A little bit of cleaning each day goes a long way. 

Think about this as a preventative step – the more often you clean around your house – the less time and effort it will take each time. 

The difficulty most people face when it comes to cleaning the house is that they aren’t sure where to start. 

So, the best way to spend less time and energy cleaning is to set up a daily cleaning checklist.

Oh, and here’s a bonus tip! Assign different tasks each week to your family and get everyone involved! Saving you a whole lot of time and a whole lot of energy!

Common Areas 

The first areas to tackle are the high-traffic rooms of your home. 

Since these areas see many people moving through them, it increases the chances of clutter, dirt and dust accumulating – not to mention all the spills and stains that could occur. 

Hallways

The first area to start is your hallway – especially the one leading from your front door into your home. This area will see the most dirt and dust from the outside. 

Luckily, simple daily vacuuming is enough to keep this area neat and tidy until your next big deep clean. 

Living Room

Since this room is where your family spends a lot of time together and where your guests hang out too – it’s likely to see more spills on carpets and dust than anywhere else in your home. 

To keep this area clean and clutter-free, you should:

When you’re short on time:

  • Constantly keep the area tidy. All you need to do is keep toys in their designated spaces at the end of each night and make sure bills, papers and other items that cause clutter are properly stored away. 
  • Fold blankets and straighten up pillows on chairs and couches.
  • Vacuum your floors and carpets. 

You have a little more free time:

  • Dust all surfaces – including your televisions!
  • Mop your floors.

Dining Room

More than clutter, this room is subject to crumbs and food spillages falling everywhere. When they get under dining tables and storage units – they soon become an attraction for bugs.

When you’re short on time:

  • Put any items that don’t belong on the dining table or around the room away. 
  • Keep the table free of dishes and cutlery.
  • Wipe down your dining table every day. 

You have a little more free time:

  • Vacuum and mop your floors
  • Use furniture polish on your table and cupboards to take good care of them and keep them looking brand new. 
  • Launder tablecloths and placemats weekly.

Kitchen

Since you cook and store your food in this room – it’s absolutely important to keep it clean. 

No matter how carefully we prepare our meals, our kitchens always look messy at the end of the day. 

What’s more, when this room isn’t kept organised, it’s easy to lose things, like your favourite kitchen tools – or attract plenty of critters into your home!

When you’re short on time:

  • Sweep the floor
  • Hand wash dishes or load your dishwasher
  • Take out the garbage each night
  • Wipe down cooking surfaces with a sanitising solution. 

You have a little more free time:

  • Get rid of old food in your fridge.
  • Mop your kitchen floors.
  • Launder your drying and other kitchen towels weekly. 
  • Organise your pantry and try to meal prep ahead of time.
  • Thoroughly clean your dishwasher and sink.
  • Clean the insides of your kitchen appliances – including microwaves and ovens
  • Wipe the outsides of all your appliances too.

Bathrooms

Another room that sees a lot of usage in any home – is the bathroom. 

Due to the amount of moisture present here – this room is highly susceptible to the growth of mould and mildew. 

When you’re short on time:

  • Wipe down your sinks with an anti-bacterial cleaner.
  • Properly store towels and laundry.
  • Try to keep the room as dry as possible. 
  • Clean toilet bowls as often as possible.

You have a little more free time:

  • Launder towels – both body and hand – weekly.
  • Scrub down the walls of your shower or bathtubs.
  • Mop your bathroom floors with an anti-bacterial solution weekly. That’s right, though it may seem excessive, using these solutions will help reduce the amount – and speed – at which bacteria, mould and mildew will grow. 
  • Empty the bins. 

Bedrooms

Finally, tackle your bedrooms. 

You will create a calm and peaceful environment by keeping your bedroom clean and clutter-free. 

When you’re short on time:

  • Pick stray clothes, books, toys and other items off the floor – and keep them well organised. 
  • Make your bed daily.
  • Straighten up any pillows.
  • Vacuum your floors.

You have a little more free time:

  • Dust all surfaces.
  • Empty bins.
  • Mop your floors.
  • Wipe down any storage areas and woodwork with an anti-bacterial solution.
  • Change your sheets and mattress protectors.
  • Launder your clothes and bed linen weekly.

Home Office

Having a home office is a great thing. It allows you to be able to work from home without any disturbances. While this room may not see any intensive amount of dirt pile up – it is one room where clutter (bills, documents, notes etc.) builds up. 

When you’re short on time:

  • Organise clutter – and keep all stray items in their respective spaces.
  • Vacuum your floors. 

You have a little more free time:

  • Mop your floors.
  • Wipe down your desk.
  • Dust bookshelves and other storage areas – and wipe them down with an anti-bacterial solution. 
  • Launder cushion covers and other upholstery as needed. 

By running through this checklist each night, you and your family can go to sleep each night in a clean and organised home. However, this doesn’t mean you won’t need to deep clean your home now and then. 

A deep cleaning helps get rid of dirt and grime from hard-to-reach places and ensures every last inch of your home is clean. 

Depending on the amount of time you have on hand – and energy too – you can choose to deep clean your home yourself or hire a professional cleaning service!