Tips On Keeping A Clean Apartment
Ahhh....the joys of apartment living. There are no lawns to mow, no gutters to clean and no garden to maintain. That should translate to a much cleaner apartment but less chores does not necessarily mean a cleaner apartment. Less chores would probably mean more time for watching on TV, or for chatting with the girls. So if you want a clean house, living in an apartment does not guarantee that it will be clean.
But an apartment is typically smaller than a house and therefor easier to clean and maintain. And, with the following tips, keeping a clean apartment should be even easier and so there is really no excuse not to keep your apartment clean.
Food
Leftover food, whether in the trash, or on unwashed dishes, or under your couch, is unhygienic, leaves odors and attracts ants, cockroaches and who knows what else. If you follow just one tip in this article, follow this one.
Waste food should only go into the trash bin in the kitchen. Don't throw food into the trash bin in the bedroom, or living room or elsewhere. And empty the trash once a day.
If you are lazy about cleaning the cups and dishes in the sink, use only the minimum amount of utensils that you need. That way, when you need something, you are going to have to go to the sink and wash them first. :)
And as for food remnants in or under your couch, I have a simple solution. Don't snack.
Multitasking
Things get messy because we lead busy lives and just do not have time to do the cleaning, picking up after ourselves and such. Try to find ways in which you can multi task.
For example, you are going to the kitchen and you see last night's beer can on the table, pick up that can before going to the kitchen.
Or, if you are making a cup of coffee and you are waiting for the water to boil, use this time to wash a dish or two.
One Thing At A Time
Try to schedule an hour a week to do some cleaning. And don't try to do the whole place at one go. The first week, you can tidy up your work bench, the second can be spent cleaning the windows, and the third week....you get the idea.
And when doing the cleaning, put on some music. Try something you can sing along and dance to. I personally like Ghostbusters.
Plants inside the house
Plants are messy. They attract ants, need watering and they die on you don't know how to take care of them. If you really need to have plants indoors, get cacti. They are extremely low maintenance and I have yet to have one die on me.
And don't get me started about pets. :)
Invite Friends Over
Invite your friends, especially the new ones, over for tea or something. You want to make a good impression, right? Then you will dutifully clean the place before they come.
Conclusion
I highly suggest getting a cleaner or cleaning service to come into your apartment once or twice a month to do the basic cleaning like mopping the floor, cleaning the bathroom and perhaps doing the windows. It's just a small amount of money and they take care of the major part of the cleaning work.