Did anyone's house NOT need a major tidy up before Christmas? If so share your genius!

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

Did anyone already have a house that was already clean and tidy and visitor ready?

Everyone I know is having a proper clean up/ tidy up in preparation for the big day. Ours isn't too bad but that's because we have only lived here for a month. :)

If your house escaped the deep clean please share your genius tips! :)

Not a genius tip, but just clean everything on a weekly basis and it never gets that bad in the first place!

OMG major major triple major tidy up needed here! Apart from the bathroom, house hasn't had a proper clean since late August!! We have had builders in since then. All done now but boxes everywhere, everything dusty, nothing in its right place! I can't do it all, so it will be 'take us as you find us' this year!

It's only me and 17mo DS here (plus 1 dog and 2 cats) so I really don't have any excuse for it not to be immaculate!

You'll be fine, just remember the bin is your best friend!

My house doesn't need anything major, but it hasn't stopped me having a major clean. I do this because this is what I'm like. I have no secret I am just very house proud and notice mess and dirt immediately and tackle it immediately. I tidy and clean daily (even though I'm a working mum), I drive DH nuts cleaning around him all the time!

I just keep on top of it all each day, so never needs a major clean/tidy. We have the advantage of there only being three of us.

My house is always visitor ready but I have a lot of help so feel a bit if a fraud posting!

Two things that revolutionised my life are plenty of storage and never leaving a room empty handed.

Without decent storage you might as well give up you fight a losing battle but once that is dealt with it's life changing even if fitted wardrobes are ugly compared to beautiful old armoires

Then never leave a room empty handed - there is always something that can be picked up and put elsewhere on your way.

Also when I watched terrestrial TV I was religious about tidying in the ad breaks - it sounds absurd but you get loads done on an evening!

Out tidy up is till ongoing! I'll probably be running around with the hoover on Xmas morning.

Storage is definitely an issue for us, we are in a constant state of relocation of crap.

Yeah my kids 'ave left home.......ha!

Sorry, couldn't resist!

There ARE pleasures to come.......

Right you smug clean house owners
How do you keep on top of it?

I have 2 dc - 3.5 and 1.5yo so it's not exactly easy. Although I do keep on top of it all pretty well while we were trying to sell the house so I know I can do it. :)

Could you do even a little bit a night after your kids go to bed? I have a 3 year old and every night before I even think about sitting down to watch tv I tidy up. . I HATE mess!

The secret is little and often, it's called houseWORK for a reason. . You have to work at it!

I work full time, am 7 months pregnant & have a 3 year old (and a dog. . and messy hubby!) and can't even think about sitting down and relaxing until everything is tidied away/cleaned.
Maybe I'm a bit OCD but I find it do much easier to live in a house that is clean, tidy & organised.

The secrets are:

1. A place for everything & everything in its place, if something doesn't have a home then find it one.

1. Everytime I go into a room I do a quick scan, if something doesn't belong in there put it back where it belongs, soon becomes second nature and I don't even realise I'm doing it!

1. Every day before bed I make sure living room is hoovered, dishes done, kitchen wiped down & bathrooms tidy. . Nothing worse than waking up to the day befores mess.

1. Have regular clear outs. If something isn't B.U.S then chuck it (beautiful.useful.sentimental)

1. Simple things like even just making the bed, picking up clothes, quick wipe down makes rooms look instantly better.

If your house is always 'basically' tidy then a once a week 'big clean' shouldn't take long. My house is clean and tidy every day but once a week I do a big clean and it only takes me a couple of hours to do the entire house.

Even setting aside a task every night for a week will add up to a cleaner & more organised house. Eg, tonight I'll clean out kitchen cupboards, tomorrow night I'll clean out hall cupboard, next night I'll clean out bedroom drawers etc. . At the end of the week you'll feel do much better & things don't take as long if you split them into a task a day.

If all else fails I'll come round. . . Housework is my guilty pleasure (sad I know!)

Good luck

For me, the main effort I put in was right at the beginning.

Spend some time sorting out clever storage and making sure everything has a place. If stuff can't be put away quickly and easily then you've got treble the work-load.

Make sure whatever storage you use isn't over-full. Cramming things in to a full drawer takes a lot longer than placing them in a drawer with plenty of room.

Basically don't have too much stuff!

My house is always immaculate but I spend a lot less time on housework than most of my friends. I'm basically a very lazy person so I've made sure it's as easy as it can possibly be.

I can deep clean my house top to bottom in less than 2 hours. On a day to day basis I probably do less than an hour a day. I don't know exactly how long as I just do it as I go along. I don't set aside specific time IYSWIM.

Our house needed (still does need) a major tidy/sort.

As I've seen someone else say on another thread, my mistake was not having a big clear up after the summer. The Olympics blended into the Paralympics, blended into DD starting school, and now it's Christmas.

Must Try Harder in the New Year!

Basic flylady idea: do the important daily cleaning tasks every day (clear active areas in house, wash up Swype bathroom and do a load of laundry). Then 4 zones in the house (kitchen, living areas, bathroom, bedrooms) spend 10 minutes doing a deep clean or declutter in that zone every day for a week then move into the next.

It us work, but takes 20-30 minutes out of my day and makes a real difference after a few Weeks.

Yep, mine- because we're trying to sell it and so it has to immaculate presentable all the time.

Ours didn't need a major tidy, needed a little one as I have been unwell.

We do housework every morning for about 60-90 minutes before we go to work. I also clean bathrooms while the children have their baths or just after in the evening.

I do a deep clean at the start of each holiday, we have not done that this time as I have not been up to it. But doing that 6 times a year makes a difference.

I honestly don't think I've ever done a specific deep clean.

What does a deep clean entail?

Involves cleaning the following :
Empty kitchen cupboards and clean both inside and on top
Steam clean outside of kitchen cupboards and tiles
Clean blinds
Soft furnishings, curtains, carpets, duvets etc
Skirting boards and paintwork
Fridge, freezer, washing machine, dishwasher
Steamclean bathrooms

Oh, I do all that, that's just cleaning isn't it?

I don't feel a need to save it up and do it all in one go once every 3 months.

I was going to say visit other people rather than them visit you

I clearly am an utter slattern but I don't have time to empty all of my cupboards and clean them inside and out on a weekly basis. I also wouldn't clean my carpets , curtains etc every week.

I teach and work from 7am until 6pm and then from 9pm until 11pm most weekdays, so my daily cleaning has to be just enough to get us by, so just DH and I for an hour or so each morning.

Alright calm down!

I just meant I do those things along the way, not all in one go.

No need to start playing your violin