Of course, wanting is all well and good—it’s coming up with systems and methods to actually make and keep your home cleaner and more streamlined that’s difficult.
The good news is there are plenty of small things you can do to work toward that goal. Here are a few tips for cleaning and decluttering your home this year.
Start by decluttering your kitchen
Your entryway, living room, and most importantly, your kitchen are ideal places to begin the decluttering process. Why? Because these are the areas where you and your family spend the most time, as well as the spaces that any guests (or potential buyers, if you’re planning to sell) will see right off the bat.
Start by taking an objective look at each space, and notice anything that either doesn’t belong or that you don’t want to keep. By focusing on a single area at a time, you’ll avoid feeling overwhelmed while also racking up the accomplishments—a totally clean, decluttered hallway!—that can motivate you to keep tackling your other spaces.
Deep clean the area you’ve just decluttered
Once you’ve spent all that time decluttering a room, it’s time to deep clean it!
Gather all your cleaning supplies together first, so you don’t have to make trips throughout the house to find them while you’re in the middle of cleaning (those extra trips are perfect opportunities to get distracted). Then start with the walls and furniture, and work your way down to the skirting boards and floors.
Establish a cleaning schedule involving just a few minutes a day
One of the things that keeps many people from sticking to a cleaning routine is the assumption that their entire home should be clean, all of the time.
That’s simply unrealistic—especially if you share your home with kids, pets, or other family members.
Instead, adopt a cleaning schedule. This means that you do one cleaning task per day of the week, in addition to regular daily tasks like wiping down countertops and making beds (things you probably already do each day!). So you might clean bathrooms every Monday, change sheets and towels each Tuesday, vacuum every Wednesday, and so on.
This keeps you from having to spend hours upon hours on a weekend cleaning your home, because it’s mostly clean, most of the time.
Keeping your home clean and decluttered isn’t as impossible as it can feel sometimes. And especially if you’re planning on selling your home this year, it’s a great way to get 2022 off to a great start!