Especially during the spring when the mud is abounding, I can feel like I have no clue how to keep a house tidy. However, there are other times when I’m feeling a bit more confident in my abilities to keep a home tidy and organized. I like the word ‘tidy’ instead of clean because the word frames itself in a way that seems less about perfection. My aim in keeping my home tidy is not perfection, but rather a way to control the overwhelm.
Minnesota tends to be a bit bipolar when it comes to ushering in spring weather. It tends to be spring and then winter again at least five times before finally settling spring. Meanwhile, that means my home floors fluctuate between mud, dirt, and rain, leaving shadows on the flood, stains on the carpet, and occasionally a feeling of complete defeat.
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How to Keep a House Tidy: 5 Simple Routines
Keeping a tidy house can feel like an impossible task, especially if you have little kids, a big family, or just too much stuff. But the good news is that small daily habits can make a huge difference, including during the spring when it seems like our efforts are useless!
By following these simple tips, you can create a home that stays clean and organized with minimal effort. The best way to maintain a clean house isn’t about deep cleaning every single day—it’s about developing good habits that become second nature.
Here are my five simple ways to keep your home tidy on a daily basis! We are not aiming for perfection, we are aiming for ‘good enough’ to keep our sanity and fight the feeling of being overwhelmed.
1. Keep a Kitchen Routine
Today I am making a sourdough artisan loaf and I’m also making a einkorn puff pancake for the boys’ after-school lunch. This is not my typical bread routine because my kids usually don’t like thicker crusts. I typically make what I call sandwich loaves which have butter or an egg that keeps the crust and texture softer.
There has been something about sourdough this last trimester of pregnancy that has really been cathartic and calming for me. We’ve had sourdough creations multiple times a week and the starter has barely left the countertop, which is not normal for me!
The goal in the kitchen is to never let it get overwhelming. That seems to be a common theme already in these goals. The feeling of overwhelm can just suck the joy out of the life of a homemaker.
I’m always cleaning as I go in the kitchen. That’s a little harder for lunch because it’s usually right as we’re finishing up school and I’m also trying to tidy up the wave of homeschool chaos! Most of the kitchen clean-up is doing the basics. Whipping down countertops, putting away dishes, and making sure the pantry and garbage area are tidied up.
On a weekly basis I take a few minutes to clean out the pantry and refrigerator. I discard leftovers to the chicken and pig pile, check expiration dates, toss packaged food that only has the crumbs remaining, and move around raw milk if that’s applicable at the time. Honestly, I’m always whipping down my refrigerator and vacuuming out crumbs because a dirty fridge drives me batty; but once a week, I try to get all the way to the back of the fridge. Depending on the week it takes about 10-25 minutes
Most of the time the goal of a tidy house is to keep it from being overwhelming. We never want to get to a place where we look at a space and think that we’ll need hours to bring it back to a place of calm. I once heard a cleaning author say that a room should only take 20 minutes to get back to working order any longer than that, there’s a piece of dysfunction that needs to be fixed.
I also have my office space in my kitchen, which truth be told, I don’t love, but I’m always working on keeping that area blending in with the kitchen area and as tidy as possible. Post-it notes used to be my biggest pet peeve about that area until I found some that were vintage colors, which for whatever reason, makes it so much better for me!
Another tidy tip for the kitchen is to make sure that you have dinner planned in your mind somehow. This is another one of those ‘overwhelm tips.’ I find that on days when I forget about dinner the kitchen gets extensively more messy. I have my Homemaking Binder where I often jot down ideas for the week, but I’m not an extensive planner and I honestly like to keep it that way. One thing I do is write down seasonal meals that we rotate. That way for each season I have a grocery list of staples that I keep on hand.
If you are watching the accompanying YouTube video on this particular day, I’m making that Puff Pancake for the kids’ afterschool meal and also prepping some sourdough biscuits and taking out one of our pig roasts for dinner. If you are like me and are not a meal planner, then I personally find a good rule of thumb is to think about breakfast the night before, think about lunch after breakfast, and think about dinner after lunch. I’m sure that’s sort of a universal practice, but like I often say around here, I’m preaching to myself!
Kitchen Cleaning Tips:
- Empty the dishwasher first thing in the morning.
- Wipe down the kitchen counter and bathroom counter with disinfectant wipes.
- Keep a dedicated spot for school papers, junk mail, and other paper clutter.
- Wash dirty dishes as you cook instead of letting them pile up.
- Use the last thing before bed as a time to do a quick kitchen reset.
A clean kitchen makes cooking more enjoyable and keeps the entire family happier. Plus, a tidy kitchen counter means fewer distractions and a clear mind!
2. Organize Kid Toys Effectively
It’s no secret that we have a lot of boys, and they are young boys at that! We will have three boys 2 and under pretty soon and I’ve honestly had a bit of fear surrounding that. It doesn’t matter the age though, there will always be additional ‘stuff’ floating around when you have a lot of people living under one roof.
I know not everyone can do this, but I love my toy rotational system. I’m a big proponent of having big baskets around our home that house separate types of toys like legos, wooden blocks, transformers, cars, monster trucks, and magnet tiles. Just to name a few! We have a big closet downstairs in the basement that makes for a great toy storage area and I regularly rotate the toys in the baskets to keep the toys fresh. It also gives me a chance to go through the baskets and clean out things that don’t belong or need to be thrown away.
I’m a big fan of Threshold’s woven baskets like this one, but I’ve also linked a bunch of similar ones in my Amazon storefront.
We also have a large toy box in the main living room area where the odds and ends go. This box is worn, and broken, and I’m not going to paint it again. If you come over, you’ll see how worn it is! About five times a year, I go in there and do a massive cleanout. Honestly, there’s a lot of little things that just get thrown. It’s about brain space for me. The boys help with this process, but they know that Mom has the final say!
Toys have a way of taking over the entire house if there’s no system in place. A simple way to keep kids’ rooms and play areas organized is to create a toy storage system that works for your family.
Simple Tips for Organizing Toys:
- Use a command center to store board games, small toys, and school papers.
- Teach kids to clean up before moving on to a new activity.
- Store toys in clear bins and label them with pictures for little kids.
- Use baskets to organize in common areas.
- Rotate toys on a weekly basis to reduce clutter.
- Donate or store away toys that haven’t been played within a single week.
Keeping toys organized doesn’t have to take much time. Just a little task each day makes a big difference!
3. Make Up All the Beds in the Morning
We’re going a little bit backward in our day now and tackling the morning routine. I’ve talked about this numerous times, but it bears being said again because of how much it impacts my day! After I’m done working in the mornings, which is usually around 9 am, I do a quick clean of the entire house and one of the main parts of this is tidying the bedrooms.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to start the day with a tidy house is to make the bed. A made bed instantly makes a bedroom look cleaner, even if there are a few random dirty socks on the floor. Plus, it sets the tone for the rest of the day.
The boys are required to help with this, they do their developmental best at tackling making their bed and picking up toys, garbage, and dirty clothes off their floor. I don’t give much leeway on this, it’s one of the few required pieces of our day. They also spend a lot of time hanging out in our master bedroom while I’m working, so another big piece of this is tidying the master bedroom.
There are so many studies about the mental power that making your bed in the morning gives you. One of my favorite podcasts spent an entire season tackling the idea of making your bed (season 8). I also think there is something powerful about making sure the master bedroom is not in a state of neglect. It should be a refuge, not a dumpsite.
Simple Tasks That Make a Big Difference:
- Fluff extra pillows to give the room a polished look.
- Keep similar items in a dedicated spot, like placing remote controls on the nightstand.
- Use a lint roller to quickly pick up pet hair or crumbs from the bedspread.
- Follow the two-minute rule—if it takes less than two minutes, do it immediately!
Making the bed first thing in the morning is a great way to start your day with a clear mind and a sense of accomplishment. And the best part? It only takes a couple of minutes!
4. Vacuum the Floors Every Day
Vacuuming the floors might seem like a big task, but it’s a simple way to keep dust, dirt, and crumbs from piling up. Whether you have hardwood floors, carpets, or tile, a quick vacuum session each day can go a long way.
Years ago, I told Dan that if I was going to be a working mom, then one of my requirements would be to have a robot vacuum cleaner on each floor of our house. I didn’t mean it aggressively, but tidy floors are one of those brain space issues (look at us talking overwhelm again!) that will take me from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds. My experience is that robot vacuums wear out fast, so it’s one of those investments that is a very contentious decision because so far I usually replace them every 2-3 years or so.
I long ago decided that Shark Robot vacuums are my favorite and what I’ve found last the longest and are the most durable!
This time of the year I’m much less concerned about the state of our hard floors. As long as the dust and crumbs are picked up, I’m not going to worry about washing them during the spring. It’s a battle lost before washing the floor is even finished!
Cleaning Tips for Keeping Floors Clean:
- Use a microfiber cloth to quickly wipe up spills before they dry.
- Keep a spray bottle of warm water and a mop head handy for quick touch-ups.
- Use a lint roller to pick up pet hair on furniture.
- Place a mat by the front door to reduce the amount of dirt tracked inside.
If vacuuming the entire house every single day feels overwhelming, focus on high-traffic areas like the main level, living room, and kitchen. Doing this on a weekly basis makes deep cleaning easier!
5. Keep a Laundry Routine Every Day
And we end our routines and tips with one of my least favorite things that have turned into one of my most prized times of mental peace: the laundry.
Laundry can easily turn into a constant battle if left unchecked. The best way to stay on top of it is to make laundry part of your daily routine. We are at the point where a load of laundry needs to be done every day. Depending on the size of your family, this may look different. For me this means, starting, sorting, and putting away at least one load every day or at the very least every other day.
With five boys and a pregnant me, this is the only way to cut down the overwhelm that laundry can bring and keep a routine flowing, which brings mental peace.
I have found that the best way to make laundry enjoyable is to use the time for something indulgent like my favorite podcast or audiobook. Here are some of my favorite podcasts right now:
- Simple Farmhouse Life
- Homemaker Chic Podcast
- The Art of Home Podcast
- The Pain-Free Birth
Simple Laundry Routine:
- Start a load of laundry first thing in the morning.
- Use a laundry basket in each bedroom to keep dirty clothes contained.
- Sort clothes while waiting for the washing machine to finish.
- Fold clothes while listening to a podcast or listening to music.
- Put laundry away before the end of the day to avoid piles building up.
A simple rule to follow: Never leave dirty clothes on the bathroom counter, dining room table, or kids’ rooms. Having a good habit of washing and folding laundry daily prevents it from becoming a huge, overwhelming task.
Final Thoughts: A Tidy House is Possible
Keeping a clean house doesn’t require deep cleaning every day. Also I by no means am saying that these routines are some special formula that I alone have been bestowed with! Chances are you probably are doing many of them already. However, I always find it encouraging to hear from other moms and homemakers about what is working for them, and to be honest, these 5 routines are working for me right now.
Looking for something a bit more practical in nature? Check out my cleaning routine checklist printable! Filled with ideas for weekly organizing your cleaning!
These simple things may seem small, but they add up to a tidy, stress-free home. And the best news? They don’t take much time! A few minutes each day will help your whole family enjoy the benefits of a clean home without feeling overwhelmed, which seems to be a keyword. A tidy home is necessary to reduce the overwhelm that we so often find ourselves in.
One thing I kept meaning to mention is the importance of constantly reviewing the things that are necessary in our homes. I have found that there is a great benefit to viewing our stuff as inventory. Managing inventory takes space, time, and honestly money too. Big box stores often will evaluate if excess inventory is worth the space, time, and money to keep around. And when it’s not worth it, they reduce the price to move the inventory out.
I feel like the same needs to be applied to our homes. Excess inventory can cause us to find ourselves in a constant state of overwhelm. Even things that have value sometimes need to move on. Chances are the item is not irreplaceable. If a space is overwhelming me, it’s often time to reduce inventory in that area. If I can’t tidy it up in 20 minutes or less, then it’s probably an indication that I need to do a serious evaluation of my space.
Perfection is never the goal, but I do desire, and I’m guessing you do too, to live in a peaceful home that we can enjoy!
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