Decluttered?! Keeping Your Home Tidy and Clutter-Free

Decluttering our home took a long time and, having done it, we want to keep it that way.  Doing this involves developing some new habits.  And keeping at it until they become second nature.  It only takes a few goes, right?!

Away Not Down

If Rev T had a £ for the number of times he'd said this to me, I'd be broke and he'd be rather wealthy. Everything has a place - a drawer, a shelf or a box etc - and gets put away after you've finished with it.  Clutter builds up when things are used and left lying around.  The floor, by the way is not a storage space.  Unless it's my side of the bed!  

Use It or Lose It

If you haven't used something for ages, will you ever?  No, get rid of it.  Don't keep items you're not using or are hanging onto "just in case".  Sell, donate, recycle, or throw away.  

Do It Now

Or, as Rev T says, "chores before fun".  Do simple chores that don't take too long as soon as you notice they need doing.  Washing up, making the bed, doing the washing, taking out the rubbish or doing the recycling etc don't take too long and mean less clutter and mess.  Which reminds me, I'd better follow my own advice.  That washing up isn't going to do itself.  Sadly.

One thing at a time

Doing all of the above means that we're only left with the major chores - laundry, hoovering, deep cleaning etc.  (I say, "only" ...)  We usually do one of these, or tackle a single room, a day.  As he's home, Rev T does most of this.  I pick up the slack at weekends.

The clean sweep

We try to do a quick sweep of the house before bed-time to make sure rooms are straight, washing up done, coats hung up etc.  This prevents mess from creeping up on us and taking over. Sometimes it all goes pear-shaped so one of us cleans like mad whilst the other welcomes unexpected visitors and attempts to prevent them from seeing distressing sights of untidiness and imperfection with offers of tea.

The proper clean

Although you might not get the idea from the previous paragraph, we do clean regularly.  (I like cleaning.  It's a great opportunity to think.  And you can see the difference when you're done).  We use nice smelling products.  Usually lemon scented.  We had an infestation of ants a few years ago and Google told me that ants don't like the smell of lemon.  Anything that encourages ants to stay outside where they belong is fine with me.

If I'm in the house on my own, there will be music.  Loud music for me to sing along too.  Cleaning goes quicker and is more fun when I'm singing along to something like Wham! "If you're gonna do it, do it right - right?  Do it with me ..."

How do you keep your house tidy?  Particularly teenager's rooms.  Let me know in the comments.

Please be reassured that no Paws were harmed during the creation of this post.