8 Habits for a Cleaner Home

From time to time we've all experienced our houses becoming a little unkempt, possibly leading to an overwhelming feeling and then a whole weekend of cleaning our whole homes top to bottom. These are my 8 little habits that if you develop, can help maintain a cleaner, healthier and happier home day to day. 

1. Clean the sink while washing your hands; When you've been to the bathroom and go to the sink to wash your hands, take that minute to hit two birds with one stone by washing the sink. 
Of course, you'll still want to have a good clean with anti-bacterial cleaner's from time to time, but if every couple of days, when you're washing your hands you also use your wet soapy hands to run around the sink and taps, then you ensure it'll always look it's best. Simply apply your hand wash to hands, wet, lather, and wipe down the sink, rinse your hands and repeat until clean and shiny, voila! 

2. Zero down-time while cooking; it may seem great to put dinner in the oven, set a timer and put your feet up until it's ready but if you make the commitment

to cleaning while food is cooking, you'll find the wait quicker and less agonising (especially when you're starving hungry) and once you've eaten your evening meal after a day working, it's nice to know that you've contributed towards the housework and now the evening is yours. I like to commit to staying in the kitchen while food is cooking (unless it's a 4-hour Sunday roast of course), but when you've got meat in the oven and vegetables on the hob, set aside that 20 minutes to do a quick sweep of the kitchen and if it's already clean in there (lucky you) maybe spend that time vacuuming the lounge carpet of other task that needs doing. Clean the chopping board you've just used, wipe the counters down, rearrange a cupboard or put a load of laundry on. Seriously guys, that 20 minutes a day will make all the difference. 

3. Use your washing machine as your laundry basket; If you're like me you don't do laundry every single day yet dirty clothes end up getting tossed on the floor daily. Don't bother with baskets in the bedroom or bathroom, trying to remember to separate every time you take off an outfit. Shove it all in the

washing machine, always, no matter the colour or washing instructions. When the machine's full, you know it's time to pull it all out, separate and do that laundry. This way, your dirty clothes are always where they're ending up anyway, saving you lugging huge piles of dirty clothes about your home, you never end up with 10 loads to do in one day, and you save space by not having 3 storage baskets knocking about your home. 

4. Put away your outer's when you get in; So you get home after a long day of work, school, maybe you've been to the gym etc. The first thing you want to do it strip off your coat, bags, throw your keys down, take your bra off etc. I know that it's easy just to throw these items wherever they land and tell

yourself you'll put them away later because you've earned the right to relax now, and you're right, you do deserve to wind down after your day, but why burden your evening by having "don't forget to tidy that before bed" running through your mind? Make the habit of getting in, hanging up your coat, scarf, putting your bag where you want it to be the next morning and putting away your shoes. This is one of those small habits that's really good to develop to keep your entryway clear. 

5. Clean the shower as well as yourself; after your shower, the bathroom's going to be hot, wet and steamy which is the ideal time for dirt to just lift off

surfaces. This would be the best time to clean your bathroom in general but let's face it, nobody want to step out of the shower feeling refreshed and squeaky clean and start scrubbing up dirt and grime. A great habit to get into is just cleaning the shower while you're in there, it takes no time at all and you can step out of the shower knowing you're stepping off of a clean floor. All you have to do it take the shower head and rinse the shower tray (or bath if you have an over-bath shower) with the hot water towards the plug hole, until white and shining. Don't forget to run around the grout, and over the shower door. With wet hands, clean the head itself. This will help maintain that just-cleaned appearance between deep cleans. 

6. Choose the outfit you want to wear the day before wearing it; This may seem somewhat counter-intuitive to pull clothes from your wardrobe every evening and leave them there all night, but having that one outfit laid out neatly

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while you sleep is much better than coming home to a mess of clothes on the floor from the morning rush. In the morning when you have to pick out clothes in a hurry, it's easy to toss aside vetoed choices which soon clutters your bedroom. Choosing what you want to wear the next day before bed at a relaxing speed minimises the temptation to make the mess in the first place. Plus, if you too aren't a morning person, it's always good to have less to do first thing. 

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7. Make the bed every morning; Yes, i know we've all heard this one from our parents all of our childhood, but there's something very therapeutic about a made bed. Besides just looking nice, you're physically sealing off the night of sleep and this switches your mindset to the day ahead, plus later that evening you get to lay down in a freshly made bed. Keeping your bed made improves the appearance of the whole room and if the bed's messy i know it's easier to make the rest of the room a mess, so don't let it begin. 

8. Live by the one cup rule; Well, it's actually the one cup and one glass rule

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in our house... basically promise that you'll never have more than one cup/glass being used by yourself at a time. I'm sure we've all gone and poured a drink, returned to our seat and realised there's an empty glass there already, soon these can pile up fast. Make sure you either re-use the current glass or if it's been out a bit too long, rinse and re-use. This is just one little habit that helps keep you on top of your lounge, and also helps keep dishes from piling up. 

What did you think of my list? Let me know if any helped you out and share some of your own with me!

Peace and Love ☮ ♥