Having a family means that there is always cleaning and tidying to be done. No kidding, right? I think I was at the number of two kids that I felt stressed out by the house…trying to keep on top of all things at all times. I remember a good friend of mine laughing, telling me it’ll eventually come crashing down (or something like that). She was right. I’m at four kids now and I’ve finally realized that nope. I cannot (and will not) stay on top of all things in the house. Unless I wanted to make that my life’s work. And I have other things that are life giving to me than that, so enter a simple cleaning routine.

You can’t keep up with all things at all times

This is the basis for my simple cleaning routine. It’s impossible to keep the house spotless when you have so many people in it, living. Minimizing helped us a ton over the years for the tidying aspect of it, though. I forget which friend mentioned, but last year I came across The Organised Mum and her cleaning routine. I tried her cleaning system out for a couple weeks and truly enjoyed her system, but it was still too much for me. I found I was a bit stressed if I missed a day. So, I let things sit for a while. When Covid19 hit and we were housebound pretty much, I thought it would be a good time to reinstate something - anything, so I bring you: how to design a simple cleaning routine. I’ll share what I’m doing right now that has been helping our family.

My current simple cleaning routine

DAILIES

  • *quick main floor sweep
  • *quick tidy up - choose your own adventure (i.e. declutter an area)
  • do something with laundry (put a wash on for sure, sort, put away, etc)
  • wipe down kitchen counters and dining table

*can skip when needed

KIDS’ DAILIES

  • am: bring down laundry
  • unload, reload dishes
  • pm: tidy task(s) in their bedrooms

LOOP TASKS

Go at your own pace with these. You can skip a day or two..loop through and start again at the beginning. You can choose how deep of a clean you’d like to do each time.

  • Dining room
  • Living room
  • Hallway and stairs
  • Toilets

SATURDAY

Week 1/ tidy bedrooms and vacuum

Week 2/ bathrooms

Week 3/ upstairs walls and windows

The idea here too is that YOU CAN SKIP a day or a certain task or few if the day is crazy or you need a break and pick up where you left off! We try to do laundry and the kitchen daily. I just wanted it designed in a way that was stress free and flexible for us. A stress free simple cleaning, tidying routine. Yes, please. We’re on week three or four with it, and so far, it’s been a success!

If you’re wanting to create a simple cleaning routine for yourself, my best piece of advice I’ve learned is that it’s more about periodically cleaning certain areas vs having the house spotless in every area at all times.

Aspects of my simple cleaning routine that you can take to create your own

  • loop planning - creating a set of tasks that you can loop through at your own pace.
  • setting certain tasks on a day - we have certain things we do on Saturdays, for instance.
  • involving the kids - what can you include them in?
  • setting your non-negotiable bare minimum daily tasks. Ours are 100% doing something with the laundry and the kitchen (or just the dishes).

Your simple cleaning routine is going to look different from mine, but hopefully taking a look at mine will give you a good place to start. If you’d like a master list of all of the tasks you could do for cleaning your home, feel free to email me at simplehomemom@gmail.com if you’d like that.

Hi, I’m Kelly! I’m a mother of four children - three boys, one toddler girl - and our family lives on the beautiful east coast of Canada. I’m a past elementary teacher, turned stay at home, work at home mom eight years ago after I had my second child. I’ve found that the busier I’ve become and as my children age, that it’s become even more important to figure out what is most important to me and us as a family. Living a simpler lifestyle has helped us in so many ways in our home life - from better routines to faster tidying up times. It has been through my children that I have been inspired to learn how to effectively manage my time and to simplify in all areas of my home and life. I enjoy helping busy moms simplify home life by teaching flexible planning methods and skills. Enjoyed this blog and think it would be helpful to others? I'd love if you shared it. Thank you!