A Clean House is a Happy House

It's no secret that I don't like clutter or messes or things to be disorganized. Yes, for me this is somewhat of a new thing. (No comments about the condo following finals and the bowl game, Erin! My room was a mess but the rest of the place had help from the other girls who WERE there.) However, I know that when a place is "lived in" it can be more difficult to keep it as clean as you might like. Is it impossible? Nope. Does it take some work and help? Sure does. I like the way that my mom approached housework growing up. At the time I didn't really care for it and as an absent-minded child/teenager, I know I didn't get it most of the time. The rules were simple, though. Put things away when you get something else out (if I was told "when you're done with it" it would never get put away. I was never 'done' with anything!), jobs need to be done before play and if you're bored, don't tell mom. She'll find something like weeding or extra cleaning jobs for you to do.

Where Craig and I are living now, there is an almost constant flow of people in and out of the house. Grandpa has lots of company and that's a great thing for him. For me, I feel like I need to have the house perfectly clean all of the time. It's not, but I try. There are a few things that we do that work for us and some things that I'm going to put in place once we have our own home.

1. Never leave dishes in the sink. In our house, you have to walk by the dishwasher to get to the sink anyway.

2. Use an "up" & "down" basket on the stairs. This comes from mom's rule to never go up the stairs empty handed. A basket just allows you to carry more at a time (fewer trips, too!)

3. Keep one central calendar. No need to have a million papers on the fridge. We like to use our google calendar but I also like having a large month one with notes for quick reference. (Grandpa's for now, our own when we have our own house.)

4. Leave a room a little cleaner when you leave it than when you entered. This could mean making a bed, putting a few clothes away or just tossing the socks in the laundry basket.

5. Have labeled laundry baskets for different loads. We have a basket for Whites, Colors (mainly socks & jeans), Colds (Craig's work clothes) and Baby clothes (we use different detergent for her.)

6. Have kids do age-appropriate things to help. I remember having a child size mop & broom set when I was little. They were red & yellow. I don't think I was actually supposed to get the mop wet but I remember enjoying thinking I was helping. Mom, did I actually help or did you just let me think so?
Sophie isn't old enough to help yet, but we talk about folding clothes and putting things away during the day. She also takes rides in laundry baskets but that's because I haven't figured out how to carry two loads of laundry and a baby yet.

7. Let the kids/spouse/whomever know that what they're doing is actually helpful and useful. When mom let me know that what I had done was both worthwhile and helpful, I was much more inclined to continue doing it.

I know every family is different and different things work for different people, but these are things that I am doing or plan to do when we're in a position to do so. What things work for your family?