Tag: minimalist cleaning tips

5 Quick Chores that Keep Your House Clean

Posted on by Katie Coughran

 

Cleaning is one of my least favorite things to do. That’s why I try to manage our home cleanliness by doing quick chores that keep things in shape. These help me so much and I hope they help you, too!

Click below to watch the video or you can scroll down to read the article. Thanks for hanging out with me!

There are lots of quick things you can do to tidy up your home fast, but these are my favorites. Let me know in the comments if you’ve got one you can’t skip on!

1. Fold and put laundry away as soon as it’s done. This one is tough, but it’s one that ALWAYS makes our home feel better. Relative to the space in your house, having a pile of laundry on your sofa is a much bigger mess than having a few toys or books out. Getting it folded and put away will immediately have a positive impact on your home. (Thanks for submitting this tip, HeatherAnne!)

2. Put the dishes away as soon as they’re dry. I never enjoy this one, probably because I home-cook all of our food and do a ton of dishes. Still, once they’re dry, I’ve been making more effort to put them away and be done with the task. It helps me to be ready to cook the next healthy meal and generally makes our home feel better.

3. Wipe the bathroom down daily. If you have multiple bathrooms this can be a daunting task. We only have one in our RV, so it gets pretty messy. I’ve got a homemade cleaner that makes me feel better about getting my kids to help out than if I had harsh chemicals. When we do this daily, our house feels so much cleaner and it’s one of the few chores that gets easier and easier to do than the first time it’s done when there’s likely a week of grime built up. Don’t get into scrubbing down the tub or things like that—save that for Saturdays. Just wipe the toilet, sink, and mirror and you’ll see a big improvement and be able to get it done quickly. If you have multiple bathrooms, get to the one that gets the most traffic and rotate through the others in order to ease your burden.

4. Do a nightly tidy-up. This is one of my favorites because we all jump in and clean for 5 minutes and the house suddenly feels great. I actually sleep better knowing it’s done! This nightly tidy-up means straightening the couch, putting keys/bags where they belong, toys away, dirty clothes head to the hamper, and coats are hung in the closet. Don’t make it complicated—just do those quick, easy things that make the house feel better but don’t require a vacuum.

5. Make the bed each morning. This one is so important! Think about it—your bed is a massive piece of furniture, so if it isn’t made, it feels like a massive mess. Make your bed when you get up and if you have kids, help them get into the habit of doing it, too. Your whole house will probably feel cleaner and it’ll make those beds more relaxing places to read in during the day or climb into at night.

Good luck with keeping your house tidy and remember, it’s all about the experiences, not stuff.

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Four Quick Chores that Keep Your Home Tidy

Posted on by Katie Coughran

If you’ve listened to this podcast even somewhat regularly, you’ll know that I hate cleaning. This is especially tedious for me when the mess has built up, so I’ve learned to not let that happen. Even if I can’t get to the bigger daily chores, these are the few things we do almost every single day to ensure our home stays pleasant and manageable.

Click the play button to listen to the episode, or scroll down to read all about it.

1. Deal with mail right away. Not only does this lower our stress because it’s not hanging out where we can see it, nagging at us to take care of it, but having a tidy space also lowers our stress. Recycle flyers and ads, then file mail that needs to be taken care of another day. If you don’t give it a home, its home will be whatever surface is closest to the front door.

2. Put your keys/purse/wallet/backpack away as soon as you enter. It takes so little time, but the tiny bit of extra effort will make your home a more pleasant space.

3. Empty your dish drainer or dishwasher right as soon as soon as your dishes are dry. This always inspires me to cook better foods and makes me a happier person in the kitchen. Plus, it just looks nicer.

4. Do a nightly clean sweep. It’s one of the easiest ways to keep your home clean. Taking 5-10 minutes to pick up all the little stuff that’s quick and easy to put away is pretty simple and a great habit. If you have others living in the home, try to get them to help out! It’s so nice to wake up to a clean home in the morning.

These four things won’t make your home perfect, nor will they necessarily help you to downsize, but they are great at maintaining the hard work you’ve already done. If you’re home right now, I challenge you to quickly do one of these things. If you’re not home, do one of them as soon as you walk in the door.

Remember, it’s all about the experiences, not the stuff.

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7 Minimalist Cleaning Tips

Posted on by Katie Coughran

Keeping things minimalist-minded when it comes to my cleaning routine has saved me hours of cleaning time and kept me on track when it comes to having a tidy home. My family and I all benefit from having a nice space and I’m happy I don’t have to spend extra minutes cleaning — some more bonuses of minimalistic practices.

Hit the play button to listen to the episode, or you can quickly read through my tips below.

If you’ve listened to many of my podcast episodes or read my book, you’ll know that I dislike cleaning, but I love having a clean house. Minimizing the amount of time I spend on chores but also being able to enjoy a tidy home is one of my goals with minimalism and here are my top tips for having the best of both worlds.

  1. Clean the dishes after every meal. Yep, it’s a bit of a pain, but it’s impactful when it comes to amount of dishes you need — if you only have a dish or two for each person In the home, you HAVE to clean up after every meal. If you have 50 plates, it’s easier to let them pile up and create a huge mess. Also, having a tidy kitchen won’t only feel good, but it will likely help you to eat better foods if your kitchen is clean.
  2. Have the right tools. You don’t need a million, just the right ones. I finally made a daily cleaner that I love and crocheted a few wipes that are specifically for the bathroom. The bonuses were that I was able to ditch the other products I had used and I now have more space in my tiny RV cabinet. Even better, our bathroom is clean most of the time because the process is quick and simple with the right tools.
  3. Deal with clutter daily. Put away paperwork as soon as it comes in, make sure your surfaces are cleared off at least once daily, and make sure clothes get put away in the hamper or closet when you’re done with them. You’ll feel less stress and be able to enjoy the benefits of being organized. Plus, it won’t be a big deal if somebody stops by.
  4. Fold and put laundry away as soon as it’s dry. This one’s the worst for me, quite frankly. I’ve learned that having a pile of laundry out makes your home feel cluttered and messy faster than most things, so it’s worth it to just deal with folding it and putting it away as soon as possible.
  5. Make constant efforts to downsize and evaluate. Did you spot a shirt tucked into the back of your closet that you never wear when you put your laundry away? Can you ditch it? You don’t have to be compulsive about searching for things to ditch, but looking at your things objectively when you’re tidying up helps to keep working on minimalistic practices.
  6. Make your bed every day. In the morning is preferable. Have you ever taken a look at how large your bed is? If it’s messy, it looks like the whole room is messy. In comparison, if you leave a glass and book out on your bedside table, but the bed is made, nobody would hardly notice. Making my bed each morning just makes me feel good and gives me a place to comfortably rest or hang out during the day.
  7. Create a cleaning routine. Focus on the flow — move fluidly from one room to the next instead of bouncing around your home like a ball in a pinball machine. It’ll take less time and you won’t have to put much mental effort into making sure you check everything off your list. Check podcast episode 12 for some tips, although I go into the nitty gritty depth of how to do this in Patreon Exclusive episode 7. $3/month patrons get two bonus exclusive podcast episodes each month and you’re also supporting the show continuing, my friends. Thanks for considering!

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My latest videos on YouTube:
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad

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Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!

Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!