A Little Organization... How to Keep Your House Clean

By Candace

I have three kids. A 6-year-old, 3-year-old and 20-month-old. I often get asked, “How do you keep your house so clean?”
The answer: I do all of my deep cleaning on Monday and Tuesdays.

MONDAY: Bathroom day! I clean all of them in one day from top to bottom.
TUESDAY: Dust, mop and vacuum. When do I clean the kitchen? All week, everyday, after every meal. I do have to vacuum the family room a couple other days of the week but that takes 10 minutes. Not a big deal.

Here are a couple tips...


1. Do the dishes RIGHT AFTER each meal. As soon as breakfast is over, load the dishes. Sometimes I’m too tired to get to the dishes right after dinner but I NEVER go to bed with dishes in my sink.
2. After breakfast I do a quick sweep through each room. Make beds. Making the bed makes a huge difference on the appearance of a clean room. Pick up dirty socks (my boys always take them off as they jump into bed at night and leave them lying on the floor), pj’s in the hamper etc.
3. One opinion people often form when they see my house is that I don’t let my kids play with toys. Well, that’s false. If they weren’t playing with toys what would they be doing all day? The key to making it look like we aren't swimming in toys is that my kids have to pick up whatever they get out. If they want to color or paint they can but as soon as they are done it has to be cleaned up before they move onto power rangers or cars. Also, before bed I always do a quick pick up of the toy room if anything was left out. That way the next day we start off all clean.

Editor's Note: Candace is my cleaning hero. Though I will never come close to the housekeeper she is, I did implement her cleaning schedule. It has worked wonders! I do however, have the messiest kids and husband on Earth... and I will admit that there are sooo many things I would rather do. Nevertheless, try it, you might like it.