5 Easy Ways You Can Start Keeping A Tidy Home Even If You’re Messy

Keeping A Tidy Home For Messy Folks

If you were to walk into my home right now you’d probably notice that overall, it’s quite tidy. All M’s toys are for the most part neatly stored away rather than strewn all over the floor. My kitchen is streamlined with no dirty dishes in the sink and my bathroom is really bare with very little clutter.

Keeping a tidy home isn’t something I love doing. Quite the opposite actually. By nature I’m a rushed, impulsive and anxious type so living in the moment and dealing with mess as it arises is one of my biggest weaknesses.

When I was a kid my father affectionately referred to me as a tornado. I’d walk into a room, make a huge mess and somehow slip out without tidying up after myself.

I was super messy kid that grew up into an even messier adult. 

Keeping a tidy home wasn’t a priority until I had kids.

Before M was born I could care less about keeping a tidy home. I was working full-time so living in the mess was far less of a concern than it is today since I was rarely home. Once baby arrived I realized pretty quickly that keeping a tidy home was important for my sanity and I’ve come up with a pretty simple strategy that helps with keeping a tidy home when you’re naturally a messy person (like me!)

 

Keeping A Tidy Home When You’re Messy

 

Keeping a Tidy Home: Tidy Daily

A little truly goes a long way. Rather than allowing your mess to accumulate and crowd your living space it’s a really great idea to tidy areas as you go.

What this means is simple. If you are in a room and you see something is out of place take 10 seconds to put it back in its home. By tidying daily I’ve been forced to find a home for all objects in my home. Now, it takes me literally a few minutes to zip around returning items to where they belong.

Taking the approach of tidying daily rather than all at once leaves your home in a generally tidy state. Once you get into the habit of tidying on a daily basis, the smallest messes will start to irritate you. Often times there’s a misconception that tidying takes heaps of time when in reality it only takes a few minutes. A few minutes a day goes a really long way when it comes to keeping an entire house tidy.

So, next time you leave a room take a few seconds to do a visual scan and tidy any areas that aren’t picked up. You’ll be glad you did because you’re actively preventing the mess from taking over by doing this super simple step.

Keeping a tidy home: Focus Your Energy On The Most Used Parts of Your Home

When you’re used to living in a mess (like I was) it can become really frustrating and overwhelming to figure out where to start.  I can’t tell you how many times I looked around my home and gave up before even starting. Messes, clutter and disorganization have this awesome way of stressing us our right?

So, if you’re committed to the idea of tidying every day as a long-term solution to being messy you’ll need to start somewhere. If you’re home is a little or even a lot messy it’s probably best to focus on tidying the areas of your home that are used most. Generally speaking that includes your main living space, kitchen area and bathroom. There’s no sense in tackling your messy basement if your kitchen and living room are in a state of chaos.

Get in there and declutter, organize and streamline you spaces. Find a home for every item that makes sense so keeping it tidy will be a breeze moving forward. Once you’ve given every item a home it’s really easy to put it back.

Prioritizing your tidying efforts by starting in the most commonly used areas of your home allows you to see the largest amount of progress which will keep you motivated at keeping a tidy home.

 

Make Sure Your Kitchen and Bathrooms Are Tidy Before Bed

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up to a sink full of dirty dishes and a super messy bathroom.  Does anyone else feel like the day is off to a really bad start when you’re already faced with work the second you roll out of bed?

My morning routine always starts with making a strong pot of coffee. If I get to the kitchen and find a sink full of dishes, making my coffee gets complicated which is super annoying.

By focusing on making sure that my kitchen is clean before going to bed my mornings are far calmer and a ton less stressful. I always make sure that my dishwasher is loaded, sink is empty and counter tops are clean.

Having a tidy bathroom functions much the same way. Nothing sucks more than getting into the washroom to take a relaxing morning shower only to find damp towels, dirty clothes and other odds and ends littered all over your counter top or floor.

By taking only a few minutes at the end of the day to tidy up the bathroom you’re taking control of the mess and making sure your morning starts off on a tidy food.

 

Don’t Confuse Tidying With Cleaning

Although my house is generally tidy it isn’t necessarily always clean. I’ve got a busy and messy toddler running around, 3 cats and a dog.

So, naturally there’s pet hair, toddler crumbs and messy toddler finger prints on most surfaces in my home.

But, because my house is tidy it generally looks far cleaner than it is. Beyond this, having a tidy home makes the cleaning process far easier when I do decide to clean it.

Because there is very little clutter and generally no mess I can easily wipe down a table top, windex some glass, vacuum the floor or spot clean the couch in seconds.

Keeping a tidy home home makes cleaning your home easier folks.

By Keeping a tidy home I’m able to focus on cleaning when necessary.

Generally, knowing that you need to spend a ton of time tidying before actually getting to the cleaning part can be really discouraging and prevent you from getting anything done at all. Sound familiar?

So, don’t confuse keeping a tidy home with cleaning folks. If your house is tidy on a day to day basis giving it a good dusting, mopping and cleaning becomes super easy.

 

Don’t Let it Accumulate

Messes accumulate quickly if you’re not careful.

That laundry that needs folding that’s sitting on your dresser needs to be put away because I can guarantee it’ll pile up and grow into a monster before you know it.

The dishes that you’re saving to wash later will only sit there and accumulate unless you tackle them right now.

Tidying as you go and in small amounts does make the process more painless. If you allow the mess to accumulate the amount of time you’ll need to invest to get things back in order is far more significant than if you tidy a little at a time.

So, the next time you leave a room, have a quick look around and take care of any messes you see.

The tidy as you go approach is truly a lifesaver for people who are naturally messy and are working towards keeping a tidy home !

 

My Household Favorites For Keeping A Tidy Home

1. Section Folding Laundry Sorter. I absolutely love this sorter and it’s a lifesaver in our bathroom. The three compartments make sorting dirty laundry a breeze and preventing it from piling up on the floor. When the inserts are full, I pull out the bag and do a load. It really cannot get easier than that!

2. Broom Holder Wall Mount. This super amazing contraption allows me to store my broom, mop and duster out of sight. I keep it behind the door that leads to our basement because we don’t have a broom closet. It’s always near by and super neat and organized.

3. Logic Toys Storage Bins. Margsy’s toy collection is growing and to accommodate it we had to find a storage solution that was affordable, easy to keep clean and flexible. This toy storage bin is wonderful because it holds a ton of toys and will eventually be folded up or re-purposed once baby girl no longer needs it.

---

Even MORE CONTENT YOU’ll ENJOY

• 10 Clever Hacks to Eat Healthy For Less Money
• 5 Grocery Shopping Tips That Will Save You Money
• 9 Hacks For A Sparkling Clean Kitchen
• Lazy Weeknight Dinners: 11 Family Friendly Meals That Even The Kids Will Love
• 30 Deliciously Cheap Crock Pot Meals
• Reduce Food Waste By Freezing These 25 Surprising Foods
• How Brewing the Best Cup of Coffee Saves You Thousands
• A Weeks Worth of Frugal Meals Via A Thyme And Season
• 20 Cheap & Healthy Snacks For The Whole Family

---

I Want To Hear From You!

What are some of your hacks for keeping a tidy home?