Hi friends! I’ve been asked a lot how I maintain our house with the cream colored rugs/curtains when we have two dogs and a rabbit! I’m sure that question is going to come along even more often after this baby boy get his legs under him since we have no intention of changing out those pieces, and things are bound to get even more messy. We shall see how that goes- HA! Today I’m going to share a few ways that I clean things sparkly, clean and healthy for our family. There are three basic strategies we have that help us maintain our home and sanity (both Lou and I come a bit undone when the house is a mess, although admittedly I can tolerate a bit more chaos than he can). Ok fine, I can tolerate a lot more mess but when things are grimy, that’s when I hit my limit and start cleaning like a woman possessed! Here’s how we manage it:
Cut the Clutter- This is my number one recommendation for keeping a tidy house because if there are piles of stuff everywhere it doesn’t matter how much time you spend scrubbing, it will feel messy. Doing a serious edit of your belongings, often, is a wise investment in tidying time, in my opinion! This includes kitchen cabinets, closets, junk drawers and all other misc storage spaces as well as the usual suspects- counter tops, table tops and coffee tables! It’s so easy to just stash stuff with the out of sight out of mind idea but when your storage spaces start to become dysfunctional because of the amount of things crammed into them, even a deep cleaning won’t get you the relief you deserve! So, get to sorting through those drawers and closets you’ve been avoiding, sell or donate what you no longer need/love and feel the freedom you can experience in having less! I promise you won’t miss the stuff but you’ll love the extra space it leaves behind!
Vacuum, Vacuum, Vacuum some more! With a dog who sheds YEAR ROUND LIKE IT’S HER 24 HOUR JOB, I can’t even begin to tell you how important a vacuum is to our routine! We bring out the big guy for a full house vacuum at least twice a week, and use the little guy for in between cleanings, curtains and all our other above-floor vacuum needs. We recently upgraded to the Oreck Elevate Conquer Power Team (the upright and handheld) and they’ve been a lifesaver- especially during my pregnancy induced allergy fits! Both are excellent at rounding up all the dog fur with ease. The HEPA filtration traps 99.97% of the tiniest particles that we’re itching to get rid of, including mold spores, pollen, dander and dust. And all of that nastiness is locked up when their SaniSeal System automatically closes upon disposal- which gives me peace of mind. And thankfully, it’s lightweight, which has been another lifesaver during this pregnancy when hauling around this belly feels like enough work already! I swear it’s our diligence in regular vacuuming that keeps these rugs around- we wear shoes in the house and with two dogs who can’t be bothered to clean up a single bit after themselves (outrageous, right?!) you would think they’d be a mess. But year after year they hold up! I thank our diligent vacuum routine for that one…
Bi-weekly deep cleanings- Inevitably there are spaces that are just plain old neglected in our house on the regular, like the bathroom, because they’re our least favorite to clean and land at the bottom of our priority list. This is why bi-weekly deep cleanings are critical for us. We can maintain pretty well with light cleaning for a couple of weeks but then if we don’t commit to a few hours of scrubbing things will get downright unpleasant, quickly. My strategy for these deep cleaning sessions is to play music, loudly, and tackle it as a family. There’s something so satisfying about finishing up a deep cleaning and getting to enjoy a sparkly house! Saturday morning is my favorite time for this project- it opens up the rest of the weekend for enjoying the space exactly as we love it most!
Ok, so those are my strategies for keeping things in order around our house. Any tips or tricks you have that I should know about?! I’d love to hear them!! xx- Sarah
This post was produced in partnership with Oreck. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep a roof over our heads!
