How to Keep The House Looking Tidy Without Spending All Day Tidying + Quick 5-step Emergency Tidy Routine

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Keep the home looking tidy with minimal effort, or bring it up to scratch in just a couple of minutes with these tidy house hacks.

woman organising space with boxes

Cleaning with kids is like shovelling snow in a blizzard.”

Isn’t it just?

While you’re busy cleaning up one room, they’re busy creating a cyclone in another room.

And then a visitor drops by, and you mumble a quick ‘sorry about the mess as they step over toys and push a load of laundry off the couch to sit down.

But having a tidy home isn’t about impressing people. It can actually affect our happiness.

The science of neuroarchitecture shows that our home affects our moods, and if you’re feeling a little down or overwhelmed, a quick tidy might just give you the lift you need.

But we don’t want to spend all our time cleaning. That would be my idea of hell.

There are too many books in the world waiting to be read to be wasting time scrubbing baseboards.

This article is titled keep your house looking tidy for a reason. Sometimes shoving things into drawers and cupboards to make the house tidier is good for our sanity.

One of my kids is a walking explosion of clutter (truth be told, they take after me… shhh.)

So for us, it’s not so much about keeping our house clean but resetting it after a day of crafting, baking, sewing, photography, painting and all the other things we get up on a weekend.

If you’re out of the house all day, it’s easy to keep it tidy. But we work from home, which means the kids are at home all holidays (and then there was that time we were all home for a pandemic), so our house is very lived in.

Of course, a tidy house isn’t the same as a clean house. But it’s a lot easier to vacuum and wash floors, sanitise benchtops, and otherwise clean when there’s not a lot of stuff in the way.

Below are some simple tips we’ve found useful to keep the house tidy (or restore it to a presentable level, without spending a huge amount of cleaning each day.

1. Can the Clutter

The number one most important thing you can do to keep your home tidy and yourself sane (and save money) is to keep clutter to a minimum.

We are a family who routinely keeps boxes because they might ‘come in handy,’ keep egg cartons out of the recycling ‘for crafts‘, and bring home other people’s junk because we could probably use it. Couple that with the fact we live in a small townhouse and clutter is probably our biggest issue.

Part of the reason we spend so much time tidying is that we have so much stuff to tidy. When I have a big declultter (‘no, we don’t need to keep ten empty egg cartons, my dear’), it’s a lot easier to keep the house tidy.

How many sets of sheets do you need? Towels? Toys? Do you need to keep all that paperwork? Do you remember what’s in those boxes at the top of the cupboard? Me neither.

Removing some stuff will not only cut your workload; your house will instantly look uncluttered, tidy, more spacious and fresh.

Help your knick-knacks shine by displaying a few favourite pieces. Dusting time will be reduced. Recycle old magazines and junk mail straight away and avoid your home being a random dumping ground for stuff.

2. Have a Place For Everything

keep a tidy house by having baskets or boxes for easily storing toys

Another big cause of mess is when the stuff we own doesn’t have a home.

We don’t know what to do with it or where to put it.

Or we’ve run out of room to put it anywhere.

Not having a place for things makes it hard to tidy the house.

After getting rid of the clutter, the next step is to find a home for everything.

When everything you own has a home, it takes minutes to pick things up and put them away because you know exactly where it goes.

This is where baskets, boxes, and containers are great, especially for kids, but for adults too. The easier your storage solution, the quicker the pick-up job and the more likely it will get done.

(If you have minimal stuff and the space for storage, then storing toys on open shelves, Montessori style, is great.)

Even a 1-year-old can tidy away their toys into boxes or baskets; it’s quick and easy, and then everything looks amazingly neat and tidy.

Baskets look pretty, and there are always lots of second-hand baskets at op-shops, but I store plenty of things in old fruit and veg boxes (free) and even some old beer boxes. They do the job without the price tag.

My daughter’s toys are in clear plastic boxes under the bed – it’s easy for her to see what’s in them and easy for her to put everything away when she’s finished playing.

If you want to and have the time to Marie Kondo everything, go for gold. Don’t get me wrong, all those neatly folded clothes look great.

But when time is of the essence, shoving stuff into allocated boxes as baskets does the trick and ends up just as organised and tidy.

3. Tidy a Little, Often

Rather than having a big cleanup every week or going into a panic when visitors call, it’s easier to do a daily reset.

Five minutes of tidying, especially with help from the family, stops the mess from piling up.

This can be as simple as putting the junk mail straight into the recycling rather than letting it pile up on the dining table, putting a dirty glass in the sink or dishwasher rather than leaving it lying around (I’m still working on teaching the kids this), or getting the kids to put away their laundry.

With only a few minutes of effort, your house remains looking spick and span.

In our house, a meal is not over until the table is cleared and wiped, the dishes put away, and the kitchen put back to order. Increasingly, this is the kids’ job as they get older, making it easier on me.

When you are doing things throughout the day, spend an extra minute or two doing a quick chore.

Make the bed as soon as you get up in the morning.

Put dirty clothes straight into the wash.

When you wash the dishes, wipe down the benches, stove and any dirty cupboard doors.

Wipe down the bathroom sink after cleaning your teeth.

When you put the washing on the line, place matching socks together or all of 1 person’s clothes together so it’s easy to put things away when the washing is dry.

Instead of bringing the washing in a crumpled pike, fold and stack it neatly in the basket. Or better yet, get the kids to bring their own laundry in off the line.

4. Train Your Team

Apparently, kids who have chores are more likely to grow into successful adults. Not private school, not cello practice, but unpacking the dishwasher.

“[Children] who began chores at ages 3 and 4 were more likely to have good relationships, achieve academic success and be self-sufficient than those who started as teens or had none at all.”

[source]

Now there’s a win-win for every parent on the planet.

Depending on the child, their very first chore can be to pick up their own toys at around 2 years with your help.

And this is the time to capitalise on that youthful enthusiasm that wears thin as they grow older.

‘I’d LOVE to scrub the toilet, mummy!’ turns into a groan in a few quick years, so get in early and teach them young.

It can be a whole chore in itself to get your kids to do their chores; I won’t pretend it’s easy. Sometimes it’s easier to just do it yourself.

In the short term.

In the long term, nobody wins if you’re a slave to your kids.

Now, if you have tips for getting husbands to do chores, I’m all ears.

5. Keep a ‘Put-Away’ Stuff Basket Handy to Relocate Items

We have a spot at the bottom of the stairs where we put things that need to go away upstairs. The rule in our house is that no one is allowed to walk past those things (with varying levels of compliance). If you’re going upstairs, you have to take stuff with you.

A small basket in a convenient location is another option. It’s somewhere you can throw everything at a moment’s notice to contain the mess and then put it away later when you have time.

It can make a room look tidy in seconds.

It also means you’re not running around tidying all the time. This is especially useful if you have young kids who tend to pick things up and then drop them somewhere else constantly.

I have a box for my sewing projects, so if I have to clear the table ASAP, which you do when you live in a small space, I can throw it all back into the box and put it away in the cupboard.

7. Focus on Keeping on Top of the Dishes and Kitchen Mess

Most day, cooking and washing dishes is the only cleaning I do.

I figure if the kids are fed, it doesn’t matter if the bed aren’t made, or the bathroom is messy.

Because the kitchen is the hub of the home, it’s the one room that’s worth focusing your energy on if your energy (or time) is in short supply.

And believe me, I’ve had many a day when energy has been almost zero.

If you have a dishwasher, then keeping the kitchen clean is easier; just throw everything in the dishwasher.

Otherwise, if you can, wash dishes straight away as you use them or rinse crockery and stack it neatly. Your kitchen will look clean, even though the washing up hasn’t been done.

Wipe food off the benches, wash cups, pots and pans and cutlery if there is time or just stack them too, and hang the towels, and your kitchen can be spick and span in under 5 minutes.

8. Keep a Cloth in the Bathroom for a Quick Clean

For a super quick bathroom tidy, it’s easier if a little is done each day.

A quick tidy of the clutter, a wipe down of surfaces, a quick spritz of homemade air freshener, open the windows to let in fresh air and to prevent mould, and you’re done.

This process is quick and easy if you keep a cloth in the bathroom to do a quick wipe of the sink and mirror. Straight after you clean your teeth (and the kids have finished in the bathroom) is ideal.

High-Impact Cleaning in 10 Minutes or Less

Do you need to have the house tidy, stat?

The following tasks will give the highest impact and make your house look tidiest with the least effort first.

If you have visitors coming over and you only have a few minutes to tidy, here’s a quick 5-step tidy to make your home guest-ready.

10-Minute, 5-Step Emergency Tidy Routine

  1. Quick Pick Up (2 minutes). Pick everything up off the floor, tables, couches and other surfaces. If you don’t have time to put everything away in its spot, throw it into your put-away basket.
  2. Shut all the doors to untidy rooms (10 seconds). No visitor needs to see your bedroom and the pile of washing hiding in there.
  3. Give the floor a quick vacuum/sweep and surfaces a quick wipe-over (5 minutes) if they need it. I keep a broom and a dustpan and brush beside the fridge. It’s quicker and easier than getting the vacuum out, and you can use the dustpan to sweep up crumbs on tables before giving the table a spray and wipe.
  4. Give the toilet/guest toilet a quick clean and the handbasin a quick wipe, and spray the loo with a homemade air freshener. (2 minutes)
  5. Open windows to let in some fresh air and give the entry and lounge room a spray with homemade linen spray (1 minute).

If you have extra time, rinse and stack any dishes in the dishwasher or sink. A stack of rinsed dishes looks tidy, even if they aren’t clean yet.

If that’s all you have time for, your house will look like it’s that clean all the time.

Don’t underestimate the power of fresh air. You can have the tidiest house on the block, but if it smells like old banana peels and cat litter, it’s not going to be pleasant for anyone. A fresh-smelling house gives the impression of a clean house, even if it hasn’t been cleaned for a while.

I’ll be the first to admit that our house is less than tidy a lot of the time. Our biggest issue is clutter.

But when we do follow these steps, life is actually easier, and I enjoy living in our home a whole lot more.

It’s worth doing just a little tidying each day. And then bask in your tidy home with a cup of tea and a good book.

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7 Comments

  1. The “train the tribe” is absolutely right! If you can manage to train them this can make life so much easier. Just remember that just because they dont do it your way doesnt mean it wasnt done right!

    So any pitter patter of little feet yet?

  2. Charmaine says:

    “Be at peace with the mess” has often become my mantra with a 7 month old whirlwind in the house. Speaking of which, methinks a new baby must have entered the world…

  3. I am currently pregnant with our third child and when this one is born we will have three under three years of age, mad I know, but fully planned! So it is generally pretty messy in our house with dirty and clean washing everywhere, toys all over the place etc. The first thing I do every morning is make the bed’s, to me if the bed’s made the house is tidy, if that is all I get done each day then that is fine, the floors can get washed the next day if they need to. At the other end of the day as soon as my toddler and baby are in bed I spend probably no more than 15 minutes putting the toys in a tidy pile, putting all the dirty clothes in the washing machine ready for the next day and putting away the general mess from the day (glasses, clean washing etc). Then I can just sit and relax for the rest of the night. Two small jobs but they make a huge difference to keeping the house looking tidy (but not necessarily clean!!)

    1. I wrote this post before I had a baby. My little one is 5 months old, and already I think he is going to be an active handful. There are plenty of days where I do exactly what you do, beds, tidy toys at night, put on a load of washing. I love hearing about people’s experiences with having a lot of little ones close together – keeping all the tips in mind if we decide to try to have all ours close together.

  4. I absolutely agree that having a clean an tidy house affects how we feel and it isn’t for impressing guests. I used to be very messy and cleaning wasn’t a priority for me when I was a student and living by myself for thr first time. I was somehow used to the mess and we were living in harmony. Now, I am married and have kids. I can’t stand to see my house dirty and messy! I feel happy when everything looks clean and nice! Now I can’t imagine myself living the same way as before. It was madness! My best helper is the daily cleaning schedule that helps me have everything in order with little effort! Thanks for sharing!

    1. Melissa Goodwin says:

      Hi Bonnie, thank you for leaving a comment. I went the other way lol – was very particular, but let the house go after kids. Have a great day.