How do you find time to keep a whole house clean?

[MamaGeekChic]

I'm fed up. My house feels a bit grotty... christmas is coming and god forbid people might actually want to come and visit. Now don't get me wrong, we find time to do all the surface-y stuff: wipe down the kitchen sufaces/change beds/towels/wash and iron clothes/keep on top of dishes and the house is tidy as far as is possible in a new build with very little storage- but where do you find time for the BIG stuff? We both work full time, I leave at 7.30am and return about 6.30pm with 3 overnights 500miles away each month, DD is 18mo. I just can't seem to find time to do all the stuff my Mum does... cleaning floors and ovens, windows, skirtings, blinds, kitchen cupboards etc etc. Are we supposed to give up weekends family time for this? We just can't get on top of it! Any tips?

i think a better suggestion is to employ a cleaner. its not just family time, its also me time and rejuvinating/chilling time.

stuff like this gets done piecemeal. so kitchen drawers and cupboards get done one at a time. it does mean that we never experience the whole house being sparkling, but equally it keeps Environmental Health away from the door.

Beingbooyhoo

What is an 'organiser person' ? Sounds interesting.

I do things when they have got bad enough to do.
It's a good working system.
Little bit of dirt doesn't hurt,and at least when you do clean it it's worth doing.
If I look at my life overall as the time frame I'm working on,there is no time to keep a house perfectly clean,that I can't utilise better doing other things.
We don't need to live in the sterility that tv programmes portray - we really don't!
Spend the time living,loving and laughing,and just do enough.

it's a professional organiser who comes and helps you declutter and put some things in place so that you can keep things tidier in the long run. i've never used one but i'd love to. not sure how much it would cost though.

Thanks Beinbbooyhoo. Sounds like the sort of person I need. :)