Why I’m Okay With ‘Adequate’ Housecleaning

If I’m really being honest with you, I would love to have a white, minimalist house that looks good on Pinterest. But with a lack of natural light coming into our house on a normal day, and two energetic boys at home, I’m not in a hurry to replace my carpet, couch or curtains with items that will make me stressed every time one of them goes into the living room!

A while ago, after feeling that I couldn’t succeed at this housekeeping caper, I realised that my ideals were based on a couple of extraordinary friends with a cleaning addiction (and houses that look like they should be on a magazine cover). Since I have been blessed with different abilities, such as bargain hunting and storing everything that might come in handy one day, I realised that the standard I set for myself actually had to be more in line with what I felt comfortable with.

And so my system for ‘adequate housecleaning’ was born. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when the toys are picked up and the only thing on my kitchen table is a scented candle and a bottle of wine. But more often than not, there are many places in my home that could use some extra TLC. And I have ‘more important’ things to do than hours of housework every day, so I’ve settled into a routine that everyone in my household seems to be able to live with.

My ‘Adequate Housecleaning’ Regimen:

• I try and live by the Flylady rule ’15 minutes from company ready’ which means that if we spontaneously have people over, it should only require a 15 minute head start and the family and I can cover the major areas of the house and bring them up to a standard where we are happy to invite people in. (If you’ve never heard of Flylady, she’s got some great ideas on how to help, go and check out her site).
• I do most of my housecleaning once a week, which including vacuuming and washing floors, cleaning bathrooms and dusting.
• I do a load of laundry every day (that seems to keep up with my household’s needs), and spot clean toilets, counters and floors throughout the week as necessary. I make sure all the dishes are done every night (I let them dry on the dish rack overnight), and I clean and put things away as I go.
• I am working on a new habit of spending 30 minutes a couple of times a week do to bigger decluttering and cleaning tasks, working through areas that I don’t usually touch (under beds, cleaning out cupboards, etc).
• I don’t actually make my kids pack up every toy every night. My children play in our living spaces since they share a small bedroom. When things get out of control, we have a ’10 minute tidy-up’ and work together to clean up the floor and put things away.

I know that there are lots of things that I could do better, especially if I wanted to be a perfect homemaker. But as I mentioned earlier, my priorities rest with other things apart from cleaning, and I change the routine as the seasons of life change. For example, I used to go grocery shopping and clean the house on Mondays, but now that I am working from home during school hours, I clean the house over the weekend or after school.

I’d love to hear any top tips that you might have about cleaning!

Share them in the comments below!