Engage In House Tidy-Up for a Picture-Perfect Home

House tidy-up is an important aspect of daily home maintenance that may be irritating but is necessary none the less. After all, it goes a long way not just in improving the quality of your daily existence but also by adding to the resale value of your property.

You might be an easy going home owner who is always overwhelmed by tidying up chores or an incorrigible individual who is forever obsessed about cleanliness. Either ways, house tidy-up should be an inevitable part of your routine since it ensures that your home appears neat and exudes warmth at all times.

Imagine walking into a house wherein things are strewn all over the floor and furnishings and you have to literally search for a spot to sit. ‘Cluttered’ is the term that best describes such a house and with the clutter come dust and germs which have a negative impact on the health of all concerned.

For a family to lead a healthy existence, it is imperative for the house to be clean and tidy. In sharp contrast to a messy household, a clean home is characterized by well defined boundaries. So instead of wasting time looking for things, you find yourself in a position to savour the serene atmosphere.

Although used synonymously by most people, tidying up and cleaning up differ in terms of their meaning. While tidying up refers to arranging things neatly and in an orderly fashion, cleaning up implies removal of dirt, dust, stains and spots. Therefore, being tidy does not necessarily mean being clean – you can tidy up your house without cleaning up or clean up your house without tidying it up.

Of course, the two activities do complement each other rather well, a fact that you are bound to discover as a home-owner. Every time you start cleaning up, it is but natural to tidy up simultaneously and vice versa. Thus, even if the two concepts differ slightly from each other, they go hand-in-hand and produce best results when used in conjunction.

Every time you feel overwhelmed with tidy-up chores, following are the 4 Ws’ that should provide sufficient motivation to get off to a zooming start –

• Why do you need to tidy up your home?
• When is the best time to engage in tidying up chores?
• Which are the areas that require most attention?
• Where do you intend to start?

Focus plays an important role in this exercise and the 4 Ws’ serve to facilitate. just that.

While everyone harbours a noble intention of tidying up, unfortunately it is an objective that often takes a back-seat owing to other commitments. In such a situation, knowing where to start and how to proceed makes all the difference and this is what is provided by the following tips –

Take care of the dishes – Tempting though it might be to put off washing of dishes till the next morning, it is not recommended due to hygiene and pest concerns. Instead, putting them in the dishwasher and wiping them after the cycle will not just ensure that your sink and kitchen remain clean but also keep cockroaches and other undesirable visitors at bay.

Keep the trash bin clean – No matter how much you try, trash bin is an aspect of your house that always keeps overflowing and possibly also stinking. The trick is to discard the trash as soon as it appears full, wash the bin and replace the cover as a part of house tidy up. Observing this tidbit would prevent your home from looking dirty and also cut down the chances of any kind of stink permeating to other parts of the house.

Wipe the kitchen counter – After a cooking spree, your kitchen counter is bound to appear strewn and messy and is undoubtedly an eyesore. Wiping it time and again, especially after having finished cooking, is a chore that does not take long and at the same time greatly adds to the overall neatness of your home.

Keep your living room table arranged – Family members do have a tendency of leaving their belongings like keys, mobile phones, pens etc on the living room coffee table. As a result, the table appears cluttered at any given point of time during the day. The only viable solution is to keep it clear at all times either by avoiding leaving things on it or clearing it on a priority every now and then.

Bathroom sink and shelves – Imagine your bathroom sink as being a catch-basin for all kinds of dirt that it is exposed to courtesy of daily and frequent usage. Shelves in the bathroom may not have as much exposure but are still prone to being disorganized thanks to the morning rush. Cleaning up the sink on a daily basis and organizing bathroom shelves as a part of house tidy-up goes a long way in improving the overall look of your home.

On days when you really lack the time to tidy up every portion of your home, all you need to do is to just focus on these five areas to transform your home into a pleasant and cozy space.

‘Weekend Warrior’ is the phrase that comes to mind to describe most people in context of house tidy-up routine. This implies that while the house is spotless and neatly arranged in the beginning of the week, things soon fall into disarray as the grind begins to take its toll. By mid-week there are already a number of pending chores on the list and by the end of the week the entire house appears as though it has been run over by a hurricane.

Becoming a tidy-up warrior over the weekend might be convenient but there is an option which could prove to be even more convenient. Listed as follows are some house tidy-up tips that can be extremely effective in straightening your house if practiced daily in the morning as well as in the evening –

• Start your morning by making your bed as soon as you get up, a discipline that will not just provide a jump-start to your day but also prevent you from crawling back between the covers.
• You can follow this up by arranging your bedside table and sorting out a part of your cupboard by discarding clothes that are no longer required.
• A good way to start the evening would be to hang your clothes directly instead of throwing them around to avoid piling up.
• In case you are not going to wear your clothes again, then a good idea would be to dump them directly in the washing machine and trigger a wash cycle.
• There are times when the number of clothes may not be sufficient for a full-fledged cycle and in such a situation, assign a hamper to every member of the family wherein the one that fills up first can go for washing.

• Given that taking a shower in the morning is a must, how about combining your personal cleaning with scrubbing of your bathroom floors and tiles? Spraying the cleaning liquid on the walls and some on the floor before your bath would ensure that the surfaces will have been rinsed when you shower.
• Towels and bath-robes would need to be switched frequently and this is an aspect that you must check almost every day or at least every alternate day.
• Night time is perfect for cleaning the counter-top as also the toilet. A wipe across the counter-top at night will ensure that it would be clean and dry the next morning when you wake up.
• Likewise cleaning the toilet at night will spare you the hassle of feeling burdened with the guilt of having neglected it.

• As soon as you enter the kitchen or leave the kitchen at night, empty the dishwasher alongside brewing your first cup of the day or as you pack up for the night.
• During the day, any spills, spots and stains should be wiped immediately rather than being left for later.
• Since cooking requires you to remain in the kitchen, why not utilize the spare time cleaning around? Simultaneous cleaning will not just save you time but also ensure that your kitchen is in less of a mess after every meal.
• Close your kitchen for the night by wiping the countertops, stove and other cooking appliances that you might have used during the day. Doing so would considerably reduce the presence of unhygienic midnight marauders like cockroaches and ants.
• Something that most home owners inadvertently miss out on is to replace the kitchen cloth after certain duration. Because this cloth is used to wipe surfaces multiple times every day, it is likely to be a breeding ground for germs after a point of time. Therefore, it needs to be frequently replaced by a new and fresh kitchen cloth.

• An easier way of keeping the living room clean is to place a waste paper basket that can be filled with clutter as and when unwanted objects come up.
• Centre-table is the one that deserves your attention the most and you must make it a point to ensure that it is arranged at all times. Next on the priority list are side tables and these should be dusted and dotted with decoration pieces without appearing cluttered.
• Fluffing up of pillows should be carried out frequently so that they lend an inviting and cozy touch to the ambiance.

In the entryway –

• Irrelevant though it might seem, importance of this portion of the house emerges from the fact that it houses your keys and coats among other things. This is reason enough for the entryway to be well organized and free from clutter.
• Assigning a fixed spot to keys and placing a hangar for clothes could prove to be a big savior for you on a daily basis.
• While it is a tendency to drop bags in the entryway, it is habit that should be changed for your entryway to remain clear and tidy at all times.

Either you can enjoy a perfect house or a perfect mess. Out of the two, it is the former which is more rewarding in the long run and hence you must try to implement the following tips in order to achieve perfection –

Treat your home like a business venture – Handle your home with the same attitude as you would a business venture. This implies planning everything from finances to chores and cooking beforehand so that there is nothing pending for the last moment. In case you have a tendency to overlook or forget, maintaining a checklist of short-term and long-term goals could be the solution.

Teamwork – Involving all family members in the cleaning task not only renders the task enjoyable as a family exercise but also saves time. At the same time your children will have acquired a bit of training in house tidy-up that would stand them in good stead later in life.

Reduce wastage – As far as possible you must avoid wastage in terms of ingredients and cleaning agents. Your creativity could play a crucial role in this regard as it would enable you to use ingredients in a way that are effectively utilized rather than being wasted.

Create storage space – For your house to appear tidy there should be adequate storage space to stash away extra items. Presence of adequate storage facilities in all areas of the house would ensure that things remain out of the way and the house appears neat.

House tidy-up might seem overwhelming but can make all the difference if you make it effective. So the onus is on you to work out a system wherein you can tidy up the house without it seeming like a chore. With such a method, your intention of having a neat and tidy house will have been effortlessly achieved not to mention the pleasant feeling that comes from having got rid of all the clutter.

So muster up all your energy and use your ordinary everyday weapons to ensure that dirt and germs are not just kicked out your home but are also eliminated for good.