Keep a Fresh Family Home with These Critical Habits

Contributed post.

It can be hard to keep a fresh family home, especially when there are young children, teens, and even work-from-home responsibilities to consider. However, you can take a structured approach that makes cleaning the home much easier, and helps it stay that way! With some easy habits, your home will begin to become the pinnacle of freshness that friends and family will envy! From shutting down the kitchen to developing a routine, here are some suggestions.

Don’t Forget Annual Servicing

There are some tasks that you shouldn’t ignore. These include critical checks that keep a house functioning safely and without issues. These must be checked on a regular basis, such as annually, and include the gas boiler, plumbing, and electrical systems, and even the HVAC. You will need experts by law for some tasks, and you can call a service like a duct cleaning company to carry out maintenance and prevent problems if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself.

Close the Kitchen for a Fresh Family Home

The kitchen is a vital hub for a family home, and 97% of families consider eating together in the kitchen and dining area a vital part of life. However, the kitchen requires a lot of maintenance and cleaning because of what it actually is, so set times and shut it down to keep it fresh:

• Clean dishes and tidy up the space at a set time and never go to bed before it's done.
• Wipe countertops, stovetops, and the sink for odor removal and stress-free mornings.
• Make sure family members know that the kitchen is off-limits after a certain time.

Try to Clean as You Cook

Further to keeping the kitchen clean, cooking can be a messy experience, especially if you cook as a family. However, one of the best skills to teach children and to get into the habit of yourself, is cleaning as you cook. This makes less work for everyone after the cooking is done, but also helps keep the cooking area safer. To begin, have a bin handy to get rid of peels and packaging. It also helps to have wipes handy and keep the sink full of water for washing as you go.

Develop a Laundry Plan

Is there ever an end to laundry? Even as a couple with no children, it can seem like the laundry never gets done. However, like anything else, you can reduce the laundry burden with a routine. For example, if you have a house full of kids, you can set a one-load-per-day laundry rule. This will help keep hampers clear of too much. It also helps to divide laundry by type, such as clothing and underwear, and stick to a routine for getting through washing, drying, and folding.

Declutter for a Fresh Family Home

Decluttering is a key part of keeping a clean and tidy home, and most people prefer to do it every 3 to 4 months on a seasonal basis. Of course, storage units simplify your living space by getting rid of stuff, but how about ensuring there isn’t too much stuff in the first place?

Tackle clutter in 15-minute bursts

It can get to the point that clutter is overwhelming,  but you can reduce the stress by setting a 15-minute timer and tackling a specific space within that time frame for structured cleaning.

Take the Marie Kondo approach

If something doesn’t have a use, spark joy, or need to be in a space, then you can usually safely remove it from the area, and stay mindful about anything that you add back into the room.

Set a routine for decluttering

The best cleaning happens when you stick to a routine. It only becomes hard when things are left to get bad, but a regular schedule ensures that things stay manageable across the home.

Designate a Space for Everything

There are many reasons why clutter builds up, and one of the most overlooked is that something just doesn’t belong where it currently is. Phone cables and chargers, games and toys, and even magazines and newspapers can add to the overall clutter in a room. However, you can dramatically change how a space looks and feels by designating a space for everything. For example, a drawer for cables, a box for toys, and a shelf for books.

Keep the Air Fresh and Clean

Airflow in a family home is important for overall health among members, but is usually one of the most overlooked. Even if you live near an area with low air quality, it is still better for your lungs than stale indoor air that carries contaminants like dead skin cells, pet hairs, and airborne bugs. Poor indoor air will make issues like asthma worse and cause respiratory issues. However, just fifteen minutes per day of open windows can help remove most of these from the indoor air.

Keep a Fresh Family Home with a Routine

Most families clean the home every 3 to 4 days when keeping a schedule, and it doesn’t have to be a massive chore. With a routine of cleaning, such as every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, all you need to do is wipe down surfaces because they haven't been left to get too dirty:

• Use a dusting tool to remove dust from surfaces, items, and electronics like the TV.
• Wipe down surfaces with wet, anti-bacterial wipes to remove dirt and grime.
• Finish off a space with a quick flooring vacuum, mopping, or steam cleaning.

Get Rid of Stuff on a Regular Basis

Decluttering is one thing, but it doesn’t take into account many of the useful items we can accumulate over a period of time. Children’s clothing and even toys are examples. Kids grow pretty quickly, and the stuff they need one day can be useless before you know it. However, you can donate stuff responsibly to ensure you don’t end up with a mountain of things you can’t use. This helps other families make use of them while keeping your home clean and clear.

Summary

Annual servicing of critical appliances such as HVAC will help you keep a fresh family home. Of course, decluttering is a major part of keeping a clean and tidy home these days, and you can also donate valuable items such as baby stuff so other families can make use of them.