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6 Ways to Make a House Feel Instantly Clean

Clean is such a great word, isn’t it?!

When something is clean (or tidy) it puts a smile on my face.

As a working mom of 3 who is hustling + bustling 24/7, finding easier ways for getting things accomplished around the house has become my way of life!  My motto #keepitclean the easy way…

When Bona, the industry leader in floor care products, reached out to me about sharing my favorite tips + tricks for keeping my home clean, I knew it would be a perfect time to share my housecleaning secrets (and my love for their floor cleaner since I already owned it).   When friends + family come over, I totally have them fooled thinking I’ve spent hours mopping & scrubbing.  hahaha.  No more are the days with endless hours for lengthy, lavish meal prep or saturday mornings scrubbing the bathroom & cleaning the floors till every surface is spotless + gleaming.  From skating lessons to baseball, from playdates to grocery shopping, my time is limited, so cleaning typically doesn’t get top priority.

To make the most of the precious hours I have for housecleaning (which is pretty close to 5-10 minutes a day), I have come up with some time-saving techniques and smile-making strategies that make my home look like I spent hours scrubbing every surface – boy do I have y’all fooled…

Tips + Tricks + Secrets to make a house feel instantly clean (and showroom ready)!  It only takes a few minutes a day...

1. Reset the House

In my OCD days, every room was spit-spot clean every moment of the day.  With 3 kiddos now, that’s impossible and I am fine with that (actually happier to be honest – I am still working on living with intention and embracing our beautifully imperfect home), but I do like our pad to be clutter free if possible especially when the kids go off to bed.  Each night about 10 minutes before bedtime, they “take a tour” and tidy up / put away / throw out any toys or papers that are lying around.  For our littlest lady, I pitch in to help.  Picking up the toys, clearing the clutter, and filing away papers + bills each night before heading to bed only takes 5-10 minutes, but it’s such a small amount of time to get the house back in order to keep it under control.

Reset the house... 1 of 6 ways to make a house feel instantly clean (and showroom ready)!  It only takes a few minutes a day...

In our home, 7 pm is round em’ up, clean up time…

Reset the house... 1 of 6 ways to make a house feel instantly clean (and showroom ready)!  It only takes a few minutes a day...

I’m fine with toys + papers out & about all day, but it feels so nice when the kids are off to bed and everything is put away and then to wake up the next morning to a fresh, clean space.  Of course, it won’t stay like that for long, but for the small amount of time it is something to treasure.

2. Chore Day

Doing a little each day is better than doing a LOT one day.  I have found matching a specific chore with a day of the week has been a lot more manageable than letting everything pile up to tackle all at once (which used to be the weekend and who wants to clean on the weekend? Not this gal).

Mondays – laundry, Tuesdays – bathrooms, Wednesdays – floors, and so on… By designating a specific task on a specified day, everyone in the house knows what to expect and it allows everyone to help pitch in (the incentive of allowance will probably also help).

My go-to for learning this method was Becky of Clean Mama.  She has a lot of great posts on creating a cleaning routine.

Create a cleaning routineHouse Cleaning made EASY!3. Clean the Floors

In our home, I have chosen Wednesdays for floors, but honestly I vacuum almost every day.  The floor just never seems to be without crumbs.  For years, I used a steam cleaner for the wood floors, but about 4 months ago I gave up on it because of the length of time it was taking (longer than my alotted 5-10 minutes a day).  I ditched the clunky steamer for the Bona Hardwood Floor cleaner.  I would never go back!

This is the product I use and just look at that before & after…

Clean the floors - one of many Tips + Tricks + Secrets to make a house feel instantly clean (and showroom ready)! It only take a few minutes a day...

I will tell ya, I have used what I thought was similar handheld spray cleaners before, and there is no comparison.  This floor cleaning “mop” is a little more expensive, but SOOO worth the cost.  I can now clean my hardwood floors in my alotted 5-10 minutes! #winning

With everything in our home, I try to go green, but with my easier is better approach, sometimes I have to compromise.  When I gave up the steamer, I wasn’t thrilled about using yucky chemicals BUT was pleasantly surprised when I found the Bona products because they are non-toxic and GREENGUARD certified. SCORE! They have solutions for not only hardwood floors, but also for wood furniture and stone/tile/laminate – all making cleaning EASIER – there’s that fabulous word again

No more crumbs.  No residue.  Just gleaming + clean floors!

Clean the floors - one of many Tips + Tricks + Secrets to make a house feel instantly clean (and showroom ready)! It only take a few minutes a day...

Here is a fabulous $3 off coupon (click over to print out – this is not the actual coupon)

$3 off coupon for Bona floor products

Whether you are a hard-core cleaner (I’m so not!) or the type who quickly wipes the dust away (yes, that’s me raising hand), everyone approaches cleaning a little differently.  With the angst of spring cleaning right around the corner, opening those windows & getting ready for spring is top on my list! Here’s a fun chance to look at your cleaning personality with Bona’s #KeepItClean Personality Quiz.  Take the quiz and get a chance to win a Bona Hardwood Floor Mop Express, as well as a year of cleaning services for your home and the Grand Prize: a trip for 4 to Hawaii! The thought of a trip to Hawaii sounds amazing right about now…

4. Everything has a Place

From stray buttons to paperclips, designate a specific spot for everything in the home to take away the guessing game of “where should this go?”… which only wastes more of your precious time & energy.  Using baskets, bins, bowls, and boxes choose a place for everything.  Be gone with the junk drawers.  Once you take the time to organize & set up the space for those little but necessary things, there is no extra time needed in your every day schedule to deal with it.

For me, this step is still a work in progress but with the ‘everything has a place’ mindset, the guess work and thinking has been eliminated.  Shoebox tops, cereal boxes, and other similar cost-free items make great organizational holders. Check out this organized drawer by Jen of I Heart Organizing

Cereal Box Drawer Dividers to stay organized!

5. Ask… (and if all else fails, Delegate)

With a little time & teaching, kids can help and often want to help (and if they don’t, then delegate – you want XYZ, then help out).  Starting from a young age (it’s much easier than asking them to start helping when they’re 10), have your kids help out around the house.  From the smaller tasks of putting away the toys they take out, to sorting the colors vs. whites, to cleaning out the dishwasher, kids 3+ can help out around the house.  I have found with my kiddos, they are very proud when they help with a task or do something new.  At 8, he knows how to wash dishes, unpack the dishwasher, sort/fold his laundry.  I find the more they do, the more they understand how long tasks take.

Have the kids pitch in - one of many Tips + Tricks + Secrets to make a house feel instantly clean (and showroom ready)! It only takes a few minutes a day...

6. Wash the Dishes & Make the Bed

2 simple + easy tasks that will instantly make you feel better & put you at ease – wash the dishes & make the bed.  As soon as you get out of bed, make it right away.  It’s amazing how much happier I feel throughout the day when I walk into my room and the bed is made… Instant Smile!  Same with the dishes – when I walk by the sink and there is a pile of dishes, it’s like they are calling my name- “wash me, wash me”.  Instead just do them throughout the day instead of letting them pile up to be a heaping mound by days end.  Make breakfast, do the dishes. Have a snack, put the plate directly into the dishwasher.  After lunch, clean up the 1-2 plates.  Again, a little is faster to complete & easier to manage.

Make the bed - one of many Tips + Tricks + Secrets to make a house feel instantly clean (and showroom ready)! It only takes a few minutes a day...from my master bedroom refresh last year

Being honest here, my bed (and overall room for that matter) does NOT look this pristine on a daily basis, but it’s what I strive for…  Sometimes having a mental image (or an actual picture) can help the process of cleaning / tidying up be faster + easier + more manageable because the result & smile / happiness it brings throughout the day will be worth the effort!  Even though at the moment I often feel my house is a wreck, I can look back at pictures and know the potential for beauty is there if I take the few extra minutes to jazz it up.

There really is no miracle solution to cleaning the house in 5 minutes, but these are the easy + manageable ways I use on a daily basis to make our house feel clean + look tidy!

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HUGE Giveaway!

Don’t miss out on the chance to win a trip to Hawaii OR house cleaning services for a year! Both would be amazing – which would you want more?  Play to win by take Bona’s cleaning personality quiz.

 

Disclosure: This post is sponsored post by Bona #BonaBuzz #KeepItClean.  I was compensated for my time to use the products and to share my thoughts + opinions. I was not told what to write and I only feature companies on my blog that I truly love and believe in 100%.

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