I have been doing a schedule I have found online to have a spotless house all the time. I tried it and have been “revamping” it to fit my lifestyle and my schedule. It has been working so good for me, I have made my own schedule to where I only have to spend 30-45 minutes a day of actual cleaning. I do not count doing dishes or laundry, because those are the 2 things you cannot get away from and never can get behind on. Those are a given that any stay at home parent (or working parent) has to keep up on and basically the washer has to be always running. The good thing is, getting on a strict and easy cleaning schedule will make laundry something to do during the day because you will not have anything else to do because your house will be clean. Put it this way, I got upset the other day, and I usually clean when I am upset…and had nothing to do…I was going nuts.
The following is the schedule that I do everyday, I am not good with explaining things in great detail and I hope I didn’t leave anything out, but if I did I am sorry and just ask and I will tell my secrets. This is my own schedule that I have come up with and would love if anyone else follows it to let me know how it works for them! Enjoy!
Nikki Craddock’s
Secret to a clean house…in 30 minutes or less a day!
Congratulations on starting my cleaning schedule. I hope this works for you as it has been working for me. Don’t get overwhelmed, the first week is the worst of it…after that your house will be clean and you will not have to spend more than 30 minutes a day cleaning it to have a spotless house!
Day 1- Living Room: Spend at least 30 minutes cleaning your living room. Even if it takes 2 hours, you want to get it perfect, you will thank me next week…promise. Organize everything, dust, and even wash the walls. If there is a closet close by and it needs organizing and you have time, do that too…the whole point of this first week is to get your whole house spotless. As you are doing your room today, make sure you do not lack in the daily chores of washing dishes, and little things like that. You want to keep up with those things all the time. Also, everyday always have laundry going. You never want to get behind on laundry!
Day 2- Kitchen: Spend at least 30 minutes in here, which I am sure it will take more time. Clean the walls, every appliance, and the fridge, and mop the floors. Organize cupboards, under the sink, and any other storage you might have in your kitchen. Organizing is the key! As you are doing this, make sure your laundry is still going, and remember to pick up things the kiddo’s or hubbies might of left out in the living room that you cleaned the day before….remember you do not want to leave messes, once you do…you have to start this all over again!
Day 3- Bathroom(s): Spend at least 30 minutes cleaning your bathroom(s). Organize closet(s) with your bathroom supplies in it too. Wash the sink, toilet, and tub. You want it to sparkle. Remember the usual, have the laundry going nonstop during the day, and do not forget about your dishes and picking up the other rooms that you spent cleaning the days before. Promise, this “hell week” is going to pay off next week. Once you are done, you will see.
Day 4- Kids Room(s): The good thing, on this day you will have help. Make the kids help you if they are not in school. You can use this to teach them where all their toys go and should go after they are doing cleaning. Organize their clothes for the season, put all the toys back, organize their closets, dust, and vacuum. Start a chore chart also…get them involved and this would be the day to do it! After the rooms are done (or as the kids are doing something) pick up the little things that could of got out in the rest of the house, do a set of dishes, and keep the laundry going. (good time to teach the kiddos how to fold, my son loved to fold towels for me)
Day 5- Dining Room: Saved this one for last, it is the easiest…well it should be. Along with this do your spare bedrooms, and if the master bedroom needs done, do that too. The more you get done the better. If you start on a Monday, your whole house can be clean by Friday…BUT if you have more rooms keep this routine going into the other rooms for the next few days. Then you can start the second (easy part of keeping the house clean)
~*~Once you get the whole house cleaned and organized…which only should take you the first week, relax, now you just have to maintain. I am telling you, only 30 minutes a day….no more than 45 minutes. Here is what I do…
Get up in the morning before my little one and do breakfast, but cleaning up the kitchen as I go. If you pick up all the little stuff the little ones are pulling out during the day, the night before….you can enjoy coffee in the morning while watching The View (okay that is what I do) I have breakfast made (doing the dishes while cooking) I always keep a sink full of hot water until breakfast is done, that way I can do those dishes really fast.
I then go by the previous week schedule…
Monday: Living room
Tuesday: Kitchen
Wednesday: Bathroom(s)
Thursday: Kids Room(s)
Friday: Dining Room/Bedroom(s)
I take 30 minutes out of every day to concentrate on the room that I have assigned that day…usually doesn’t take me that long. Easy. Along with that I do a 15 minute “pick up” in the middle of the day and at the end of the day (30 minutes total) to just make sure everything is in its place, wipe counters, dust, etc.
There you have it….my cleaning schedule and the way to keep your house perfectly clean. I clean my walls every season…but of course I use the magic eraser on little hand prints usually around once a week during my 15 minute clean up! Easy. Promise.
You can easily switch this up to make it better for yourself. I just wanted to post what I do to keep my house clean. I love it and found out this really works for me. I like it the most because I can keep my house clean, and also have time to spend with my son, cooking, and just enjoying being a stay at home mom.
I loaded it on the page, why I just didn’t do that in the beginning is beyond me!
Enjoy and I hope it works for you!