Saturday a month where everything’s piled up and the overwhelm makes you want to do, well, none of it! A schedule for when you do the bathrooms versus the kitchen, say, will help you get into a manageable rhythm.
4. Everything in its place. This means everything that’s in your home, lives there with you and should have a special space it ‘lives’, too. If things are piling up on countertops and end tables, it’s time to be decisive if you should keep, donate, or toss! If there’s nowhere in your home that makes sense for the item to live permanently, it’s one of the latter two, unfortunately. This can even be extended to one thing in, one thing out after larger shopping sprees like clothing, kitchen supplies, and towels—channel your inner Marie Kondo, thank the item for its service, and let it go.
5. Minor damage maintenance. The odd baseboard scuff or scratches on the handrailing can add up to a shabby-looking space. Choose one project-style “clean-up” like this per month to stay on top of the aesthetics, and your home will always be looking fresh.
6. Settle on a style. Giving purpose to the items and decorations in your home is one thing, choosing a “theme” for them will help it feel less cluttered. This goes from choosing one style of hangers for clothing to help closets look more organized to cohesive living room décor.
Even small-space living, like a suite in one of our well-appointed Verve Senior Living residences, deserves attention to keep it feeling comfortable. We encourage our residents to make their suites feel like home through empowering support that evolves with growing needs. Find out more about our living options here.
