Keeping your house clean doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming. I was your average messy teenager, but somehow as I became an adult I realized I like things tidy. I found out that keeping my house clutter free and relatively clean made me feel less stressed and let me focus on other things in my life. I find that when my house feels messy, I have trouble concentrating on work or getting anything else done so keeping it tidy is key to my sanity.

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I’ve kept a pretty similar routine for about a year now. Like most people sometimes I’d fall off the wagon for a few days or weeks and then hop back on and feel so much better about my home.

First I want to start out with: just because I wrote this post doesn’t mean you can come over and have my house be spotless at any given time! It’s time to accept that people live in their homes. So let’s stop putting expectations on each other to have our houses look like model homes, k?

The #1 key to keeping a house clean is to have a routine. I have a daily routine & a weekly routine.

First I’m going to go over what I try to do daily. At this point most of my daily routine is just habit so if you’re struggling try to stick to it for at least a month and hopefully it can become a habit for you too.

Daily

• Make beds
• Sweep/Roomba
• 10 min pick up
• Clear dining table
• Wipe down counter
• Keep sink empty

Keeping up with the things above on a daily basis keeps my house relatively tidy. The kitchen always looks good because there aren’t gross dishes in the sink and the countertops are clear and wiped down. The floor, while it might not be freshly mopped at all times, isn’t covered in dirt or pet hair. Feel free to create your own daily routine based on your own house and life.

Then there’s the weekly routine. This is seriously the only reason my house looks halfway decent most of the time. How do you create a weekly cleaning routine?

Design a weekly cleaning routine that has no more than three tasks per day & has a timeframe.

If you look at my weekly routine below you’ll see that I don’t try to do a million things everyday. No one has time for that. I aim to clean for about 30-45 minutes each day and I literally put how long to clean on my cleaning schedule. Why? Because then I can’t tell myself I don’t have time. It also makes me clean more quickly and efficiently because I literally set a timer and go.

Monday

1. Kitchen (:30)
2. Livingroom (:15)
3. Laundry: Sheets

Tuesday

1. Bathrooms (:30)
2. Bedrooms (:15)
3. Laundry: Clothes

Wednesday

1. Vacuum (:30)
2. Steam Mop (:30)
3. Laundry: Rags/Rugs

Thursday

1. Office (:15)
2. Home Tour (:10)
3. Laundry: Clothes

Friday

1. Fridge/Freezer (:15)
2. Declutter (:15)
3. Laundry: Pet

Why do I only have cleaning scheduled Monday through Friday?

• We often go out of town on weekends
• I like spending time with my family on weekends so I don’t want to schedule any cleaning if I can avoid it
• I can get most everything done during the week so why not?
• It gives me free days to catch up or deep clean (if I need to)

I truly believe in giving yourself breathing room in every aspect of your life. We try to just fill up our schedules to the brim when we don’t need to.

Two important things about keeping a clean home

Accept that it might not be a priority for others in your household, or that they might have different standards than you. I used to get so frustrated that no one around me cleaned as much as I did. But when you realize that the other people in your home might not have the same views on what “clean” is or have the same priorities on keeping your house spotless, it’s easier to accept. You can’t force your views on what clean is or isn’t on someone else. It’s best to accept that you want it your way so you’re going to have to do it (within reason).

Don’t try to catch up all the time! Sometimes life gets in the way and you have to skip a day or two. Or maybe you skipped a whole week of cleaning. If trying to catch up is going to stress you out or overwhelm you, just forgive yourself for the last however many days and take care of it the next time that chore comes around on your schedule. If you generally follow your routine then skipping something for a week isn’t the end of the world.

I also shared my cleaning routine on my Youtube channel if you want to check it out below.

And lastly you can download your free cleaning schedule by clicking below:

I hope this post, video and the printable are all helpful to helping you maintain a tidy home that you’re happy with! I’d love to hear in the comments how you keep your home clean! Or if you struggle with it, what’s your biggest struggle?