What thing, no matter how small, really improved how clean or tidy you manage to keep your house?

[Cotherstone]

With hindsight our old house was not clean at all - it was old and run down and I hated cleaning as it never made a dent to the overall picture. We’ve recently been lucky to move into a new, and newer, place which the previous owners kept immaculate, so I’ve been trying to really up my game.

The main things I’ve learnt are:

A decent stick hoover means you actually can whip it around every few days, or even every day in certain areas, and my word that makes a difference to everything else!

The dining table is obviously the tempting place to dump everything but keeping it clear with some flowers (even fake ones) and a fruit bowl on it makes me feel so much better

Trying to stop seeing cleaning as “wasted time” - I’m starting to understand that 15 minutes running the cloth and hoover round the kitchen after dinner isn’t wasted, and while I don’t have to love doing it, it genuinely pays off with an improved state of mind because the kitchen looks nice in the morning

For the first time as an adult I finally have a house that’s not perfect, but definitely in a state where I’m not going to panic if someone drops in unannounced.

Anyone else have one or two things that seem to have made a real difference?

Oh and a simple one don’t put another wash load in the machine until the last one is dry and put away. I used to struggle so much with a build up of clean clothes just dumped in the bedroom. Now I only wash a manageable amount for me to get properly finished in a day.

Decluttering and having good storage solutions so everything can be put away in its place. Single mum of 4 and at the end of the day everything is tidied ready to start the day afresh. Clean as I go along with bigger jobs done when needed and regular sort outs.

Just wish I was more organised with the washing 😂

Dishwasher.
Easily accessible and organised cleaning products.
De-cluttering so there is space to put things away.
Being houseproud - it came after moving house and getting a new kitchen fitted

My house only really became tidy once the kids grew past the age of lots of toys. Decluttering is the key, less stuff means less clutter and less to clean.

Flylady works for me. I don't follow to the letter but by doing a weekly whip through plus the daily 'mission' (job) and focussing on a zone each week of the month keeps me on top of everything. Little and often is the moral of the story. I do make myself do things though, I'm a lazy cow at heart but I know that in order to have the house the way I want it, I have to make the effort and make DH and the teens do their bit too.

Also, know what standard you're ok with and don't compare your house to other peoples. My house is clean but not always perfectly tidy, I don't think people who visit would feel on edge here, our home is very much lived in!

I'm constantly tweaking , I do a bit every day then clean properly once a week . I hoover downstairs daily and upstairs every other day with my dyson cordless . I tidy all the time and everything has a place ! It's tiresome but I don't like mess or dirt so I do it .

Oh, and one thing that made a huge difference was having a four cube kallax unit in the hall so the kids had a cubby each....the fabric boxes are big enough to chuck school bags/shin pads/gloves etc in so it meant all that kind of stuff was out of sight but still accessible.

Make each room a little bit better when you leave it than it was when you came in.

tiny changes are the easiest to sustain. I have a rough schedule in my head as well.

fair division of labour between adults.

Routines. It doesn’t matter which one you use. The TOMM one is a good place to start. Then follow the ‘just fucking do it’ method.

For me it was buying a dehumidifier. Was really surprised by how much difference it made to the general damp feel of my house, the condensation and mould. I now don't have to spend time wiping damp windows or bleaching the mould off the walls and the house is warm and dry!

I do one load of laundry every day and get it dried and put away.

Also getting all the shampoo bottles etc off the side of the bath and onto a shelf in the bathroom - this make the bathroom look much less cluttered and much easier to clean.

It's true that hoovering/mopping floors makes a huge difference to how clean the house looks.

Decluttering = easier dusting. And looks tidier.

Having a place for everything and chucking stuff away frequently (I have small children)

Tidy as you go. Every one, every time. Non-negotiable - you use it, you put it away.

I decluttered and got rid of loads of things because we moved nine times in twelve years. Everything has a home so it’s straightforward to put things away.

I clean every day…it takes about two minutes to wipe the bathroom, five minutes for the living room and a minute or two to do the kitchen floor (surfaces are constantly being wiped anyway). I’m still working on the washing up….how does it build up so quickly?! There are certain things that never get cleaned, such as the oven.

The Container concept. You have a container for something - say, a rack for shoes. If you have too many shoes, you need to get rid of some shoes, not buy another shoe rack/storage solution.

Does this apply to wine racks too?

I make a list for 20-30mins after I get home work to carry out chores

For example - Mon - Ironing - approx 5/7 items whilst dinner is cooking.

Making my work lunch the night before helps too

Getting rid of my ex.

I've recently purchased some packing cubes and prep each day's school uniform on a sunday (underwear, socks, tops, trousers etc) in one. So they are essentially ready to go and kids cannot moan they can't find their socks or whatever. It's been quite helpful. Haven't yet managed to get them to put the empty one away tidily tho.

Not only did he generally spread his crap around everywhere, he was also a hoarder, and kept all sorts of crap.

Now I find that if I choose to make an improvement, such as decorate, buy something new, etc. I will usually clean the area and everything feels fresher.

Constant decluttering for me too...

Simple but effective.

I had a Miele cat and dog for 15 years and loved it - it didn’t break but when me moved I promised us a new one and we have a new one - nothing else compares

one job every evening / day eg change light bulb, mow front lawn, mow back lawn and everything is sorted eg outside we have 6 huge outside boxes. Gardening stuff in one, cushions in two of them, outside blankets in another etc toys are in two boxes and boxes within the box to organise eg gardening gloves etc

A cordless Dyson - or equivalent but good enough quality that a literal 5 minute whizz round makes a real difference.

A decent mop - bought an Aldis (?) one from Dunelm, it has a water bottle attachment and sprays from the front. Has a very large microfibre mop head which you can just chuck in washing machine. I bought a few spares so it’s very easy to mop the floor and really is quite enjoyable and satisfying because it’s a good tool.

I used to have a steam mop and I loved that too - might buy a new one although I do like the cordless life.

Extendable Sabatier dish rack that DH bought kind of on a whim in Costco - it's been great because you can get loads on it, plus DH started doing loads more washing up once we got it as he liked it so much! He bought another one for our cleaner after she said how good she thought it was. www.costco.co.uk/Home-Kitchen/Kitchen-Dining/Sabatier-Expandable-Dish-Rack-with-Stemware-Rack/p/1050202

Shark vaccuum to replace our old Miele one has been a help - the Miele was so heavy and cumbersome you just couldn't bring yourself to take it out and use it, but the Shark upright is really light and easy to use. You have to empty it quite a lot but it's a small price to pay for the convenience otherwise.