Secrets to a Clean & Organized House (even in a small house)
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Being clean and organized is a challenge for most people. This is especially true if you have a small house. With less room to put things, your house can look cluttered and messy even if it’s actually not. With 11 people living in my home, this is something I know all too well. We don’t have a lot of stuff, but if everyone has even just a little, that is a lot of stuff! Being clean and organized is something we all want, don’t we? As my family has grown over the years (and therefore the amount of stuff has grown, too), I’ve come up with some pretty awesome secrets to keep your small home clean and organized.
By the way, if you struggle with clutter, be sure to grab our decluttering questions worksheet. It’s perfect for deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. Just enter your email to have instant access!
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While some of these ideas may be obvious once you read them, what I have found is that they aren’t so obvious unless we read them.
Weird, I know.
In fact, I have to go back and remind myself of these things at times, too.
What is also so frustrating is that cleaning and organizing gets undone so quickly. At least if your home is like mine. Just when I get a room or an area clean and organized, it seems like it’s a mess again.
Living in a small home is even more of a challenge. Living with other people who are not so neat and clean is also a challenge. Not having enough room to put things is an additional challenge. And the list could go on and on.
But, putting these secrets into place will help you keep your house clean and organized, even if it’s a small house.
Pick up often
This is first because I honestly feel like it is the most valuable cleaning tip I can give you. The more time that passes, the more messes can pile up.
One of my favorite ways to do this is with what I call the 10 Minute Tidy, and you can read about it HERE. It really can even make cleaning fun.
Have less stuff
This is number two because it is the second most important thing I can tell you. The less stuff you have, the less stuff can clutter up your house.
And, I had to actually put this theory to the test to make sure that it was actually true. When we packed up 80% of our house and then lived that way for nearly six months, I found this to be absolutely true.
Everyone needs to be involved
Try as hard as you may, but if you live with people and they are not helping keep the house clean, you’re fighting an uphill battle.
You can even read about how I make cleaning fun for kids HERE. Kids are so much more willing to do something when it seems more like fun than it does like work.
Follow a cleaning schedule
Failing to plan is planning to fail.
This is certainly true when it comes to cleaning your house.
While your schedule doesn’t have to be rigid, having a plan in place and following it for the most part will help make sure that things get done.
If you’re a working woman, I hear you.
If you are a mom, I hear you.
I know what it’s like to feel like if all you had to do was worry about whether or not your house was clean, it wouldn’t be an issue.
But, like you, I have so many different hats to wear that it’s hard to keep them all on. Once you can finally focus on picking up the house, you’re too tired to do it.
Yet, this is why having a cleaning schedule planned, written out, and divided out in a way that makes the most sense is key.
Psst. I’ve actually got you covered on that, too. You can enter your email below to have a weekly cleaning schedule sent right to your inbox!
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Just do something
If you’ve got a big cleaning job (or really any cleaning job) and are debating about just not doing it, don’t.
Don’t do nothing.
Something is always better than nothing, and I find that once you get started it’s not too hard to keep going.
If you’re tired, it you’ve got a headache, if you’ve got some other reason why you’re struggling to get some cleaning done just do something and see where you go from there.
Have the right tools for the job
When it comes to having an organized home, you must have some things to help you do it. Baskets, bins, shelves…these are all tools that make having an organized home possible.
Make sure that you get the right tools, however. Measure for what fits best and then shop around until you find it.
While it may sound crazy when I tell you that I have been shopping for laundry baskets for three weeks, it’s totally true.
I have a certain space in my laundry room that I need these laundry baskets to go, and I want to make sure I have ones that fit the absolute best. And I haven’t found them yet.
So, I will continue shopping until I find them.
Keep things off the floor
Things on the floor make a house look messy. Period.
If your house feels messy, just start by getting things off the floor first.
In this same way, anytime you can have baskets and bins off the floor, the better.
See the next cleaning and organizing tip for more on this idea.
Use wall space
The walls can be a great place to help things get organized and be clean in your house. For instance, a sharp looking bulletin board can be a perfect place to store jewelry, headbands, and more.
Likewise, some nice looking hooks can also be a great way to store things.
I have three little boys all in a row. They are 8, 6, and 4. And while they love wearing sweatshirts with hoods, they are awful at keeping these things picked up.
We kept them on a shelf in their closet, but even if they put them there the sweatshirts always fell down on the floor.
So, we got some hooks to hang in the empty space on the walls of their closet, and I no longer have sweatshirts all over the floor.
Dressers are for more than just clothes
Dressers are an awesome place to store things like towels, extra bedding, blankets, pillows, and more.
The drawers are generally big but not too big.
When I kept extra towels and sheets in a linen closet, they were often a rumpled mess. Moving these things to a dresser has been the smartest thing I’ve done in a long time.
Plan smart closets
Closets are an easy way to keep your house clean and organized, but many people aren’t maximizing their closets.
Add shelves, get some hanging shoe or sweater shelves, add hooks, or add something else. Browse Pinterest for some closet inspiration.
My general rule of thumb is that if you can see blank wall space in a closet, you’re not using it to its fullest potential.
Check out my ideas for organizing kids closets in our small home HERE.
Just start
I’m guessing that if you’ve read this far, you know just what you need to do to have a more clean and organized house.
Feeling overwhelmed by it is paralyzing, I totally get it.
So, that’s why I’m telling you….just get up and start.
It’s amazing what happens when you do.
Looking for more on cleaning, organizing, and clutter? Try these:
Dealing With Toy Organization in a Small Home
Kitchen Counter Clutter Help
Get Your Kids to Clean Their Rooms Without Arguing
10 Commandments of Cleaning With a Family
