So just recently a friend of a dear friend start pinning
things regarding a weekly cleaning schedule. I have a feeling I must be a slob,
because most of this stuff I wouldn’t even think of tackling weekly. I grew up
in a house that was often messy, but never dirty, and I like to think I live by
the same philosophy. I would rather spend the time I have after my 50ish hour
work week with my family actually engaging with them. Sometimes this is getting
down on the floor with my little boy and sometimes it’s vegging out in front of
an episode of Hell’s Kitchen with my husband. Not that I don’t admire the folks
that clean more, it’s just not who I am.
I want to live life! But with all that said, I also realized,
especially when I became a mommy, that while everything washes (and if it doesn’t,
do you really need it?), I also wanted to create a safe, clean environment for
a my child. I didn’t want to constantly worry about what his mouth was making
contact with as he learned to crawl or what he might be putting in his mouth
that he found around the house.
So, with that in mind, I give you what I consider a more
practical, working person’s guide to keeping house in a decent manner (this is
assuming that you can’t afford other people to come do it for you or you just don’t
prioritize your income that way)
My methodology is simple – do stuff right and you don’t have
to do it that often. So, I’m giving you 28 things to do each month. If it’s a
month with more than 28 days, you get 3 days to choose your own adventure – you
can take them as a bye or you can choose something from the “occasional
necessities” list. Or you can be a total stud, knock out a bunch of stuff at
once, and then coast a bit (like during VBS week, or camp week, or weddings and
funerals week in my experience). And, of course, since your house and my house
differ, you might have things to add, delete, or change. This is just something
I’m developing to help my household and if it helps you, too, bonus!
Daily Stuff You Can’t
Escape
DishesQuick Tidy (no tripping hazards, no bug magnets, no underwear where guests might see)
Mail (open it, put it where it goes, recycle as possible)
As Necessary
LaundryGarbage, Recycling (walk the house, grab it all!)
Monthly Stuff
- Bathrooms – toilets
- Bathrooms – tubs, showers
- Bathrooms – floors, baseboards
- Bathrooms – countertops, sinks, mirrors
- Bathrooms – clean out/reorganize cabinet space
- Bedrooms – dust (presupposes clearing clutter, don’t forget fans), change sheets
- Bedrooms – vacuum, baseboards
- Closets – vacuum, tidy up
- Closets – go through clothes and shoes, retire/donate/rotate
- Kitchen – floor (sweep/swiffer, mop)
- Kitchen – sink, countertops (especially random crumb traps), wipe down appliances
- Kitchen – organize pantry, clean out fridge/freezer
- Living Room – floor, baseboards
- Living Room – dust
- Living Room – put accumulated cluttery things away
- Laundry Room – sweep, mop
- Dining Room – clear table, dust/clean
- Dining Room – vacuum or sweep/mop, baseboards
- General House – dust light fixtures
- General House – spot clean carpets, walls, and baseboards
- General House – clear all horizontal surfaces of clutter
- Garage – clean out cars
- Garage – wash cars
- Garage – sweep, organize
- Outdoors – mow grass, trim shrubs
- Outdoors – mow grass, trim shrubs (might wait a couple of weeks from the other)
- Outdoors – gutters, play equipment
- Outdoors – intense weeding
Appliance Care – microwave, stove, oven
Appliance Care – washer, dryer
Kitchen – check garbage disposal and related plumbing
Computers – check security software, back up stuff you want to keep, etc.
Storage – go through old boxes, etc. and label/donate