{This is a long post. I can't help it. Please forgive me…
It's just that there's so much to talk about: The heart of housekeeping. With two secrets, which I could have made into two posts but I feel like I'm never going to be done here. So…}
If you're booming and busting all the time — if you are either exhausting yourself getting things clean or not able to enjoy a steady state of reasonably clean in your home…
…but instead invest a considerable portion of your decorating budget on little plaques plaintively hoping that God find it in His heart to “Bless this Mess” and affirming that a good mom gives kisses, not chores — you, my friend, need the concept of —
The Moderate Clean, or, Sparkle and Shine.
Throw the plaques out and let's get serious.
When I read other people's advice (other than the books I've mentioned to you before), I find that a couple of things aren't taken into account:
1. The person giving advice often doesn't understand what it's like to live with a lot of children, each of whom you are trying to lovingly nurture in his own interests, resulting in a house full of gravel (“pretty rocks”), drawings (what is it about a stack of paper that cries out for a crayon line? one line? per page?), houses (cardboard boxes, by far the best toy, yet somewhat anti-aesthetic, no?)…and enough Legos to shake a stick at.
2. The person often doesn't home school, so consequently has no idea that there simply isn't a stretch of time every day that you are alone, able to concentrate on removing fingerprints, etc. {On the other hand, sending the kids to school could be a snare and a delusion. At least if you have a lot of kids. I found that I no sooner recovered from the morning and got the baby to nap than they were home and too in need to decompress to do anything around the house other than play. Plus all the PAPER…but I digress. }
3. The person doesn't take into account that you will be living for years, nay, possibly decades, with at least one nursing baby, and the subsequent feeling of sheer immobility you feel when faced with dirty floors, clutter, piles of dishes…et blankety cetera.
4. The person wants you to have a perfectly clean house, whereas you and I know that we just want a reasonably clean house — that is, one that has order, but doesn't take all day to get that way, and one that we can whip into shape if we really need to, as opposed to…booming and busting.
I have this to say: That, besides the obvious — that you have quadruplets along with some kind of higher education that renders you unfit for housework, and anyway, aren't really bothered by clutter and dirt — there are two little secrets that once you internalize, will make you grow up and take care of your own home.
Schedule an hour to clean every day.
The day has a bunch of time in it.
Some of that time has to be devoted to certain things…personal hygiene, dressing kids, eating, checking your email, reading to kids and yourself, and other sundry activities.
You have to have a certain amount of time each day that you simply accept will be devoted to taking care of your home. It's not the same amount of time each day, and yes, there will be days when you aren't able to do one single thing and others where the whole day is nothing but cleaning.
But if you do some deep cleaning once in a while, and then get it into your head that you need to clean for one hour a day — just one hour! —
and that includes dishes! —
— you will have a reasonably clean house.
Does one hour seem like a lot? Can you feature yourself spending that amount of time on such a wretched activity?
How about half an hour in the morning and half an hour after naps?
Can you embrace the hour?
Or do you feel somewhat offended that cleaning takes any time at all…or maybe that it takes any of your time? Hmm? Be honest…
You'll feel better — more responsible, happier — if you schedule it in.
Unlike the deep clean (which I told you would announce its necessity to you in various ways, and which you don't want to have to do very often), you really do need to know what you are cleaning when.
Consider it a sacred duty. Consider it an intellectual challenge.
In my own “education of a girl who couldn't sweep,” the stages were gradual but inexorable.
First, the Holy Spirit came down with little whisperings and made me realize it was immature to wait for my mom to come clean up for me.
For one teeny tiny detail, we lived one hundred and eighty-two miles apart. Yep, I was in denial, all right! Also enabled, since she did come and help me, quite a lot.
But after this revelation, I purchased for myself a real vacuum cleaner (which we had to ride the bus to go get, and it was a waste of money — for a rant on your cleaning tools click here on this document) and a dust cloth and made an effort.
I still just kind of let cleaning happen, sort of the way undergraduates approach mealtimes. If you're hungry, eat. If things are dirty, clean them. No forethought, no plan…just react.
Pretty soon, I reached deep into my vast stores of reading memories and asked, “What Would Ma Do?” (WWMD) — and pulled out that pioneer idea of Wash on Mondays…and that's as far as I got.
It was good start, though. I decided I should clean every Monday.
I made a commitment not to go out, not to socialize, not to read — but to tidy, dust, vacuum, mop the kitchen floor, and do the laundry from start to finish!
Granted, I think at the time we only had two babies, so there wasn't a lot of laundry — nothing, nothing like later. But our duplex had two floors and a basement, three bedrooms (one of which I ignored), and the laundry in that basement, so I did get really exhausted by Monday night.
What a great feeling, though! To have everything done! To embrace, rather than deny, my duty!
Conquering work-avoidance was a huge step in the process of keeping house. Starting out the week with a clean home helped me overcome the depression I was feeling at living somewhere with no friends to share my journey with — everyone else being either still in college or working on their career. I had no clue where to find friends, and just imagine life with no blogs!
But at least I was on my way to feeling a little more optimistic about myself in my new life.
Then I realized that weekends were miserable with things a mess, which, of course they were when I hadn't cleaned since Monday. So — and this was genius — I decided to clean on Friday too! That way, I could enjoy the weekend with my husband and children!
Can you see my thought process here? It gradually dawned on me that I could do a little every day and my house would be clean!
The learning curve can be ever so gradual an incline…but eventually you get there. You get over the idea that “staying home” means “not doing work” and you commit to doing some work!
And now my second secret.
Divide your home into zones.
The kitchen is one, not to be discussed now. Bathrooms are another. For me, it's upstairs and downstairs, with the downstairs further divided into “hard use” (the den and mudroom, but kitchen separate for these purposes) and “easy use” (living and dining rooms).
Now when you approach your hour of work, think in these zones. Most of your cleaning time is going to be devoted to one zone only — maybe even part of a zone. The rest get the Blitz, which I'll talk about another day, but I bet you can figure out that you don't spend much time blitzing.
So your Moderate Clean will consist of approaching your zone with an eye to getting it into shape in less than an hour. You work fast. You have your cleaning tools ready. You have your helpers (also a topic for another day, but you can start thinking about how even a two-year old comes in pretty handy as a runner).
Start in one room and stick to that room until you are done (which is why you need a runner!).
Always start at the door and go around in one direction — I'll let you choose whether to go counterclockwise or the reverse, I'm not picky! But do not criss-cross the room, whatever you do. Just go in one direction, once around for de-cluttering and dusting, and once for vacuuming.
Why? Because there is no point in wasting any more thought on this process than you need to! Instead of figuring the process out anew, just do the same thing every time! It's liberating! Try it!
Let's suppose that on the first day you will be found tackling the upstairs (bedrooms and hallway). Don't forget to start in your own room (where you will make the bed and deal with clothes every day!).
But for Sparkle and Shine, you quickly move everything either to its proper place or the middle of the room (have a laundry basket at the ready for everything from books to actual laundry that didn't make it into the hamper). Make the beds. Put away clean clothes. (Keep in mind that you can get your kids to do a lot of this, but I don't have time to get into that now, and it's a good thing to know what has to be done and how hard it is before you start delegating.)
Dust surfaces by wiping them down with a damp (with water) cloth or anti-static duster. (Every couple of weeks move everything off of surfaces to dust and pull things away from the walls, but for a normal, Moderate Clean, you can feather dust in place. Every other time make yourself do the baseboards and other molding as well as furniture. You can use the brush attachment on your vacuum for this job.)
Put the laundry basket (or other container) of random stuff out in the hall. Make the kids claim their stuff and put it away. If any socks were found under the bed, this is the time for a lecture sweet reminder about the hamper system.
Personally, I would give penalties for every sock found. Like, umm….they have to clean a window (which most kids love to do and it's not like you're getting to it anytime soon).
Vacuum only when all is in place and dusted. Remember to go in one direction around the room, ending in the middle.
You're done!
Work your way down the hall and from bedroom to bedroom until you're really done!
Now — go do other things knowing that tomorrow is another day!
Remember when we laughed because I said that my way keeps you from doing too much?
It's true, though. There are some ladies who never clean. Then there are others who can't figure out how to do other things they like because they are so focused on keeping the house clean!
The problem is that once you start to love a clean house it sort of consumes you, and of course there is no end — simply no end — to how much you could clean.
When really, you ought to move on.
It's good to know that you'll get to it, whether you are on one end of the tidy scale or the other.
Even if things are messy, you have other things to do. Even if someone drops by, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing your best, even if it doesn't look that way.
We're not talking about how things look to other people, we're talking about how things are done to satisfy God, your family, and yourself.
That's what matters, nothing else! {As opposed to when people drop by and things are a mess because you've done nothing about it, ever, nor do you intend to. That's when you can be a bit embarrassed. But we're fixing that right now.}
The next day, move to your downstairs zone, the “hard living” areas.
Here you will want to add to your supplies some strong cleanser and a rag for wiping down walls and door jambs.
The next day you can do the “easy living” areas, which might be very quick indeed if you've made sure to “confine and corral” like I told you. (Make the day you go grocery shopping an easy lifting day in the housework department, or only blitz that day.)
Many people with young children don't have two separate living areas — I didn't at first. But you can still keep them from trashing every room in the house. Use your noggin, girl!
One of the days you can do the kitchen and make sure your laundry is caught up.
On a busy day, do only the the stairs (which I find get lost in the “zones” idea).
On Saturdays — if you don't have a million soccer games to go to — you can make everyone clean everything, especially their own rooms. I don't know whose idea it was to make Saturdays “lazy day” but that won't fly in a big family. Up and at 'em!
If you do have games, then take an extra hour on Friday for Sparkle and Shine (which is a nice, happy way to say Moderate Clean, or, even less cheerfully, Chores). Do what you have to do to go into Sunday calm and orderly, so you can rest.
Divide things up and work fast. Do things on the days that work for you. Look at your schedule and figure out what needs to be clean when.
To summarize without all the blather:
Secret #1: Commit to an hour of cleaning (total! usually…) a day.
Secret #2: Divide your house into zones and only work on one zone (or even part of a zone) at a time.
I found even when homeschooling lots of kids that I could moderately clean a room in 30 minutes or less. The rest of the time I use to blitz and keep up with laundry. I wouldn't tell you about it if it didn't work for me. And if I can do it, so can you!
Lynn B says
This makes me smile! It sounds so do-able. Thanks 🙂
Kathleen says
Hello, I had a question. In the fourth photo in what looks like to be the back door, there are metal stacked bins by the back door. And it looks like there are labels on them. I was wondering about them and if they are a tip that you could share about helping keep us organized? Does everyone have a bin? Do they help? Thanks for the post on the reasonably clean house. I love it!! I have learned some of the same things the same sort of way you are describing and love getting more tips like this to speed up my learning, if you know what I mean.
Milkmaid says
Empowered. That's how I feel after reading this. It's a kick in the seat of the pants in an encouraging sort of way.Thanks!
Fiona at Inner Pickl says
Very inspiring, thank you. You're completely right, bite sized bits might sort me out!!
Leila says
Lynn, Milkmaid, and Fiona, thanks!Kathleen, the bins are for mail. We found that once our eldest started getting college information, we needed a good system for the mail!They are labeled (mostly) for each person. The top box is outgoing (in theory, but sticking your envelope in the top of my purse is better if you REALLY want something mailed!). Now the kids who are pretty well moved out don't have a bin, and Bridget doesn't need one. Yet.Every once in a while certain people have to be reminded to clean out their bin!They hang from each other (the bins, not the people) and there are hooks for the top one.We find them very helpful! Otherwise the mail is just in a pile that gets shifted around, and no one takes responsibility.Let me know if you need more details, except I have no idea where they came from. My mother (an office manager in a previous life) just came up with them one day. 🙂
Marlene says
Love the idea and plan to implement it immediately. One hint in the order of things. Vacuum before you dust. The vacuuming stirs up dust.
Jen Mc says
well unless in my house there is way more dust on stuff then there is on the floor I think. so I guess it depends on who you are talking to.
Anonymous says
Since I seem to be the only one in my house who even cares if anything is clean or tidy, and since our life is so busy, I have almost forgotten this year that it is worthwhile to clean. I have felt guilty when I get to spend time cleaning, so that now when things are not quite so busy, I don't even think of cleaning as a possible option. ( I do vacuum and do bathrooms at intervals, just not close enough ones.) Thanks for your encouragement.
Anna says
It's interesting to me that I have come along in this process right along with you, not after you, so that when I read, it is a recent development here and you're affirming what I've just learned.Yes, I did take offense that the cleaning was necessary. How silly is that? 🙂 Did the dishwasher care that I had sewing to do? Was the dryer EVER going to load itself? No. Now I get to it and the sewing gets attention, too!
Mean Ol' Mama says
Thanks for the encouraging post. As an extremely busy homeschooling mom of 6 with a part-time job, we're always on the go. And I'm a neat freak, to top it off. With 5 boys, though, my standard has changed immensely. I'm just happy to see the floor some days. Dedicating an hour a day to cleaning is a thought I'll have to wrap my brain around since our schedule seems so packed already; however, I felt "free" when I read that suggestion. Gotta give it more thought on how to make it work for us. Thanks!Tonya http://www.meanolmama.blogspot.com
Leila says
Marlene…I beg to differ!!Do what you want, but I can't agree, and I don't want my dear friends to be turned aside from the true path, which is as I've laid it out here. ;)Don Aslett wrote a book called Do I Dust of Vacuum First? and I recommend it.Suffice it to say two things:1. If I vacuum first, that's all I'll do. I won't dust and I certainly won't dust from the top (like tops of door moldings) down, because then there will be dust on the floor and I've already vacuumed…Many people are stuck on vacuuming. They think that vacuuming = cleaning and that's not true. It's why their houses don't seem peaceful, because the non-floor surfaces are dingy. I'm sure you have it under control but most people don't.2. If your vacuum is stirring up dust, you need a better vacuum .Read my rant: <a href="http://docs.google.com/View?id=dd332vks_80fkr792grhttp://docs.google.com/View?id=dd332vks_80fkr792g… />A good vacuum DOES NOT SPEW DUST!!! When you are done putting things away, dusting (which by the way means WIPING DOWN or otherwise CAPTURING dust) and vacuuming, things are clean. Period.You know I love you but I have to call it the way it is ;)Tonya — remember, the hour doesn't have to be all at once. But take 20 minutes here and 20 minutes there every day and you'll be good.
Sarah says
I really like the things you pointed out regarding the help books, especially the one about them not taking into account living with a large number of children. And that they want you to have a perfectly clean house, not a reasonably clean house. As a perfectionist, this is HUGE for me. It's like I've been given permission to do "good enough," and released from the false truth that my house has to be perfect. It's still going to be a process, but in the end I think I will be happier, and so will my five young children 😉 Thank you so much for your words of wisdom. They are so, incredibly helpful.
CarlynB says
Regarding the issue of vacuuming or dusting first, I learned at my mother's knee that dusting comes before vacuuming. So, that must be the best way. 🙂 Unfortunately, my mother's and grandmother's excellent housekeeping ethic got lost in transmission to me. I'd much rather read books and blogs about housekeeping than actually DO any of it!
Breanna says
Cheryl Mendelsson in Home Comforts addresses the when-to-dust issue. She points out the advice came from back in the day when women used brooms and carpet sweepers–which really do stir up dust. Firmly, with a whole explanatory paragraph, she says to dust first, since a good vaccuum (like you say), doesn't spit dust.I like my upright Dyson, btw–not too heavy or loud, but it was expensive. I need something designed for pet hair and this is the only thing that pulls our Lab's hair out of the rug– 3 years and going strong. (BUT you have to remember to clean your filters regularly, like anything else.)Breanna
Mama Bean says
I don't think I've told you recently how much I love and appreciate you – so there you are! "just imagine life with no blogs!" indeed. how did we survive?! I was away from my 'puter for a week b/c of a back spasm (BOO!) and it was so nice to come back to a cleaning post 🙂 The broom on the wall is still doing the trick for us, btw. Sweeping happens (almost) daily now! And yes, I'm proud of that. We'll work on this 'hour a day' concept…
Jamie says
Sigh. I suck at housecleaning. My husband is the clean one and he really picks up the slack from what I don't accomplish. I grew up in an extremely messy house and never had to do chores. I find myself approaching chores like the errant child I was raised to be: "I don't have to" and "being messy = being 'real'" I always feel like I'm wandering in circles getting distracted and it takes me forever to accomplish what takes my husband 15 minutes.
Rochelle says
Yes!! I was raised the same way. Still trying or thinking about trying to reform.
MichelleZ says
Thank you so much for this post. I really need help in the cleaning area. I find that I really don't want to do it because I turn around and it looks worse than it did before I started. We have three boys and a girl due in a couple of weeks. I have usually started "nesting" way before this point in pregnancy but for some reason just don't have the energy…We have recently moved into a house from an apartment and the size difference has really thrown me, not to mention that I just can not figure out how to organize the house. It has lots of space, but so far have not been able to designate areas for specific use. Thank you for the motivation, because I really need to get things under control.
Kathleen says
Leila, Thanks for telling me about those bins. And that does help! But I don't want to wait until my oldest is receiving college mail (he's 11) for someone to take responsibility for the mail instead of shifting it around. Oh, I have another question: what about shoes? Do you have a system by the door? Or does each person keep them in their rooms? Answer a question, get another question. And to say again…thank you for these posts about cleaning and laundry and managing the household. They are so encouraging!Kathleen
Woman of the House says
For me, I had to learn to adjust to "reasonably" and leave "perfectly" behind. Cleaning and finding the motivation to do it has never been a problem for me, but I have had to learn that a house that is *actually lived in* and doesn't exist solely for photographers to take pictures of for magazines will be different than said magazine photos. We are all happier. :-)And I agree with your two main precepts, Leila. I spend some time cleaning most everyday, and I've divided my house into zones and scheduled them to be cleaned on a particular day each week. If a room is bothering me, I'm able to put it aside mentally because I know its day is coming, and I can focus on that day's tasks. It's really freeing! Plus, my kids help me a lot.
Margo says
I love this post – I've been talking cleaning over at my blog too. And I've started calling my Friday cleaning "sparkle and shine" because of your earlier post.When I realized that I could do a little bit every day and that it could be "good enough," that revolutionized my housekeeping life!You are a boon to the housekeeper, Leila. Thank you.
Ginny says
This is the most wonderful thing I've read in quite some time. Thank you! I am trying to find my "clean balance" right now. I used to keep everything spotless, and have gone the other way these past couple of years. I suppose that has to do with more kids, and homeschooling becoming so much more time consuming. And then there are these hobbies I have and they really call to me in the evenings-the time in which I used to clean. Anyway, I'll get it figured out-I suppose I'll have to schedule it-the hour a day seems reasonable. I did spend a couple hours last night cleaning my kitchen floor grout while fantasizing (as usual) about ripping all that tile out and replacing it with wood. But getting that floor clean usually gets me motivated to tackle the rest of our mess!
Deirdre says
I must highlight what I consider to be the most valuable gem of this whole lesson: the anti-criss-cross-cleaning maxim. When Mom first imparted it to me, it was a dramatic revelation. It went like this: "Deirdre, start at one side and continue your way around. Don't go back and forth." [This does not naturally compute with me. What naturally computes is to start organizing the closet (by tearing every single item out of it) and then get distracted by finding my old stone-carving project, and then leave that aside to take a break to sing, and then decide that that corner of the room is dusty so I dust… and then see my stationary on the other side of the room so I write a letter, and then get the urge to figure out how to remove the stain on the ceiling… before returning to the closet — where I come across my old calligraphy kit…]"Why?" "Because," she said, without missing a beat, "then you don't waste time deciding how to go about it every time. Just have your system and get it done." Dramatic. Revelatory. Since that simple explanation, I have applied that principle in so many other areas of life, as well! Establish a system and stick to it. Stop reinventing the wheel. Thank you, Mom! I still interrupt the protocol, but at least there's protocol… 🙂
Lori Richmond says
Leila,This is really helpful. I like the fact that it doesn't have to be perfect to be tidy and homey. I had a cleaning lady who helped me during the lent and Easter season.She did help me and had some great organizing ideas, like putting all my meds in baskets on the shelf.But in the end her perfectionist streak got the better of her and it ended badly. With 10 kids underfoot, 8 of them all day everyday, you can't keep things in perfect order as she thought they should be.I was left feeling very low and inadequate. Your blog is a nice pick me up!Please consider writing a peice just like this one on getting your homeschool in order, from the physical enviroment to the books and lesson plans. I have 6 students and 2 toddlers. All of my kids are late readers due to vision problems that require intensive Vision Therepy and we are currently looking into whether or not our 15 year old has a mild form of Autism. We are also discerning whether to continue homeschooling all of them or not. I have one bright-eyed bushy tailed fox who seems to think the world should be awake and alert when the rooster crows. He is very smart and we are considering sending him to school and maybe one or two others. If I could bring order and progress to our schooling I might feel more confident in continuing. I just feel very inadequate and overwhelmed. So while others feel buried by thier house, I feel buried by my homeschool…Thank you for your blog.Lori Richmondrichmondfamily@centurytel.net
Anonymous says
Good post, Leila. I'm currently in a very busy season of my life and my house is not so reasonably clean (to me anyway; my boys don't seem to care much)but your post made me realize that I can try to make time, even a few minutes, every day to tidy/clean one room which should make me feel better until I can tackle the whole thing again. :)I appreciate your encouragement and common sense posts.Joy
Robin says
Rats. I use Deirdre's method. I guess I have to use Leila's method now. Which makes so much sense. Or could I just hire someone to remove all of the shiny things in my house so I can concentrate? Probably not.
Anonymous says
Thank you so much! Your posts are the triumph of common sense. Now if only you could spend a few words on how to best clean hardwood floors to keep them shiny…Mrs. B.
messy bessy says
such a timely post! I just finished reading a book on how, ironically, technological advances in housekeeping really have not lessened housework, just changed the nature of it. I have drastically reduced my expectations while at the same time begun to hold myself accountable for the housework. Some of the lessons you describe learning I had to learn as well, and am still learning.Early in my marriage, I never did the dishes after supper. I just put them in the kitchen and ran water into the sticky pans, and then did them in the morning when I had more energy and my husband was at work. It worked all right since we only had one little child and my husband wasn't picky.Boy, did that ever turn into a bad habit! By the time I had four children, we would have no dishes to eat breakfast on, and I'd end up doing the bowls and spoons, and sometimes the mugs, in the sink in the morning even though we had gotten a dishwasher! So I began forcing myself to at least load the dishwasher.Now we have six children. And every dang night I look at that kitchen and hate the prospect of cleaning it, but then I remember Holly Pierlot's observation in "The Mother's Rule of Life": routines are limiting, but chaos is more limiting! And I actually have a motto that I repeat as I clean the kitchen (often part of it is done by a child, now, but none of them is old enough to get it totally ready for the morning). The motto is, "I'm doing myself a favor! I'm giving myself a gift! Tomorrow morning I won't have to get breakfast by moving through piles of dirty dishes!Corny, but it works for me. I too love your housekeeping posts. Will read them anytime!
Elaine says
hmmm. I will have to ponder this. As other commenters have said, I have absorbed so much of your previous advice (in particular, keeping on top of laundry and meals as a priority, so you have space to achieve everything else). I am very lucky to have a cleaner once a week who does a deep clean of the bathrooms and kitchen, so I perhaps don't need so much time on those areas. What has been working amazingly well for me over the last few months is trying to do an hour every day (AFTER laundry and cooking) with 15 minutes on each of four activities: decluttering, dusting, paperwork (my LEAST favourite thing)and ironing. If I keep to this strictly for a week or 10 days then I am pretty much on top of all four areas, which frees me up to do more quilting/gardening/ talking to my lovely husband. As I say, will have to ponder whether increasing the cleaning element would increase the quality of our lives. I might well be better off determining to spend an extra half an hour a day decluttering. Thanks for all the encouragement and thought provoking posts. You rock!
Anonymous says
Never apologise dear Leila for a long post. It's a joy for us. Thank you so much! Linda
Habou says
When I was growing up (way back in the 30s/40s with six siblings, me being the youngest) my mother kept the house very clean. We had to make our beds every morning and keep our rooms neat throughout the week. I do not remember any clutter. The older kids were responsible for doing the dishes; one washed the other dried. On Saturday mornings we all had to help deep clean the house. We would do it as quickly as possible so that we could go the movies after lunch (or do some other fun thing).I continued to clean thoroughly and systemically when I was married. I had only one child and felt that she should be having fun rather than partake in any chores. I had some very liberal ideas about bringing up children. Big mistake. But, as you have read, she figured it out anyway. I'm very proud.
Emily (Laundry and L says
Oh my goodness, I feel so accomplished. This is what I DO!!! (more or less) I've divided our (small) house into kitchen, bathroom, floors (i.e. vacuum and mop), laundry, and "extras" (things that only need to be done every month or two). I attack one of those each day, and you're right, it usually takes less than an hour. Except for the days when the children simply won't cooperate – but I have three littles and those days just happen sometimes… 🙂 Auntie Leila, I'm feeling so inspired and motivated and affirmed right now – I can hardly wait for Monday! 😉
Marlene says
Leila,Thanks for the input on the dusting/vacuuming order of things. I was just repeating something I read. In truth, I hardly ever do them on the same day. I find I can dust while I'm talking on the phone so that is when I grab a rag. I also find that like your most recent post I hate AC and so it is impossible to keep up with the dust. Especially with dogs and kids running in and out. So one tends to get done more often then the other.Anyway I started implementing your method and I'm enjoying life!
adoctorswife says
I really enjoyed this post! So much so that I put a link to it on my blog: http://adoctorswife.wordpress.comHope that is okay! Please let me know if you would like me to remove it, I will be happy to do so. Always love reading your stuff 🙂 Melissa
adoctorswife says
I really enjoyed this post! So much so that I put a link to it on my blog: http://adoctorswife.wordpress.comHope that is okay! Please let me know if you would like me to remove it, I will be happy to do so. Always love reading your stuff 🙂 Melissa
Leila says
Marlene, you make a good point. It's a good idea anyway to dust and then switch the laundry or make a phone call and THEN vacuum. Just to let the dust get to the floor.But there is no reason why you can't dust one day and vacuum the next, unless you are seeking closure on that room. My dears, do what you like but do it!
Cheryl @ a pretty co says
This is great. I try to stick to one room/one hour a day of cleaning, too.Sadly, with two little boys, our dining room floor is too often a "hard use" area… 😉
Josh and Kelly says
Sounds like flylady.net Have you read her stuff? When I actually do it, it works 🙂
blessedmommie says
Thank you! This is wonderfully simple and helpful. I am quite overwhelmed in my home right now… it seems as though I am doing well keeping up for awhile and then it all falls apart. Your cleaning/homemaking advice is so very helpful and I am soooo appreciative of you taking the time to share it! Bless you!
Cinnamon says
Again, a very encouraging post and great pictures. I can see my house cleaner already :-)~Cinnamon
Nikki says
Great advice! Thank you for sharing your technique. There's a great scripture I keep posted on my fridge to remind me of one great impetus for keeping a moderately clean home: matthew 5:14-16 (the message version). "Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." keeping an open house…wow! btw, LOVE the fabric of your dining room curtains. could you pass along the name of that fabric series/designer?
Leila says
Nikki, thanks so much for that comment. I believe that when we are truly loving our home (husband, children, relaxation, work that we do there) we will have something amazing to offer those who enter it. It will be for them a little taste of heaven, even in its imperfection, even with our shortcomings.I love the dining room curtains too! I got them at Easter — I don't move fast, let me tell you. It only took me a decade…;)They are from World Market in Virginia (Cost Plus in CA), and were very reasonable, especially for how perfectly they work in the room and how exactly they fit the vision I had! I found them while visiting Sukie there.The website is here: <a href="http://www.worldmarket.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3500308http://www.worldmarket.com/family/index.jsp?categ… />I haven't seen the curtain panels online (Sukie had to bring them to me b/c I couldn't decide at first). They have tablecloths, though, in the same fabric. Maybe if you call them?There are other beautiful designs, and the store often has coupons. It's like Pier One used to be when I was a kid! I love it.
Nikki says
Hi Leila!What you've said is so true…love put into our home beckons others to come, stay, relax, and enjoy the spirit of our Father who gives us the love that we are able to put into our homes. Although, at times, it seems a little overwhelming to have almost-daily visitors, the Holy Spirit full of patience and grace, is leading me into understanding the role my home can play in the lives of people who don't even live there. Wow, I am so surprised to hear those are store bought curtains, and World Market at that! I love their fabrics and totally forget about them! The one closest to my home closed down last fall, but there's another one a few miles down the road (hooray for suburbia!). We're in the planning stages of updating our 1970s kitchen/breakfast area, and my yellow walls will not make the cut considering the countertop and cabinet colors we've picked. I'm a yellow kinda gal, so that fabric will be the perfect solution for my color fix and our curtain needs! Thanks so much for your quick reply. Your home is beautiful; we have similar taste. 🙂
Carolyn says
Thank you, your 1hr (or 2x 30 min blocks) is a really do-able- I tend to do berserk attacks and have huge guilt at what is left to do!!I really like the balance in "We're not talking about how things look to other people, we're talking about how things are done to satisfy God, your family, and yourself." I'm going to print this an tape it to my cleaning workstation near my washing machine !! It is what we need reminded of often!!HugsC
Hannah says
This could've saved some heartache and tears at my house! One night – after a couple of months of build-up of feeling overwhelmed with new duties as a SAHW – I had a melt-down full blown tears and sobbing. I explained to my husband that I just felt so overwhelmed as I'd been sick and the house had just gotten so out of control that I didn't know where to start. The to-do list was just too long! He offered to make me a schedule so that I would wake up and know that on Monday I needed to clean my upstairs bathroom and my kitchen, on Tuesday my downstairs bathroom, office and kitchen etc. and so forth with the weekends free and big but occasional tasks on Friday. The kitchen is on there every day. Let me tell you – It worked! My house has never been so pleasant! It's not magazine perfect. It's much more your "Moderately clean house" but it is so comfortable and nice to come home to and I haven't had any overwhelming meltdowns in weeks, months even! Not even with modified bedrest! Because it has been maintained, I can continue to maintain (with slight alterations) even while on modified bedrest and I know we'll ahve a much easier time adjusting to the arrival of our new baby because my house has a rhythm.