3 Habits of (Some) People Who Have Tidy Homes

 

My living room, looking spiff (as usual.) 

It's time to get real.

I just clicked on an article that promised eight habits that would lead to a "tidy" home, and was so disappointed to find that the "habits" were extremely obvious and un-helpful ("make your bed every morning," "never leave dirty dishes in the sink," "vacuum and dust as often as possible," - I mean, REALLY? Those are your ground-breaking tips??) that I decided to write this post.

With REAL tips for a tidy home.

I keep a reasonably clean, neat home. I do it because I'm kind of a control freak; I love beautiful, organized surroundings; and I actually mostly enjoy cleaning house. I admit that those 3 things make it much easier for me to keep my house clean and neat, and that not everyone has an appetite for scrubbing out the sinks.

But I don't make my bed every morning, I do leave dishes in the sink, and I have been known to go a couple months without vacuuming or dusting.

Here are 3 habits that make my house, as a general rule, pretty tidy.

1. I am vigilant about keeping my belongings minimal.

Now let's talk about what "minimal" means. I'm not a minimalist, as in, one of those cherished beings who truly owns very few things, decorates a room with a single plant, and whose pics on Pinterest always make you want to sell everything you own, take down your curtains, strip your bed, and decorate with a single plant.

I'm not that person. You can see in the pic above I like "stuff."

But I clear out my closets, drawers, cabinets, etc. on the regular and make donations to local charities who pick things up off my porch. I do this at least two or three times a year, sometimes more. The fact that I do it all the time makes it easy to do it again; the clutter just never has much of a chance to collect. And I'm pretty brutal about whether I keep things or not. I really, really hate clutter, way more than I hate having to re-buy a neck exerciser that I never use.

Keeping clutter to a minimum, by itself, makes your home look cleaner and more "tidy," even if you have some dishes in the sink and a half-made bed.

2. I pick up and clean as I go.

I never just stand around waiting for water to boil or onions and garlic to brown. I load the dishwasher, put things away, wipe down the counters. Why would someone just stand there (and/or play on their phone) while waiting in the kitchen? (I've seen people who do this.) Kitchens get messy fast, and once the mess is huge, it's daunting. And I can't really cook a meal without counter space and a clear sink. So I keep the clean-up going, almost any time I'm in the kitchen.

When I go from one room to another in my home, I look around and carry everything that goes in a different room with me. If I'm going upstairs, my sweater, extra hair clips, and the mouthwash I just bought need to go with me. If I'm going to the kitchen, I grab the dirty coffee mug(s) off the coffee table. I don't want to run all over the house for an hour tidying up. I do it as I go.

Also, if I see small "messes" - dried drips of something on the floor, a thick layer of dust on top of the coffee machine - I grab a towel or wet rag and clean whatever I just noticed right then. 5 seconds of clean-up here and there make a big difference to the overall clean feel of a living space.

3. I pick the low-hanging Clean House fruit.

I make the bed by jerking the covers up and setting pretty pillows at the top. Takes like 2 seconds, and makes my room look "clean" and neat, even if there are still clothes piled on the chair by the window.

I scoop up whatever clothes and towels are lying around and toss them in the laundry basket.

I move all the junk off my kitchen table and put it in a basket nearby.

I rake all the pens, lip balms, hair elastics, mini sticky note pads, nail clippers, and whatever else I've spread over the coffee table into a pretty ceramic bowl. Like, honestly, get a few inexpensive baskets, pottery, ceramic bowls, or whatever small containers would look good in your house, and use them for "junk" collectors. (Just make sure you purge those junk collectors regularly (see Habit #1 above. :))

Hope you find this post useful, and may your home always be a place you enjoy spending time in. <3