So, I hope you don’t hold this post against me if you ever come to
my house and it’s not in tip top shape. I don’t believe in a spotless, doesn’t-look-like-anyone-lives-there
type home. But, I do love a clean home. However, if you spread out the work load,
and someone does show up on your door unexpectedly, you won’t have too much to
tidy up.
I had a friend recently tell me, “Every time I clean my house, I
look around and say my house will never look like yours”. I laughed because
little does she know that anytime I know I have guests coming over, I pull out
the stops (swiffer, clean bathrooms, make sure all the glass in my house is
fingerprint free). In other words, my house isn’t always sparkling –but, when I know I’m having guests over I like to try and make it sparkle.
When I first got married, I was trying to get into the routine of
having my own home. Being Middle Eastern, it's known that in many households,
the kids don't move out until they get married. So, for me, I was used to my
mom doing the majority of the housework, and the transition of taking care of
my own home was a tough one!
The first few weeks in my own home were a
complete nightmare!! I have a colonial home, three floors that are all wood and
tile, no carpet. I found myself wiping my floors every day, and dusting every
corner of my furniture. Now that I look back, I laugh at myself because it was
just me and my husband living in the house--what was I thinking?!? After two
weeks of every day mopping, I was worn out! I love a clean home, but there is
no way I was going to spend the rest of my life cleaning three floors every
single day. So, I decided to spread out my workload. To do a little every day,
and this helped me tremendously --and not to mention, my house remains easy to
clean.
If you're like me and have three floors,
dedicate one day a week to each floor. Or, if you have a ranch home, maybe
dedicate one room for each day of the week. I also use the swiffer duster, which I absolutely love, to
keep my floors clean every other day, or even sometimes once every three days,
depending on how much ‘traffic’ went on in the house. For example, here's my
weekly routine:
Monday-Swiff whole house
Tuesday- First floor: furniture
dusting/bathroom clean
Wednesday- Second Floor: furniture
dusting/ kitchen cleaning
Thursday- Third floor: furniture
dusting/bathroom cleaning and change bed sheets.
Friday- Swiff whole house
Saturday- Mop the (necessary) floors.
Sunday- Free day!
Although this seems like it's a lot of
work--it's really not. Each daily chore takes me about 35 to 45 minutes. And,
depending on the size of your home, it may take you a shorter amount of time or
a bit longer. I've stuck to this routine ever since I got married five years
ago, and it's really helped me maintain a clean home. Now, in regards to
mopping, I don’t mop all of my floors every week. For example, there are a
couple of bedrooms in my house that I barely go into, like my office or the
baby room. So, I really only mop those unused areas maybe once or twice a
month. The swiffer keeps them nice and clean for me anyway! But, like I said,
just dedicate 45 minutes a day to chores and stick to it—and I promise your house will stay clean!
In my upcoming posts I will share with you how I mop my floors,
and what I use to dust my furniture and the cleaning products that I favor.
Don’t stress out, spread it out.
M.
My wife hates cleaning, so I usually take charge with all of the household projects while she handles the cooking. Looks like you've got your own cleaning regiment that works for you as well! I actually find it enjoyable, and it's so fun to see all the progress you make when you tidy up a messy room.
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