Keeping a clean and organized house is one of my specialties and since I have four kids from teen to toddler, I feel fairly qualified to share some tips on how I do it. I am not exactly sure if you are referring to clean as in free from dirt or free from clutter. Either way I will share my best tips.

De-Cluttering

There is nothing worse to the psyche than a really cluttered home. Did you know that physical clutter leads to visual clutter and that causes a person a great deal of stress? There are some really easy ways to tackle this problem but it takes a definite committment depending on how bad the situation is.

First, you need to tackle one room at a time. If the room is too big to handle in one day then break it up into smaller projects. The key is to not get discouraged. That can lead to inactivity. If you watch the show "Clean Room" you will get some helpful hints on how to sort through your clutter. The best way is to completely empty the space of everything from stuff to furniture to trash. It is preferable to move the stuff outside as opposed to another living space in the home. Once you clear the entire area, give the space a good cleaning because you don't want to return your stuff to a dirty area. Now comes the big job of tackling your stuff outside. Set up three different areas. One area is for stuff to keep, one area is for stuff to throw away, and the third area is for donation. You will need to go through your stuff one by one and start sorting EVERYTHING. You will need to be diligent in making sure that most of your stuff lands in the give away or discard pile since the object is to return to the space only the things that you absolutely need to live. You need to do this for each and every room in the house until you have a space that is clutter free.

But that is just the beginning. Now that you have rid your house of clutter the next big step is to keep it that way. You need to think in terms of an organized system. One main tip that I like to follow to keep on top of clutter is to handle things right away as soon as they present themselves. For example, dirty dishes get washed and put away right when they go to the sink. Mail gets sorted and put in its proper place as soon as I walk in the door. A system will help you gain control of your home thus making it a lot easier to keep clean. There are many good books that go into further explanation than I can provide on this hub but I also invite you to my blog because I am starting an "Organize Your Home" series that you might enjoy. You can reach my blog at http://terrysbook.blogspot.com

Past The Clutter

You are now past the clutter and ready to keep the area clean. The best way to keep on top of the cleanliness of your house is to always be cleaning it. Now that might seem like a tall task but it is not. What I mean by cleaning it all the time is that you do small, tiny jobs as you move along in the house. For example, when you are cooking you should not wait until later to clean the dishes or pots and pans. Another example is cleaning the bathrooms. Instead of waiting until a certain day of the week to tackle the bathroom, clean it whenever you are in that room. When I take a shower, I take a minute after my shower to scrub the shower down with a washcloth. I keep cleaner in the shower to make the job easier. If I do this every day the task doesn't become overwhelming. Same thing with cleaning the toilet. I keep cleaning wipes near the toilet so whenever I am finished with the toilet, I take a wipe and clean all around it. The same idea applies with the sink and countertops. If you keep cleaning wipes in all rooms of the house you will find that running a wipe along and around the room while you are in it will be a tremendous help in keeping your house clean and smelling nice all day long. Doing all of this every day frees up your time when you have to tackle the bigger jobs like floor mopping or vacumming.

Create Good Habits

It is important to maintain good habits in order to keep a clean and well organized house. It is not impossible but it does take a committment. If you set yourself up to make the chores as easy as possible you will see that cleaning your house can be easier than you thought and you will be happy with the results.