I have to confess our house gets totally trashed pretty quickly, pretty often!
I have a housework routine that works for me but I try not to do housework at the weekend.
By Sunday evening, after a stream of kids have run in and out none stop all weekend, countless trips to the park, numerous incomplete attempts at gardening, dashing breakfast half eaten to 8am church and straight from church to swimming and back to cook lunch and back into the garden ... the house is totally trashed.
And as, like in most London terraces, you can only get to the kitchen and garden through the front hall and living room, they always look like they've been hit by a bomb.
Despite the fun of the weekend I resented the time it took to clean house on Sunday evening.
I found myself running around none stop from one end of the house to the other putting stuff away for hours on end without actually ending up with a single tidy room.
So I loved these tips that professional cleaners use when clearing up after a party.
Like so many cleaning ideas it's just common sense but oh boy it makes a difference!
The big idea is that starting with your entrance hall and living room you make yourself stand still and totally clear each square foot of each room as you go.
You're not allowed to move on until everything in your immediate reach that isn't meant to be there has gone into a bin bag, a kitchen bucket or a big "sorting" bag.
You're not even allowed to put away in the room you're in until you have cleared every last inch!
Once all the floor and furniture is totally clear you take the bucket to the kitchen and the "sorting" bag upstairs. Then you quick dust and vacuum the hall & living room.
If you've got time, you repeat the inch by inch clear for each room you've got time to do.
Next empty the bucket onto the kitchen floor and sort into piles per cupboard, dishwasher etc. When it's sorted you make one trip to each cupboard to put everything away.
Once the kitchen bucket is done, you divide everything in your "sorting" bag in into a pile for each room. When you've totally sorted the bag, you take each pile to the room it belongs in.
But you're still not allowed to put anything away! Sort each room's pile by the cupboard, drawer, shelf it belongs in. Then make one trip to each cupboard etc to put stuff away.
The first time I did it I found it very hard to stop myself running around from one random pile of mess to another and from one room to another. I had to mentally stick my feet to the floor!
But I couldn't believe how quickly I could clear a room, if I stood still and did it inch by inch
I love the fact that you can get the whole house "presentable" in such little time.
And that if you're really short of time you just stash the bucket and "sorting" bag away - where no one can see it - to be "sorted" later :-)
If you found this post helpful, do come and follow my housework boards on Pinterest ...
So I loved these tips that professional cleaners use when clearing up after a party.
Like so many cleaning ideas it's just common sense but oh boy it makes a difference!
A Clean House Inch by Inch
The big idea is that starting with your entrance hall and living room you make yourself stand still and totally clear each square foot of each room as you go.
You're not allowed to move on until everything in your immediate reach that isn't meant to be there has gone into a bin bag, a kitchen bucket or a big "sorting" bag.
You're not even allowed to put away in the room you're in until you have cleared every last inch!
Once all the floor and furniture is totally clear you take the bucket to the kitchen and the "sorting" bag upstairs. Then you quick dust and vacuum the hall & living room.
If you've got time, you repeat the inch by inch clear for each room you've got time to do.
Sort By Room, Then By Cupboard Before Putting Away
Next empty the bucket onto the kitchen floor and sort into piles per cupboard, dishwasher etc. When it's sorted you make one trip to each cupboard to put everything away.
Once the kitchen bucket is done, you divide everything in your "sorting" bag in into a pile for each room. When you've totally sorted the bag, you take each pile to the room it belongs in.
But you're still not allowed to put anything away! Sort each room's pile by the cupboard, drawer, shelf it belongs in. Then make one trip to each cupboard etc to put stuff away.
Keep Your Feet Stuck to the Floor!
The first time I did it I found it very hard to stop myself running around from one random pile of mess to another and from one room to another. I had to mentally stick my feet to the floor!
But I couldn't believe how quickly I could clear a room, if I stood still and did it inch by inch
I love the fact that you can get the whole house "presentable" in such little time.
And that if you're really short of time you just stash the bucket and "sorting" bag away - where no one can see it - to be "sorted" later :-)
If you found this post helpful, do come and follow my housework boards on Pinterest ...
And if you're looking for more inspiration for a beautiful hall and living room, check out the posts below from the Mommy Archive ... and do share your own ...
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