DoYouRemember?

This story was originally written by C.M Tenhundfeld for Simplemost.com Everyone wants a clean house, but that can be hard to achieve when you’ve got small children, pets or a messy spouse. For the longest time, I dreaded the weekly clean-up because I was overwhelmed by the mess. However, I’ve found by doing things in small steps, it helped keep our house in better shape. Specifically, I’ve learned from these nine things that people with clean homes don’t do. Read on to learn how you can make your house cleaner without much more effort. 1. They Don’t Decorate Every Little Nook When you have to clean and dust around every little decorative knick-knack, you’ll be less likely to do so. Keep your decorations to a minimum and there will be less dust. Plus, you’ll cut down on clutter which can help keep your stress level to a minimum, too. pinterest 2. They Don’t Save Cleaning Until The Next Day People with tidy homes always straighten up a bit before bed. Whether it’s folding the blanket or putting away dishes that have air-dried, when you procrastinate on cleaning, it only adds to a bigger mess. It can feel like a huge chore to tidy up each night, so before you sink into the couch for some Netflix time, do yourself a favor and clean up first. Put your dishes from dinner in the dishwasher and run it. Sweep the kitchen floor for crumbs. Fold the blanket on the couch. You’ll thank yourself in the morning! excitingtableware.com 3. They Don’t Save Papers If you’ve read the magazine, pitch it. If the mail is junk, shred it. Clean homeowners don’t hold onto papers that aren’t of value to them. Those that are valuable are neatly scanned to a PDF on the computer or filed away in a drawer. Lifehack 4. They Don’t Leave Things Sit For Too Long Sure, life happens, but tidy people don’t let something sit out for more than a few days. My recommendation? Store a basket near the stairs for things that need to get put away. Every time it gets full, haul it up (or down) the stairs and put the contents in their proper place. Flickr | Wicker Paradise 5. They Don’t Have Too Many Pillows Yes, they’re pretty, and yes they provide fun pops of color. But if they’re always falling on the floor or hanging in the corner or your bedroom because it’s too much work to put all 27 of them on your bed, it’s time to simplify. Stash some of your throw pillows away, then bring them out when the room needs a refresh. It’ll feel like shopping in your own personal stash of home decor! Boat Style 6. They Don’t Clean All At Once Instead of saving all the cleaning for one or two days a week, tidy people clean the go from room to room. Picking up shoes, wiping off the sink and straightening shelves become daily habits. As a result, there’s less heavy lifting each week because the house stays clean. Dreamstime.com 7. They Don’t Store Things On The Floor If you look under your couch or nightstand, you’ll find dust bunnies. So naturally, if you store things in baskets or under the bed, they will collect more dirt. Also, if you drop a bag on the floor, your house will automatically seem dirtier. Make sure everything in your home has a place—clothes go on hangers, shoes go in the closet, coats get hung up, etc. That way, you won’t be tempted to dump your stuff on the ground. Adobe 8. They Don’t Ever Stop Multi-Tasking Just because you’re cleaning doesn’t mean you can’t do something else. Put on a face mask or whitening strips to get two things done at once. Doesn’t it feel good to be super productive? The Kitchn 9. They Don’t Leave Their Garage Door Open When dirt gets into your garage, it ultimately gets tracked into your house. Keeping your garage door closed helps prevent pollen, dust and leaves from ultimately being tracked into your home. Fagan Door Credits: simplemost.com