I don’t know about you but I don’t have endless hours to clean the house. It only makes sense to put some measures into place so that you clean less and enjoy your home more.

1.Start with the the front door. Put mats on either side of your door for people to wipe their feet on. Much of the dirt and dust in our homes gets tracked in from the outside. Stop it at the door. If you have a no shoe policy in your home that’s even better although not for everyone.

2.Clean regularly. Life happens. If you procrastinate about cleaning regularly when you do finally get around to it you have such a mess you vow never to clean again. Get busy and get cleaning. A few minutes a day or a week can save you an hour...or two. Bathrooms and kitchens should be cleaned the most often. Wipe them down (countertops and sweep floors) each day. This should take you minutes.  As in two to three.

3.Put messy things on top of mats so you only have to clean the mat not your furniture or other surface. Examples would be house plants, your toddler during meal times, pet food.

4.While you’re in the kitchen preparing food keep a sink or bucket (if you use the bucket wash method) full of hot soapy water to toss your dishes in as you finish with them. This makes clean up go much faster.

5. Train those kiddos to help out. If your children are older and notoriously messy or look to you to clean things up you may have a bit of a battle on your hands but don’t give in. For younger children start as soon as they can understand simple directions. They can be helping with laundry, setting the table, sweeping up, feeding pets. All kinds of things. Hey they live there too!

Get started preventing a mess. This may help you think of more ideas that you can implement around the house to keep things neater and tidier.