Stated by moving companies, moving into a new home can be a stressful time, but it’s also a chance to start fresh. Maybe you let your last house or apartment become too cluttered, but now that you’ve moved homes into your new digs, you can start off on the right foot by making sure everything remains clean, neat and organized.
In this article, we’re going to look at a few ways you can stay on track to ensure that your home looks as good as the day you moved in and set up.
Get On Schedule
The first thing to do to ensure that you keep your home clean is to make a schedule and then commit to sticking to it. Scheduling is vital to helping you stay focused and on track. When you make up a schedule, you visualize what has to be done and in which order, and it allows you to feel a sense of accomplishment as you check off your list each day.
Sit down and figure out each thing you have to do to keep your house clean and organized and then add that to your list. Then, once you’re finished, take a look at the time you have available each day and decide when you have time to accomplish each task.
The key to scheduling is commitment. You have to be committed to following it; otherwise, you’ll begin to slack off and eventually give up.
The following are everyday things you can do to keep your home looking neat.
Clean the Bedroom
Get into the habit of making your bed every morning. Do it as soon as you get out of bed so you won’t be tempted to let it go until later once you get your morning routine started. If you let it go, chances are, it’ll never get done. If you have kids, get them into this habit too; this will teach them to be responsible for themselves and save you from having to do the work later.
Set The Bathroom in Order
After you’ve showered and brushed your teeth, take a few minutes and clean up the bathroom. Put your wet towels in the hamper, put the cap back on the toothpaste, and make sure the shower curtain is closed. You don’t have to make the bathroom spotless in the morning, but putting things away and in their place will keep the bathroom looking neat and organized all the time.
Keep Countertops & Tables Clear
It’s so tempting to throw your dirty dishes in the sink after breakfast or dinner and leave them for a few days, but if you take a few minutes and rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher when you’re finished, you can keep your sink, counter and table clean and tidy. If you don’t have a dishwasher, rinse them out and stack them neatly to be washed later.
Also, take a rag or paper towel and wipe down your table and countertops after preparing meals. Again, you don’t have to do a deep cleaning, but just enough to get the crumbs and large debris off. It sounds like a lot, but most of this can be done in about five minutes.
If you don’t have the time in the morning to take care of dishes, make sure you do it at the end of the day. As mentioned above, put it on your schedule when you know you’ll have the time and then commit to doing it.
Put Clothes Away at Night
When you get home from work, you probably want to take off your work clothes and get into something more comfortable. And most people throw their work clothes on the bed, the chair or in a pile on the floor. Get into the habit of putting your dirty clothes in the hamper and hanging up jackets and suits. Doing this keeps your bedroom clean and prevents your clothes from wrinkling.
Do A Load of Laundry Every Day
If you live by yourself, you can probably get by doing laundry every other day or twice a week, but if you have a family, those clothes are going to pile up quickly. So get into the habit of throwing in a load of laundry either first thing in the morning or at night so your clothes will be done and in the dryer ready to go when you need them.
Now let’s take a look at the things you can do weekly to be clean and organized.
Take Care of Your Mail
Depending on how much mail you get, it might not be convenient to deal with it every day. So, set aside some time on your schedule to sit down with your mail and go through everything. Throw away the junk mail and separate the bills out to be paid. A good idea is to get a holder for your pending mail instead of throwing it somewhere. This will keep your mail all in one place and reduce the chance that you’ll lose something important.
Dusting & Vacuuming
Since you won’t have time to dust and vacuum every day, make this a once or twice a week chore or put it on your schedule for the weekend when you have some spare time.
Recruit The Troops
If you have a family, get them involved because keeping a clean house shouldn’t be a one-person job. Everyone, even your littlest kids, can get in on the action by putting away their toys. Try to make it a competition and see who can pick up the most toys in a period of time.
Keeping your house clean day in and day out can seem like a daunting task, but remember, you don’t have to be perfect. You’ll be amazed at how much difference a quick tidying up can do. And if you stick to your schedule, there’s no reason you can’t keep a neat and clean house. No one said cleaning all day after just moving was easy, but you would want to stay up to date with your new home.
