Friday, January 30, 2009

"Cleanliness if next to Godlinesss"

Anyone who has lived with me, raised me, or hung out with me knows I'm a messy person. REALLY MESSY! Kind of scary messy!

But I tell you for New Years I said I was going to keep the house clean. AND I have! Not perfect clean, but I dare anyone to show up at my house at any time &, other than toys, it will be clean- for WEEKS now!

What is my secret? I have to say 2 main points have helped:
1. everything (I mean everything) has a place where it lives
2. everything goes back to its home after its done being used

These 2 ideas have totally helped us so far. Any other ideas for keeping a clean house? PLEASE SHARE!

9 comments:

stephanie said...

Do a "timed" clean every night before bed (or a few designated times during the day). Set the timer for 10-15 minutes and clean the whole time. You could also have a policy that you don't go to bed until the house is clean.

Lindsay Jane said...

Your house has been looking great. My secret to success is the same as yours - every thing has a home and it does in its home every time I'm done with it.

Rebecca said...

Way to go Olivia! That is no small feat.
I probably shouldn't be responding to this, since my house is pretty darn messy right now, but I have learned a LOT of helpful tips from flylady.com. One of the things I really like from her is the idea of doing small tasks at a time. Like clean for 15 minutes, or throw 10 things away, or clear off one desk. It is so easy for me to get overwhelmed with EVERYTHING I'd like done, that I end up doing nothing, so that idea has helped me a lot.
Getting rid of stuff is also the most effective thing for me to keep things clean-throw or give away anything I don't love and use often. (Not that I always do this, but I try, and it helps so much when I do!)

April Carter said...

Your doing GREAT!
MOMC

Cindy said...

Good job Liv! I wish I could just drop by whenever to see you. :( Your babies cleaning is the CUTEST thing. Such good helpers!

Anonymous said...

My solution. Bribe your children. Oh, wait, that didn't work for me, either. ;-)

Esther Noelle said...

Like Becca said, Flylady.com has tons of amazing tips! I always like to have people over because it forces me to clean everything up!!!

Audra said...

I am messy and my kids are messy and I am outnumbered... but I may try your suggestion and the suggestion of the 10-15 min cleans. I want a house people can come to at any time!

Katie said...

I am still a slob but I find the 15 minute cleaning SO useful. Also, my rooms where everything has a home are so much easier to clean and keep clean that the rooms where things may go in one place this day and another place the next day.

Great job!