to all the neat housekeepers out there

[MadiMamacita]

how the heck do you do it?? i just spent the better part of today cleaning and straightening.. i just cant ever seem to keep my house uncluttered! i know that next week it will just be a big mess again.
how do i learn not to be lazy???

[MCR]

I think one day you get sick of the clutter and pick it all up yourself instead of waiting for the kids and Dh to put their stuff away.
I tidy as I go all day, I do dishes as I cook, (rinse and load the dishwasher anyway) I don't do a whole room all at once.
One day I might go through the whole house and dust, then another I sweep the tile floors and vacuum the carpets.
I bought cool baskets that fit the bottom shelves of the bookshelves and hide all the toys and puzzles in them, I get to crawl around and pick all the bits Dd missed each day, it's worth it to get up and have a cup of coffee in a tidy living room each morning, less depressing.
Good luck with it. I set time and don't over do it.
Some recommend Fly lady, but I can't stand all the emails and I hate wearing shoes in the house, but i try to shine the sink a couple times a week

[Marlet]

I go through spurts of it. It helps to keep it realistic. Sometimes my desires for how my house looks/runs is way over the top. I also remind myself to pick up after myself. I'm constantly telling the kids to put away the last thing they played with before getting a new thing and yet I can't do the same?

I find I have an easier time with it if I don't think about it. Instead of putting energy into thinking about, "oh I need to clean the kitchen" I try and just do it. I put little things away as soon as I'm done (for instance, condiments...that visual clutter makes the kitchen look worse). Seriously, zone on something else while you clean whatever it is needing done.

Organization helps me too. I'm just barely getting the things I want for that (All a Dollar/Dollar Tree has storage boxes and sweater bags in various sizes that I've been stocking up on) but the saying,, "A place for everything and everything in it's place" is brilliant. I know the things that end up staying out and making my house dirty/cluttered are things that don't have a place. I can stick them somewhere sure but they are still misplaced and that puts off an energy I can't stand.

And I admit, sometimes I have to make myself a calander/chore chart. Sometimes I just need to see what needs to be done. I work great with lists so those work for me.

[Sailor]

Keeping things uncluttered is very easy if you become a minimalist. My rule for stuff is this: it has to serve, at least, two purposes. 1. It has to have a function, and I actually utilize said function on a daily or weekly basis. 2. it has to be beautiful/inspiring/nice to look at. Just because being surrounded by nice things makes my day happy.

The only exception for those two rules applies to art works (my dp is a painter, and his paintings hang everywhere in our home). Otherwise, everything else falls under those two rules.

When dp and I first moved in together, we went through everything applying those two rules. It's amazing how LITTLE we had left after it was over. Now, everything has a place in our home and we don't really own a lot of stuff. Thus, it's easy to keep things uncluttered.

In terms of cleanliness ... well, I had the fortune to partner with someone who is slightly OCD about cleaning. Like ... seriously, the man has issues. He will clean the bathroom once a day, the toilet 3 times per day, and vacuum 5 times per week. He gets it from his mom who also has OCD issues on cleaning. I sometimes wish he'd relax a little, but then that would mean I'd have to clean.

[MadiMamacita]

Originally Posted by Sailor

In terms of cleanliness ... well, I had the fortune to partner with someone who is slightly OCD about cleaning. Like ... seriously, the man has issues. He will clean the bathroom once a day, the toilet 3 times per day, and vacuum 5 times per week. He gets it from his mom who also has OCD issues on cleaning. I sometimes wish he'd relax a little, but then that would mean I'd have to clean.

wow! can we trade???

i like those two rules. part of my problem is that there's always "i can fix that" or "i can use that for a project" and i end up with broken odds and ends..
then there's the "so and so gave that to me and i cant toss it out.."
i just need to let go of assigning meaning to material objects.

great tips mcr and marlet.. i'm getting inspired already!

[Smokering]

Sailor: How strictly do you apply those rules in practice? I've heard them before and like the theory, but I do have a lot of things that are useful without being remotely inspiring. Say, kitchen appliances: I don't find my potato masher beautiful or inspiring, but I do need it. Would you sort of let the second rule slide for utensils and tools such as those: or would the rules require me to ditch the potato masher and find another one that was beautiful and inspiring? 'Cause while I like the idea of having beautiful, matching utensils, it sounds pricey. So does rule 2 apply to even the most prosaic stuff such as toilet brushes, toothbrushes and so on: or is it meant only to apply to more major or non-vital things like dressers and knick-knacks?

I really do like the "objects as art" philosophy that could be taken from those two rules. I recently splashed out on a hand-made wooden spice chest to go on the wall - WAY more expensive than getting a plastic spice organiser, but I figure it can double as art and a conversation piece as well as being practical. And it will bring me happiness to look upon. At least, I'm hoping it will, it's still being made. When we get a kitchen with more wall space I want to hang it up with some embossed shortbread pans and cookie moulds (which I do use, albeit very occasionally). All pretty, and yet not purely decorative.

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by MCR

I think one day you get sick of the clutter and pick it all up yourself instead of waiting for the kids and Dh to put their stuff away.
mb

I have to say I'm the opposite. In my family, we are all part of the household and so we all take care of the household. That means I do not pick up after anyone but myself. Sure, I will do the dishes but every person scrapes their own plates and sets them in the sink. I wash/dry clothes but everyone makes sure their dirty clothes make it into the hamper. I scrub the bathrooms, but the the kids take care of picking their bathroom up and DH does his share in our bathroom (the powder room doesn't get 'messy'). The kids have regular chores that are age appropriate (they are 8 and 10 so it makes it much easier) and DH has his own constant to-do list (lawn, garden, cars, garage, dog, garbage). I am home for the vast majority of the time so I do the bulk of cleaning, but I refuse to be a maid.

Along with Sailor, I keep items in my house to a bare minimum. If I don't need it, use it, it doesn't fit, it's broken, it's missing a piece, etc. it goes straight to the recycle pile, the garbage or (my favorite) the thrift store. I don't store anything for a "Well maybe if I..." situation. If I don't take care of something now, I probably never will.

I have a place for absolutely everything. This makes it easy for anyone to pick up and put away and/or find something they need. Nothing is ever searched for in our home. Saves time and sanity.

I multitask. I have a few girlfriends who love to chat on the phone. So, while I do that, I'm cleaning. I'll get off the phone and not even realize I've finished cleaning my kitchen and family room, it's awesome. I fold laundry while we watch t.v. When I'm outside watching the kids play or ride bikes, I'm washing the exteriors of the windows, and so on.

I hope that helps!

[Sailor]

Originally Posted by Smokering

Sailor: How strictly do you apply those rules in practice? I've heard them before and like the theory, but I do have a lot of things that are useful without being remotely inspiring. Say, kitchen appliances: I don't find my potato masher beautiful or inspiring, but I do need it. Would you sort of let the second rule slide for utensils and tools such as those: or would the rules require me to ditch the potato masher and find another one that was beautiful and inspiring? 'Cause while I like the idea of having beautiful, matching utensils, it sounds pricey.

I'm pretty hardcore about applying my rule. However, some things can never be aesthetically pleasing. Like toilet brushes. They're necessary "evils", lol.

So, yes, some things that are necessary in my life aren't aesthetically pleasing.

Generally, I do try to find beautiful and functional - as much as I can - even for prosaic items. But, I don't junk my entire kitchen and then go out and spend a huge amount of money on replacements. I usually just keep an eye out in thrift stores for things I love in terms of design and function that could replace what I currently have. For instance, I've had a colander for the last 3 years now that I think is very ugly. I need it, so I keep it. But, it's dull and plain and ugly. The other day, at a garage sale, I found what I, at first, thought was a gorgeous red bowl. But, was actually a gorgeous red colander for $1.00. So, I took that and dropped my old one into the Goodwill box.

I replace things like this when I come across them. It's an ongoing process.

I also find it helpful to keep a "Goodwill" box in the closet. When it's full, I take it to the thrift store for donations. I used to have the "I can use this in a project" problem as well. My dp had the "I want to keep this magazine for future use" problem. Now, we dump such items into the Goodwill box. If we haven't used said items in over a month and the box is full - it's given away.

[Smokering]

Thanks, Sailor! Yes, I'm trying to do the "gradually replace stuff with stuff I love" thing too - which is tricky, because I don't want to spend heaps of money. I have a constant small flow of "extra" income from web writing though, and that's dedicated to buying nice things for me and the house. Right now it's going towards the spice chest; before that I used it to buy some nice wrought iron hooks for the wall to keep our hats on; and once the spice chest is paid for I'll start saving for either some copper utensils or fabric for a quilt for DD's bed. Oh, or mugs... our current mugs were wedding presents and I don't like them. I smashed one the other day and was quite cheerful about it! I'd love to have mugs I really liked... anyone know of any nice mugs?

I should really make a list of all the things I want to one day replace. If I use thrift stores and donate my discarded stuff to thrift stores it evens out eco-wise, right? I do do the Goodwill box thing. I need to go through DD's stuffed toys again more ruthlessly: she never plays with them and some of them are downright unpleasant to look at.

Sorry for the thread hijack! But it's kinda relevant, because I do think nice messy stuff looks much less cluttery and dingy than nasty messy stuff. Wooden blocks tumbled all over the room look nicer than Happy Meal toys tumbled all over the room, you know? Quality items jumbled together can look shabby chic: plastic junky ones just look like mess. That's my theory, anyway.

[ParisApril]

We have a small place living room, dining room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom on the main floor. It doesn't take much to make it look messy and small.

We try and keep our "stuff" to a minimum. I donate things to the second hand store often, maybe once a month.

I have found that shelves and bins or baskets keep thing tidy. Everything has it's own basket or bin and a space on a shelf. This is especially helpful with the kids toys.

Last year we made our living room "just for show". Not all the time, of course. The kids are allowed to play with their toys in there but they HAVE to clean up when they are done playing. They can mess up their room all they want but the shared space needs to be tidy.

[chattyprincess]

I go through our closets/drawers randomly a few times a year. If I look at something after that long a time of not seeing it I usually say to myself??? Why the heck am I saving this????
I vaccum once a week, we have a swiffer vac (its a vac with the dusting pad attached) that I use daily under the table and "around the edges" of the kitchen, I will run it through the rest of the downstairs once a week if it looks horribly dusty! I go through dd's toys 2x a year once before xmas and once before bday (in july) and put any toys she is out growing or things that drive me nuts in the basement. Down there we have a huge basket with all the outgrown toys that the kids love to play with just because of the novelty of them. I won't give those away because we are wanting more childern!!!

Once or twice a week when dd's in the bath I pull out my handy dandy cleaning caddy from under the sink (contains cleaning supplies, rags and paper towels etc) and tidy the bathroom. I have a $store scrub brush that I keep in dds and one in my tub that before the bath is emptied I scrub the sides and the bottoms of her bath mat. This completly makes scrubbing a bathtub null and void cause you get no ring and do NOT have to use any cleaners where little childern are naked and soaking!!! I try to do our bathroom on the same night after she is sleeping and before I go downstairs but it doesn't always happen!!!
I also bought some great beeswax furniture polish that I spend about 10-15 min applying to a piece of furniture and then I don't have to dust it as much and the little finger prints buff off with a microfiber cloth super easy!
I also have dd's toys all in baskets orgainzed by type at 3 she is just really learning to keep x toy in y basket so I go through once a week and place the random mix ups where they belong. Somedays she need help to clean up. Dh cleans up after himself. If I find stuff of his on the floor (dirty clothing strewn about, paperwork etc) I take it into our bedroom closet and it goes in a pile on the floor. At first he thought I was crazy but it really works for us and reminds him to keep his crapola put away! (seriously how hard is it to put your dirty shorts in the dirty hamper instead of one the floor next to it??!!?)

Truly keeping my house tidy keeps me at peace and makes me less stressed thinking about needing to clean it. I had a very messy mother when I was younger (to the point I never had a friend over) and I vowed when I was preggers my daughter would never feel that way. As someone else said its worth keeping it tidy to enjoy a cup of tea or a moment and be proud.

I hope all of this advice from people helps! 4 years ago I was in your shoes, completely at a loss as to what to do and it really helped me the talk to the ladies on my babycenter birthboard and ask numerous questions and now I love the results!!!!
~Kate

[CameronsMama]

Like others, we keep the amount of stuff we have down, and that reduces the messiness a bunch. It can't end up on my living room floor if it's not in the house! We try to only keep things around the house that are used on a regular basis. I make time each day to tidy up, and I've tried to set a good example for ds (almost 3) that we put things away when we are done with them. He does help tidy up. I have different chores for different days, like certain days I sweep, others I dust, others I do laundry, so there's never any pressure to get a bunch done at time, it never gets overwhelming.

Originally Posted by SAHDS

I have a place for absolutely everything. This makes it easy for anyone to pick up and put away and/or find something they need. Nothing is ever searched for in our home. Saves time and sanity.

I multitask. I have a few girlfriends who love to chat on the phone. So, while I do that, I'm cleaning. I'll get off the phone and not even realize I've finished cleaning my kitchen and family room, it's awesome. I fold laundry while we watch t.v. When I'm outside watching the kids play or ride bikes, I'm washing the exteriors of the windows, and so on.

These are both fabulous tips, so I just wanted to second them!! Everything has a place, it makes it easy for everyone to contribute to the cleanup, because even ds knows where most things go. We always know where something is when we need it, and we know where to put it when we're done with it.

And the multitasking is a great way to get things done without even realizing you're doing it! I also clean up the living room while chatting on the phone, or sweep the front walk while ds is riding his bike, fold laundry on the deck when ds is playing in the backyard (especially easy when I hang things to dry out there), etc.

[MadiMamacita]

Smokering: "I smashed one the other day and was quite cheerful about it! I'd love to have mugs I really liked... anyone know of any nice mugs?"

i have these.. from the evil red empire and for some reason only available in a box of 12? but i love them.
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...t_adv_XSG10001

ChattyPrincess: "I hope all of this advice from people helps!"
yes, it does.. Its making me feel more motivated, but I have to wait until DH gets home from work today to get busy.. ds is having a cranky/clingy day.

[chattyprincess]

super crabby/clingy days always make me itchy for dh to get his booty home!!
I wanted to add that before lunch we tidy up the floors and put stuff back where it goes, we do this again before dinner. As I make lunch I tidy the kitchen and the same with dinner time. I think its just really finding a way to tidy up 2x a day that REALLY helps.
~Kate

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by Smokering

anyone know of any nice mugs?

Depends on your tastes, but I have and love the Fiesta dishes. The mugs are large and hold heat really well. They're lead-free and made in the U.S. I buy mine at Macy's.

[Thalia]

The keys for me have been:

1. Accepting that housework is a never-ending process that must be done daily, if not hourly. This is a hard one if you are used to doing things in spurts like I was.

2. Getting rid of as much stuff as possible. Especially toys, clothes, papers, and kitchen items.

3. Having routines, especially for waking up and going to bed.

4. Not going to bed each night until the house is picked up, especially the kitchen. To do this, you have to know what "picked up" means for you. Starting the day in a clean house makes a huge difference.

5. Clean as you go. When you are done with an activity, put the room back in order before you do anything else. Make your kids do this as well.

6. Do It NOW. If you unwrap something, throw the wrapper away before you do anything else. Don't wait until later. If you spill a drop of something on the floor, take the time NOW to grab something to wipe it up with, before you forget and it gets sticky or set in.

7. Know thyself. Take a look around your house and see where you have chronic problems, and find a solution that doesn't require you to change the underlying behavior too drastically. If you have clothes on the floor of your bathroom, put a hamper there or install hooks to hang them on, rather than insisting that people carry them into the bedroom.

8. A place for everything and everything in its place. And make sure the place is right next to where you actually USE that thing.

9. Find a supportive online community who will cheer you on. Real change is hard and encouragement can be tremendously helpful. And chances are, people in your real life will not know how to do this.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by Smokering

I'd love to have mugs I really liked... anyone know of any nice mugs?

ditto to the fiestaware! we LOVE ours!

[primjillie]

It is easier to keep it clean if you keep it up. Don't let it get behind or it can get overwhelming. I clean as I go a lot. As I walk through a room, I'm picking up, straightening, putting things away. etc. We also only eat in the dining room unless it is a special occasion - special tv program, etc. My kids were also involved - put dishes in sink, never ever leave clothes or towels on the floor, put away toys when done playing. They also knew we usually didn't leave the house until the house was tidy, so they were usually eager to help. I also do dishes right after we eat and make the beds every morning. I would go crazy in a dirty, messy house so that motivates me the most!

[BaBaBa]

Flylady has made a huge difference in our home. I had looked at the website a few times and always thought it was corny and disorganized but once I started following it I was inspired and amazed. That was less than a month ago. DH has totally noticed a huge difference and THAT'S saying a lot.

[gillibean]

I am not a neat housekeeper . . . yet. The thing that I've been noticing over the past few years, though, is that the thing that all the neat/tidy houses have in common is less stuff. I've been really focusing on clearing out things that I don't need/love. As I've been getting rid of more and more clutter, it has become so much easier to keep things in order.