Christine Ellis

Do you ever wonder how other people have neat and tidy homes but constantly struggle to keep yours clean? It's easy to assume they have a housekeeper or spend hours scrubbing, vacuuming, and dusting to maintain a pristine home, but the answer is probably more straightforward.

The secret to avoiding clutter and mess is forming daily habits to keep a house clean and tidy. First, however, you'll need a chore checklist, a plan, and a place for everything you touch in your home daily to succeed. These five tips will help you form the cleaning habits that will transform your home and your peace of mind!

1. Give Everything a Designated Plac

Contain clutter by creating a spot for every item in your home. Whether it's a bowl on the entry table for keys, a rack in the closet that fits all your shoes, or hooks in bathrooms for the family's robes, it's much easier to put things away when you have a designated spot for them. Gain extra space in cabinets and closets by clearing out excess or old items you never use to make this task easier.

Look at the items continually piling up around your house and find a logical place for them. For example, if you toss dirty clothes on a bedroom chair, place a hamper next to the chair instead.

2. Keep Cleaning Supplies Handy

If you need to walk across your house to fetch cleaning supplies when you see a mess, you'll put off doing a quick cleanup. The solution to this dilemma is to stash cleaning kits in the kitchen, all bathrooms, the laundry room, and hallway or bedroom closets.

A basket with paper towels, an all-purpose cleaner, and a dust rag or wand doesn't take up much space and will be within easy reach any time you notice smudges or dust so that you can wipe them out in seconds. Add pet-friendly cleaning products to your stash if you have furry family members.

3. Make Your Bed

Making the beds each morning helps a room look instantly tidy, automatically leading to quickly picking up other stray items to keep the neatness train on track. Likewise, a single blanket or comforter is easy for small kids to straighten out and takes less than a minute to accomplish.

4. Make Every Day Laundry Day

Dirty clothes and linens are one of the most significant mess-creating household issues. Even piles of clean laundry you have to put away can add to clutter and stress. The best habit to avoid this problem is to work laundry into your daily routine, which includes folding and putting away clean clothes.

Assess how much dirty laundry your household creates daily and base your routine around it. It's much easier to squeeze in one or two loads a day between other daily tasks instead of taking a whole day to do ten loads, which will feel overwhelming.

5. Clean While You Cook

Cooking meals is another messy endeavor that often leads to dirty countertops and piles of dishes in the sink that you may want to leave "until later." Changing your habit to immediately washing dirty cookware and wiping counters after each meal-prep step only takes a minute or two and is one of the best daily habits to keep a house clean and tidy. The best part is that it helps streamline your final kitchen clean-up so you can enjoy your meal without stress!