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I'm not done my PURGE-EVERYTHING-IT'S-A-NEW-YEAR kick, in case you were wondering. I already talked about how to strategically purge things in your house, but I'm also trying to get things actually clean around here, too. Most of the time, that feels impossible because I have a perpetually muddy German Shepherd who sheds and two toddlers who smear peanut butter and crumbs EVERYWHERE. It's an uphill battle, you guys. (I caught Aiden rubbing some spilled milk around on the table, like the next logical step was to make the mess bigger. WHY LORD, WHYYYY.)
Whether you have kids making small messes bigger messes or you have pets or you generally want cleaning to take the absolute minimum effort, this is a list for you. From me. Your under-qualified yet aspiring-to-be-clean mom.
5 things to make cleaning up easier:
iLife Robot Vacuum
I mentioned this in my January Currently post, but this vacuum has been a game changer for us and I will keep singing it's praises all. day. long. I run it twice a day, and it sucks up all the fur from our German Shepherd (which would otherwise stick to Aiden and Emma when they play on the floor! No thanks). I empty it every day or every other day, and it works amazingly to vacuum our weirdly-laid-out first floor and still make it back to the charger.
Furniture that doubles as storage
I've already included our new favorite entryway cabinet (a.k.a. "dining room hutch" a.k.a. "buffet sideboard") in tons of pictures, because I love it so much! It holds books in the big cabinet, the bottom drawer is "random toys that don't fit into any of our systems" and the top drawer is a basket of remotes, lighters for candles, and batteries. ALL hidden away from sight! Other things that could be storage: end tables, dining room cabinets (ours pictured here in the background), bathroom vanities, shelves with bins in the kids' room, a nursery changing table, etc.
Storing things at the point of use
This isn't a product you need to buy! It's just a way of organizing things: we keep our box of new trash bags inside the kitchen trash can, under the currently-in-use trash bag. That way, when we take out the trash, the new bags are RIGHT there and ready to go.
Bona Hardwood Cleaner, and they're not even paying me to say that.
IT'S JUST THAT GOOD. $7 for the spray bottle, and then $17 for the enormous refill bottle that lasts us forever!
Reusable rags for mopping
I own a Swiffer sweeper, but instead of buying those swiffer mop pads (which really add up, since they're like $12 a pack on Amazon) use old t-shirts or cut-up old fabric, spray the Bona Hardwood cleaner on the floor/directly on the rag, and then I Swiffer it around our house.
Well, that's all I got at this point.
Are you a super organized person? What little tricks do you have to keep your space cleaner?
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