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! :)

Cleaning for 2 hours before work? Balls to that!

First-thing-in-the-morning-jobs take half an hour max. I bloody my bed I do

I bloody love* my bed.

I bloody my bed sounds terrible!

I have done a major clean but probably didn't need to, although I've really enjoyed it in a weird way.
I don't know how women who work full time cope, I clean a couple of hrs everyday.

Don't marry a geek who attracts technical junk of every description like a black hole.

Cancel all magazine subscriptions.
Never visit hobby craft and don't have children.

Even then my house would be a mess because I will forever be rebelling against my DMums tidy bedroom rules.

Karbea DH and I work full time but still find a few hours a day for housework . We still have to do the same we just get less sleep

I am not playing my violin, I was just pointing out that if you work long hours the thorough clean can't happen on a weekly basis. We also have no choice but to clean in the morning during term time. During the holidays I do it during the day which is much more civilised.

As I am currently at home with exhaustion I am thinking of getting a cleaner . I assume she will not be arriving at 5am.

Pmsl at bloodying the bed. That would require a further half hour of cleaning.

Right, so, getting up 2h early isn't going to happen. The Dc are often up at 6 so getting up before them at 4 isn't going to happen. :

But you're totally right about everything needing a place. When I think if all the messy zones I cleared yesterday they were all places where we haven't got the storage right in the new house yet.

The hall is the biggest problem area ATM. In the old house it was tiny so you could have the bare minimum of stuff only. Now there is tonnes of room so things get dumped because there's plenty of space, it's not in the way but it does look a state! looks like some storage for the hall is going on my list. :)

I probably am ok at daily jobs. Once the kids are asleep the living room is tidied and the kitchen is cleaned and cleared too. The loos are done as and when but fairly regularly due to messy dh/ dc's.

I am going to keep my lovely new house clean and tidy! :)

We're not doing a big clean.

My number 1 tip is:

Lower your standards.

My aim is to not need a big clean next year! That way I have a whole year to get my act together
It will help that I've made DH promise that there will be no December DIY next year - Christmas with a non-functioning (but shiny and new!) bathroom, anyone...

Little and often, make beds, fold towels neatly, put things away, never go up or downstairs empty handed and keep the hall way tidy.

Yes the never going upstairs empty handed is a rule in our house too.

Storage and everything having its place is key.

But the most important factor is that it is not just one person doing the tidying and cleaning

I haven't done a big clean specifically for xmas but my house did need quite a bit of cleaning as i have been mad busy at work and haven't kept on top of it. It never gets that bad but it is small and I have two cats so just not doing the washing up or not hoovering can make it look a tip. Luckily those things only take ten mins to
rectify.

I also got the dc to sort through their toys and choose some to go to charity so they'll have room for some new ones.

Our house is a mess. We have a3.4 year old and 12 month old. An a cleaner and a nanny. Yet there's still stuff everywhere. I work and don't get much sleep so evenings I'm tired due to non sleeping baby.

I have however got a new resolution (starting yesterday) to do 20 mine of tidying after dinner. Doesn't sound like much but I got a fair bit done last night!

Here are my tips for tidiness:

Totally agree about a place for everything and everything in its place.

Only own as much stuff as you actually have storage for.

Our DCs know that a certain standard of tidiness is expected in their bedrooms. I check their rooms twice a day, once before school and once before they are allowed to watch television in the evening.

We have a cleaner once a week. In between, DH vacuums and I keep the bathrooms and kitchen clean as I go along. I have never done any 'deep cleaning' nor felt the need to.

If I had to do a big clean that took a whole day it wouldn't get done.

I only work part-time but I'm an LP and the only childcare I have is for when I'm in work.

A full day of cleaning on my own with a 17mo, a dog and 2 cats is not going to happen!

So we clean in ways that suit us. As a working parents of five children we have little choice but to do the day to day cleaning before the rest of the family get up. I don't want to spend daily family time cleaning , especially when I spend so many hours a day working. I don't get up two hours early, I get up at 5am. Without the cleaning I could get up at 6 ;15 am.

No getting up early to clean here or doing it in the evening before bed, I need sleep. I think I have lower standards than others in that as long as the place is generally tidy and the floors swept I'm happy.

2 ft working adults and 2 teenagers here. You can't get in their rooms although they both promise to tidy them before Christmas, so maybe they will get hoovered this year. They keep their bathroom clean, they do it once a week. I keep the main areas done with help from DH and do weekly housework on a Sunday morning for an hour or so.

Can't remember the last time I cleaned inside windows, curtains, carpets or emptied a cupboard our visitors take us as they find us.

No extra work for Christmas just the weekly clean today.

It is only term time and weekdays. I would be up at 6 anyway.

Hopefully we may be getting a cleaner so we don't have to do it anymore .

I would definitely say yes to getting a cleaner.

What you're doing now is just not sustainable. (And I mean that kindly) You'll make yourself ill.

That many dc's and both you and your DH working full time must be very hard but how the bejeesus have you got 2-3 hours worth of cleaning to do every day if there's no one in for most of the day and you're not doing deep cleaning?!

Get that bloody cleaner started asap and get yourself some sleep woman

It is two hours a day as we alternate walking the dog . Having lots of children means quite a large house and lots of washing and ironing .

It isn't sustainable permanently but we never have to do it for more than six weeks without a break .

That is the reality of life for most working families and I suspect we have it easier than most .

Ah you see you've got me there. I have't ironed since 2002!

Lol, I don't iron as much as I used to.

We have animals as well as lots of children so our house takes some running. It is difficult but we made that choice .