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Now that the holiday season has passed, I'm turning my focus on cleaning my home in preparation for our baby girl! But being 8 months pregnant is definitely slowing me down from my usual cleaning routine. I've had to developed a plan to quickly clean my home and KEEP it clean. 

These tasks are meant to be easy and simple so that you can get on with your busy day and come back to a nice, clean home.

MAKE YOUR BED

Once I'm ready to start my day in the morning, I have made it a habit to make the bed. I find that I'm a lot more productive once the bed is made and it instantly makes the room appear 10 times cleaner. If it's the day to wash your sheets, strip the bed but sure you have a clean pair ready to go. It takes less than 5 minutes to make and such a difference. Believe me, make your bed!

CLEAN ONE BATHROOM PER DAY

Cleaning the bathrooms has got to be one of my least enjoyable tasks. I mean, I'd rather do pretty much anything else than clean a toilet. I found myself always making excuses and letting the bathrooms get really dirty before tackling them, making my job a whole lot harder. Now, I make myself clean one bathroom per day. We have two and half bathrooms in our home so I tackle the kids bathroom on Monday, half bath on Wednesday and master bathroom on Friday. I like to slit it up so it doesn't feel overwhelming and I tend to finish each bathroom in less than 30 minutes, if not 15 minutes. I leave all my supplies ready to go underneath my sink, so all I do is grab the cleaning caddy and get to cleaning. Fast and easy!

PUT YOUR DISHES AWAY IMMEDIATELY

I have a love/hate relationship with the design of our kitchen. The sink is right in the middle of the island which faces the living room and dining room. So one of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a bunch of dishes in the sink from  our living area.  An easy way to make this space appear cleaner fast, is simply by putting our dishes away. Whether this means putting the dishes in the dishwasher or drying and putting away any hand washed items. Dishes rarely accumulate in our sink. 

DO A LOAD OF LAUNDRY AT NIGHT

I recently started doing one load of laundry at night and let me tell you, it's been a life changer. Not only will it save you money by using your washer and dryer at night, but also will make the process a lot more manageable. I despise doing laundry just as much as I despise cleaning the bathrooms but since starting one load at night it has made for a much smoother process. I simple put one load in the washer and dryer and in the morning, I tackle the actual folding and putting away of the clothes. Yes, I let the clothes sit in the dryer for the night, but I find that our clothes come out fine and I don’t have to dread the folding step anymore.

DECLUTTER

If you've been following me for a while, then you know that I'm a big fan of decluttering. Having limited storage space has forced me to be intentional with the things that I buy and bring into my home. Once I found out that I was pregnant, I began to slowly declutter and organize all of the closets in our home. I tackled one closet a day or week depending on how motivated I was feeling. I first set my goal to tackle one closet a week, but once I got started, it was hard to stop. I was a decluttering machine! I think I was able to  go through all of the closets in our home in less than 2 weeks. The point is, set your goal and make sure you stick with it. Whether it be decluttering a space/room per month/week/day, you set the pace. If you exceed it, fantastic!

Be ruthless and keep only the items that you truly need and want. I can tell you that we had several car loads of donations and 3 months since decluttering I haven't once said to myself, "Oh I wish I wouldn't have donated that!" If you don't have a need for it, pass it on to someone who may need it more than you do. Check out my 10 Things to Declutter from Your Home post if you need further encouragement in this area. (add link)

I like to keep a basket in a closet where I put items for donation as I come across them. Once the basket is full, I make a trip to my local charity to give these items a better home.

PUT THINGS BACK WHERE THEY BELONG AS SOON AS YOU ARE DONE USING THEM

Now that you have decluttered your home, everything should have a place. Make it a habit to put away items as finish using them. Letting them sit on your counter will only make your space feel cluttered again. The goal is to maintain your home clean and tidy so that you don't have to spend hours or days cleaning and organizing.

INVEST IN A ROBOT VACUUM

Earlier this year, my husband and I invested in a robot vacuum and let me tell you, it's been a life changer. You don't have to spend hundreds on the latest model if you don't want to. We got a Deebot that was on sale for $175. It does exactly what we need it to, and we can even control it with our phone. I currently have it set up so that it turns on automatically at midnight, allowing me to wake to nice clean floors. Once it is low on battery, it sends itself back to get charged and when I wake up, I simply pop it in a bedroom, close the door and let it do its thing. Vacuuming has never been easier!

GET YOUR FAMILY INVOLVED

Getting the family on board will not only make your life a whole lot easier, but your home a whole lot cleaner. If everyone knows to make their bed as soon as they wake up, or to take the time to wipe down the bathroom counter as they are brushing their teeth, your home will be in great shape before your know it. If you have a toddler at home like I do, get them in the habit to clean up their toys after they are done playing with them. We try to focus on this 3 times a day: before lunch, before dad comes home from work, and before bed time routine. He's only 2 so don't expect perfection, the point is to get them involved!

Remember, that no one is perfect and that you will have good and bad days. The point is to create habits to help you maintain your home in the shape that you want to keep it in. Give yourself a break and get back on track the following day.

If you would like more resources to help you declutter your home check out the following posts:

 FREE 2019 Calendar with Home Organization Tips

10 Things you need to Declutter from Your Home Right Now

7 Simple Steps for Organizing your Closet

 6 Habits to Keep your House Clean & Tidy

Happy Cleaning!