I want to be as tidy as my friend but it seems impossible!

I don’t really find it a chore tbh. If you have less clutter it’s usually far quicker to clean as you aren’t moving stuff around first.

My brother was complaining recently his house was too small and two children share one bedroom so there’s clothes everywhere. The room isn’t small and there’s plenty of room for stuff. Turns out his 1 year old had over 60 T-shirts, and nearly 30 pairs of pjs! It’s not a house size problem, it’s that no normal house would ever fit 30 pairs of pjs without it being cluttered.
My Ds has 3 in comparison (wear, wash, spare).

x47488484949 kids drawings

Well surely this one is a no-brainer. Bin!

Agree with others, when your house is already clean it's easy to keep on top of. Nothing to put away because it's already put away. Thus a quick wipe, a quick hoover, in 1/2 an hour the whole house is tidy again.

And I don't mean spotless. Or the extreme misery of Football in-laws hoovering crisps, I just mean basically tidy so you don't die of embarrassment if someone pops round unannounced.

Check out Clutter Bug too!

I find it much easier and quicker to do little bits of cleaning as I go.

Yes, it means I'm technically cleaning several times a day but overall it takes me less time than if I left it as it never gets the chance to build up.

I'm also naturally quite organised so if I leave a room, dirty plates go with me and when they're put in the sink they get washed right away. Like a PP, while the kettle boils in the morning I'll be doing other jobs too - vacuuming or putting dishes away, or doing a load of laundry.

DH is the total opposite and then finds himself stressing on a Sunday night because he hasn't sorted his work van or washed his clothes or sorted anything out. He never learns though!

I'm the same, and was when my children were small (and my exH was untidy and did nothing). I think it's just a natural trait, rather than I spend all my time tidying! Because I really don't! I'm quite efficient, and put things away rather than just any old where when I've finished with them.

I now work with someone who leaves a trail of mess in her wake. It wouldn't take her any more time not to do that, but it's just not natural to her.

I had a friend like this and she said she just gathered everything up and put it in her car when someone was coming.
Bit weird but whatever.

Shockingly my kids will remember that alongside the fact they lived in a clean and tidy home.I have always done the majority of the cleaning before they even woke up in the morning (before going to work full time) so we all come home to a lovely clean house and evenings are free for homework/extra curriculars/reading etc.
The story that anyone living in a clean, tidy home is doing nothing but cleaning all day every day is getting old now - perhaps it makes people with lower standards feel better if they can convince themselves clean families are neglecting their children by not reading to them or baking with them🙄
If you have a decent routine and keep on top of things it really isn't difficult to keep your home clean and tidy, little and often is the key.

My house was always spotless when I knew someone was coming to visit!

I have 3 all primary school aged and under.
single and work full time - this tends to work regarding the house staying tidy 🤣
no one is ever in it apart from a Sunday 🙈

My inlaws are very tidy, it's horrible to live in. They will take your tea away from you before you finished, wipe under the glass (even though it's on a coaster) as you lift it up to sip, will make you stand up when sitting on the sofa to plump cushions and clean around you. We once watched the football at their house, they provided crisps in a bowl and my mother in law got the handheld vacuum and vacuumed us all down on the sofa during the match.

Why is your sink always full of dishes?

Wash
Dry
Put away

Washing them and 'leaving them to dry' is lazy IMO. Not to mention it leaves everything with water stains.

My house is not tidy, certainly not spotless. But it's ok. We put away as we go. Put dishes away straight from dishwasher. Don't most people do that?
Each night when the dc were little they put their toys away. The putting away was just part of the playing process. Why don't yours?
We didn't have piles of drawings. What's the point of keeping them all? Save anything precious or important and recycle the rest.

Yep this was my mum too.

Less stuff
More storage
Cleans as she goes
Kids n dh follow cleaning rules also
No pets
Prioritises cleaning
More time

Yes, I clean all the time. Dust once a week, clean the floors daily, always make sure the kitchen is clean at the end of the day, bathrooms once a week...or maybe OP clean more???

I wouldn't say this is cleaning all the time, more doing the basics. I have phases (normally when I'm anxious/restless) of cleaning 'all the time' to me that means I'm persistently looking for things to clean/organise/touch up all day. I'm finding new cobwebs to dust, cleaning hidden radiators, tidying toys as I go along. Sort of absent mindedly doing it as I go about my day. Eg while toddler's in bath I'll clean the sink, loo, windowsill, window, polish the radiator and metalwork, wipe dust off bathroom plants, organise all the bath toys and shampoo bottles in a leisurely way. When she's playing in our bedroom I seize the opportunity to change the bedlinen, all hand towels, dust and condition leather furniture, polish mirrors, sort laundry, organise my clothes. At same time I chat to her or she helps me.

I do the dishwasher 2-3x day normally while waiting for kettle to boil. Other kitchen jobs get done while I'm waiting for things like toaster to cook or watching pan on hob. Eg sorting and binning/recycling/moving all the stuff people dump in the kitchen! Wiping cabinet fronts and tops of their doors, spot cleaning things, organising stuff in cupboards. That way it's not all saved up for daily clean and clutter/grime can't build up.

Even when I'm not in a cleaning mood I try to do little jobs as I go along, spontaneously, so it's a continuous process rather than a big chore. And I delegate jobs to others! Once I started doing this daily I began noticing all kinds of dirt and clutter I hadn't been aware of, it feels so satisfying when everything around you begins to get that clean 'glow'.

Kids make it hard to keep the house tidy but you can train them to put stuff away in its place. I also go round after them tidying cushions, wiping fingermarks, gathering crumbs/paper snippings/books so it's not overwhelming at end of day.

I also have rules like the table has to be cleared and wiped down after every meal or activity, no glasses or pens or homework left on it for 'later'. All side tables and surfaces I keep clear so it's easy to clean them all daily (no tea mugs, toys, pens etc left overnight) I have to enforce this but if I don't things start to slide into chaos.

Other rules are things like shoes have to be put away in shoe cuoboard, coats on pegs, any jumpers/lunchboxes/pocket contents get moved from hall as soon as I spot them and put away in their places. Amazing how quickly the hall collects 'things' so now I gather things whenever I go through it to get to stairs!

Maybe she and her kids have less stuff? Do you have systems in place for washing and storing kids drawings etc? It is much easier to keep a house tidy if you don't have clutter and have good storage and systems.

It will definitely be she is better at dealing with clutter than you. My house is similar to your friend's, we have 5 daughters but people always comment on how tidy it is.

I'm actually really lazy but I make sure we all only have belongings that fit in the storage we have and everything is out of sight. We have no open storage anywhere, no baskets of this or that on display. Open storage always ends up messy in a family I think.

No coats / jackets are ever in the hall, they all are kept upstairs. Shoes are off at the door and inside a cupboard. Never is one single shoe not in the cupboard.

And so on, this discipline is throughout our house. If somewhere starts to get tight on space, something has to go. It works, try it.

All those tasks and more daily, sometimes several times a day. I enjoy having my home visitor ready.

I would hazard a guess that you have more stuff than her. Stuff makes cleaning hard work, you gotta clear up the clutter and you're tired before you've even starting the cleaning. Having less stuff and a home for everything makes it much easier.

Or maybe she runs round and shoves all the clutter in her master bedroom for your visits? Then has a little clean round before you arrive.

Yeah, I've 2 young DC and I work full time

My house is very tidy. Everything has a home and I get stressed if it's a mess

I never sit down 🤷🏽‍♀️ well, except for my dinner

I cannot remember the last time I sat on my sofa, I even drink my tea standing up

Why is it boring to have a tidy house? To put stuff away immediately rather than three days later? What's fun about living on mess and chaos?

But everyone has to clean everyday. It's just about efficiency a lot of the time. Five minutes doing several jobs because it's tidy and decluttered Vs five minutes doing one job around mess and clutter