How on earth do you keep your house clean?

[EvadneBadne]

Me and my other half live I a moderate sized 3 bed house. Wooden floors downstairs (nightmare to keep clean) and carpets up. We have a big clean every week, but as soon as his young daughter comes round or even just after a couple of days without her, the house is a bomb site again! We aren't even messy people. Any tips? I'm pregnant and starting to worry about what it'll be like when baby arrives

Standards slip when children are involved. Employ a cleaner and live a little...

Yup, kids put all thoughts of cleaning on hold. It's just me and a toddler, the house looks like a bombsite.

With me, ds and a cat I struggle to keep it clean.

Cordless Dyson so I can give the floors a v quick clean every day
10 mins a day, tops, but the floors are always clean

Children grow up while you're not looking. There'll be years ahead for cleaning and cooking!! (this was a wall plaque my sm had in our house growing up). Having said that my house is very tidy (not always ultra clean!) Currently on mat leave so have more time, but generally ds1 - 6yo tidies up after himself. This is a rule in our house. He puts his dirty clothes in the washing machine and pots in the sink/dishwasher. I clean/tidy when ds2 - 11 weeks has a nap. The advice is to nap when baby does, but I can't nap in the day, so I either clean, watch A Place in the Sun (dreaming of living in the sun!) or rest with a cup of tea 🍵 and mumsnet.
To be honest I wouldn't worry about it yet. Concentrate on having a restful pregnancy and make the most of no prams, moses baskets, bouncy chairs, blankets car seats, baby baths etc hanging about. Baby clutter is massive. Good luck.

I’m a SAHM to a 4 and 2 year old and don’t find it too difficult really. They are quite good at tidying up after themselves, I do bits as I go along and DH does a bigger clean on a Saturday morning when I take them to their activity. We have quite a large 4 bed house, I found it harder in a smaller house as it all felt more cluttered. Now we have a playroom it confines the mess a bit.

I have a routine, certain things get done every day, some things every other day, and some things once a week. If I did one big clean a week, my house would look like a tip the other 6 days. A big clean doesn't last more than a few hours with ds about.

I have a cleaner 3 hours 1 day a week. She does a proper clean, all bathrooms, kitchen, vacuums all carpets and vacuums and mood the hard floors. I keep on top of loading the dishwasher and putting washing on through the week and have a general tidy round each day for 10 minutes. With young children it's all about easy storage. Have a plastic box for toys in each room. At the end of the day go round and pick up everything on the floor/left lying around and throw in the box and shove out of sight. Collect dishes and stick in sink/dishwasher. Pick up clothes and throw in washing basket/machine or fold and return to room if clean. You have to make a habit of spending 10 minutes walking round and doing this but it really works. Also definitely get a cleaner if you can afford it mine costs £36 for 3 hours and I don't actually have to worry about cleaning just keeping on top of the tidying. It's also worth getting into the habit of putting a wash on each night to keep the pile down. I also hardly iron at all. I buy clothes that don't need ironing and I smooth everything over or hang it up straight from the tumble dryer which saves loads of time.

i have two teenage sons and dh and i work full time.
we live in a tip most of the time.

downstairs is usually presentable but upstairs behind the bedroom doors is a kim and aggie scenario.

I find housework tedious.
we are all clean, we have clean clothes and sheets and we have lovely home cooked food. everything else takes a back seat.

I probably spend 12-15 hrs a week on cleaning, tidying and laundry, house still looks dirty.

The list of jobs in my head is never ending. Currently: hoover stairs x2, hoover and mop hall, hoover bedroom, tidy kitchen (complete tip, needs a mop and washing up done), tidy living room (toys everywhere and prob needs a hover) and finish washing.

Instead I'm sat on my arse Munsnetting

In terms of storage, I highly recommend a kallax. I have one in my son's room as he has loads of toys and it's brilliant. It holds loads of stuff and it's easy to put things away quickly.

You can buy the storage boxes fairly cheap, think I paid £2.50 each for them, or you can get drawer inserts. I'm thinking about getting one for my bedroom too!