Can we talk about the beautiful homes on HGTV that look like everything is placed in just the right spot? Or the homes you see on Pinterest…. If you’re like me, I’m thinking why can’t our home look like as pristine as those homes?
Now that we are all starting to decorate for Christmas, it seems to be exploding. Why can’t everything have a bowl full of sparkly glass ornaments carefully spilling out of it? How do they not have dust on each tchotchke and look at the perfectly organized kitchen.
Where are the fingerprints on the appliances and cabinets??
Working all day or having the kids around does not create an easy path to a clean home. But that doesn’t mean you should give up! It merely means that you need to change how you are thinking of cleaning (stick with me 🙂 ).
Keeping my house perfectly cleaned is such a struggle for me. Here are three areas where you (& I) are failing at a having a perfectly cleaned house!
Would you like a free printable cleaning checklist to get you into action for the Monday-Friday grind? I have one here for you!
We have unrealistic expectations
My idea of a perfectly staged home and actually living there with two toddlers do not work well together. My house isn’t going to be perfect for another 15 years, (it gets better, right??) and therefore I need to reset my expectations. Yes, my expectations. My home isn’t changing, the kids are kinda changing, but not in the cleanliness way. I’ve got to be the one who shifts. So yes those houses are beautiful but me, I be happy to keep my house straightened.
Solution: Each night after the kids go to bed, spend 10 minutes straightening up the house. Don’t spend any more time than 10 minutes. You’ll be surprised at how much you can do when you know it’s such a brief amount of time. You’ll leave the house the next morning feeling like you haven’t abandoned a tornado.
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I have to clean as I go… otherwise doing it all at one time is overwhelming!
We don’t love cleaning
There I said it. Shhhh. But you know what I detest even more than cleaning? A dirty house.
Solution: So how do I handle cleaning? Like a band-aid! I just do it to get it over with for the week in one big session. We spend a large chunk of time each weekend to just get it all done. If we don’t do it, we never have time during the week to truly deep clean and like I said, I dislike my house being dirty. And those bathrooms…there isn’t anything slow about me cleaning the bathroom, it gets done very quickly. 😉 Jordan will usually take one for the team and clean the toilets for me. Those are my least favorite. I make it up by folding the laundry.
Would you like a free printable cleaning checklist to get you into action for the Monday-Friday grind? I have one here for you!
We Don’t Stand a Chance when We Arrive Home
All 4 of us arrive home at about the same time each evening. So there arrives 4 pairs of shoes, 4 lunch boxes, 3 book bags, 1 cute tote bag, 1 purse, 2 coffee mugs, and… the mail.. Oh the mail…. All the clutter instantly takes our seemingly clean kitchen and make it look like a family of 7 moved in for the week. With so much stuff that we all need each day, it became overwhelming to keep the kitchen clean.
Solution: As soon as you walk into the house, give lots of hugs. Because those hugs don’t last long enough. 🙁 Once everyone has Mom-time, immediately unpack all of the lunchboxes and place the dishes in the sink. Carry the mail over to the trash can and immediately throw away the circulars, coupons, and credit card offers. Any important paperwork can be set in one single landing spot. This allows you to know what really needs to be addressed.
Our house won’t ever be perfectly cleaned and look photo ready like the houses that we see all the time. And that is okay, but our family lives there.
If you’re looking to straighten up, but not perfect, your home, hopefully with these quick tips will get you thinking.
I’ve adjusted my personal need for having the house be presentable. If you stop by our place, stay in the foyer… it will look nice from that spot. 🙂
Now, you can see why you ( & I!) are failing at having a clean house. It’s unrealistic to be ‘on’ all the time. By taking some time to figure out how to keep the house straightened up throughout the week, you won’t feel like you’re always up against the entire house come Saturday.
Take a few minutes, straighten up and move on. You deserve a break from the expectation.
Keeping the house clean is hard. Start a plan that works for your home. Kick start it with this free checklist.
Linda says
The one thing that urks me the most is NOT putting dishes in the dishwasher unless you don’t have one. We start loading it in the morning. I don’t like dishes in my sink because as soon as you come in you see my whole kitchen.
Brittany says
Do you run it each evening regardless if it’s full? I like to start the day with a clean & empty dishwasher! But my husband likes to wait until it’s packed full. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by Linda! -Brittany