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How I Keep My Home Tidy & Clean
Jan. 17th, 2026 10:52 amDoes anyone need this post? Probably not, but I've been on a journey with my home over the last few years, and I think about this a lot, so I thought I would write everything down a) to get it out of my brain and free up space and b) just in case someone does need this post.
Especially when it comes to organization and cleaning, everything is so individual, so if these tips feel completely undoable or perhaps don't go far enough, that's fine! This is just how I do things. You're welcome to do whatever makes you happiest.
That said, if you're not happy with your home, try it. The only way to fix what is wrong is by changing our patterns.
One of the reasons that people often find "cleaning up" overwhelming is because we try to do All The Things in a single swoop. I'm very guilty of this, and as you'll see later down the list, I've had to really reframe how I think about everything to help me be, well, cleaner.
The first place I started is by differentiating between "Tidying" and "Cleaning". In our brains, we probably do this already, however it's helpful to have these two things clearly defined.
For me, "Tidying" is the act of picking up and putting away. It focuses on objects, clutter, and organization. Getting dirty laundry off the floor and into the basket is tidying. Getting clean laundry off the bed, folded, and into the dresser is tidying. Picking up dirty dishes in the living room and moving them into the kitchen is tidying.
On the other hand, "Cleaning" is all about removing dirt from my home. This is stuff like vacuuming, washing the dishes, sweeping, dusting, wiping down the counters, etc. You know what cleaning is.
I have always been pretty good at tidying, because clutter gives me incredible anxiety, but cleaning is very much a chore to me. And when I combined them both in my brain, I did neither because I just didn't want to do the cleaning part. Both are necessary to have a "clean" house. However, you don't need to do all the cleaning and all the tidying at once, and in fact, it's probably better if you don't.
Listen, when you have too much stuff, no matter how much you clean or tidy, your house is just not going to feel clean.
How do you know you have too much stuff? You sit in your space and you cannot relax. It's not peaceful. Your mind cannot rest because your eyes cannot rest.
What is the "right" amount of stuff? Well, that's incredibly individual.
I find maximalist settings overwhelming and anxiety inducing, however minimalism is too stark for me. I have a lot of hobbies and I care a lot about certain things (cooking, fashion, art) so I tend to have a lot of kitchen stuff and clothing, but I don't actually care about collecting kpop merch despite that being a hobby, so I don't have posters or a ton of albums or plushies to deal with.
Also, there are other factors that play into your "right" amount. 1) The more space you have, the more stuff you are likely to accumulate. This is true everywhere, we are a species that nests, however is especially true in the US, with our big, American homes. Going from a 1600 square foot 3 bed, 2 bath house in Texas to my 700 square foot 1-1 in Colorado meant I had to get rid of a LOT of stuff to make my space feel comfortable. This actually took several years to do!
2) Living with other people means they will have stuff, too. I fortunately live alone, so I don't have to deal with that, but most people do! Kids famously acquire like eighteen times the amount of stuff that adults do. When you have a roommate, you have to compromise on shared spaces, and you will have very little say over what they do with their personal items.
Finding your "right" will take time and, very likely, some decluttering.
My favorite decluttering guru is April from the Space Maker Method. Her YouTube is a joy, and she even has a book to help you along your decluttering journey.
The brutally honest truth is that you cannot get to tidy (picked up, put away, organized) and clean (dirt cleared from your house) when you have stuff on every surface and squirreled into every hole.
Okay, we're finally getting into the practical advice.
Organization is not about putting your juice into a clear plastic container so you can have this beautiful instagramian tableau when you open the fridge.
Organization is knowing the juice goes in the fucking fridge.
If you haven't already found your "right" (or even just your "better"), it is very difficult to get organized. And organization is key to being Tidy. You can't pick up and put away if you don't have the Away to Put Into.
Now, again, how to organize is very individual. I have one big bookshelf so anything book, kpop album, or stationary goes in that bookshelf. I have specific sections of the bookshelf for each of those things. I have a box under my bed for documents I keep, such as tax documents, as well as sentimental papers like postcards sent from overseas. I have one tote bag I use to keep bubble wrap for packing, and one kitchen cabinet specifically dedicated to all the varieties of noodles I buy. Whenever I am faced with a book, or important mail, or groceries, I know where it goes, so it doesn't ever stay in a pile in the living room for long.
Marie Kondo, April, and I all recommend you eschew the aesthetics of organization and focus on practical matters. Don't buy any organizers (including the trendy clear plastic ones for your juices) until you go through at least one pass of decluttering. It's likely you'll find everything you need in that pass because before it was full of stuff.
(That said, I cannot recommend closed storage enough. Three of the Big Furniture Purchases I made for this apartment were all cabinets to store things in because I need all the bits and bobs out of sight to feel calm and peaceful.)
Also it's okay to organize and re-organize. Maybe you try sticking all your silverware in the top left drawer, but in practice you always are reaching into the top right. Change it! Your space is supposed to work for you, and the only way to know what will work is by doing.
This is probably the most life changing rule of staying tidy & clean.
It is more important to tidy and clean frequently than it is to tidy and clean perfectly.
This isn't saying a deep clean is unnecessary, because those definitely are, but for motivation and general peace of mind, spending five minutes picking up three stray items every day and putting them away is way better for you than waiting until the weekend and spending an hour shuffling things from room to room.
One of my least favorite household chores is folding laundry. I don't have any issues with the gathering of the laundry and putting it in the machine and getting it dry part. But folding it? Loathe it.
It is way easier to fold one load of laundry than three or four. So for me, it is better to do one small load every few days than it is to do an entire day of dealing with laundry. Because I won't! I just won't deal with it!
Also, the more you clean, the cleaner your place will be on balance.
If you wipe down your counters every other day, even badly, they will be less gross than if you do a good job one day a week. Something is always better than nothing. Frequency over perfection.
Allowing yourself to do "good enough" jobs helps you do more jobs. Which makes your life nicer every day and makes the big jobs slightly less big.
I am one of those terrible no good Morning People. Which means I have most of my energy and motivation early. I am also one of those people who needs a pot of coffee right after I wake up. It takes approximately 5 minutes for my kettle to heat up for my coffee, so instead of standing there, willing it to boil faster, I use that time to tidy up.
I pick up trash in the living room, and dirty dishes from the day before. I put away clean dishes from the dishwasher. I shuffle through the mail and discard things into the recycling. I don't get done with everything, usually, but it's a good start (again, repetition).
I also work from home three days a week. When I'm at home and I need a break from work, I'll usually spend five minutes rinsing dishes or starting a load of laundry (or folding one, ugh).
By breaking tasks into little pieces, they are manageable for me to do throughout the day and I never feel overwhelmed by them.
Being a morning person also means that by about 7 PM I am done. I have had to accept that I am not going to clean up dishes from dinner after I eat and that I'll almost always be waking up to a slightly messy kitchen. It's just not part of my routine. But because I have energy the next day, I can just take care of it then.
No one has the same energy levels or tendencies or work schedule. Even if a pinterest graphic tells you "you should clean this once a day / this once a week / this once a month" it may not work for you and that's okay! If you're a night owl, use those 10pm zoomies to take care of the dishes or sweep the floor or dust your bedroom.
Maybe leave the vacuuming until the daytime, though.
This is just me repeating myself but I strongly believe in The Momentum. If you are faced with a big task, start with a small task.
A few weekends ago, I knew I really, really needed to clean the oven. In fact, even though I'd done plenty of little cleaning, I had put off a lot of the big cleaning. The cabinets were starting to get dusty (and greasy over the stove). The floor needed to be mopped, not just swept. Some of the decor was also really grubby.
So, instead of worrying about all of that, I sprayed down the oven, closed it to let the cleaner work, and did the dishes from the night before. Rather than sitting down for the hour that the cleaning agent needed, I harnessed the momentum from having one thing clean (the dishes) to drag my stepstool out and get to work on the cabinets. By the time I was done with the cabinets, the oven was ready to scrub. And on and on and on, until my kitchen was gleaming.
I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of work, and I was very sore the next day, but by chaining the tasks together and letting the success of one motivate me to do the next, the whole thing was complete.
So when you're overwhelmed by All The Things, just start with one, small, doable thing and then don't sit down.
Take advantage of the technology we have available to us.
I suspect nearly everyone has a vacuum. My floors became so much cleaner when I finally clued into vacuuming the hard surfaces as well as the soft ones.
If you have a dishwasher, use it for everything you possibly can. When used correctly (and check out this video for some excellent info) dishwashers are far more powerful and efficient than washing by hand.
I'm a big fan of using dust rags/cloths over paper towels for most jobs. You can wash them on a sanitizing cycle and it's significantly cheaper and more environmentally friendly. I'm also obsessed with these scrubbers for dishes/general cleaning. They're scrubby enough to actually clean things, gentle enough they don't scratch, and they can be sanitized in the dishwasher. I've had the same set for over a year and they still work great. Strongly recommend ditching your sponges and getting these.
I also recommend getting a degreaser spray to help out alongside your All Purpose Cleaner (APC). I like Mr. Clean Clean Freak and Method All Purpose Cleaner, respectively. A good degreaser will help with big, sticky messes (or if your cabinets are filthy like mine), but it doesn't sanitize, so you still need a regular APC.
In the bathroom, your toilet cleaners is going to be acid-based, so it can do some crazy deep cleaning, however you don't want to put it on anything that corrodes. If you have a particularly tough stain on your toilet, carefully soak a piece of toilet paper with cleaner and slap that bad boy on it for 5-10 minutes. It took the rust/hard water stains off my toilet like they were never there.
I happen to have several antique wood pieces, so I need a dusting spray with wood oil in it to keep those hydrated. My favorite is Pledge with Wood Oil. I use a regular APC or Endust for everything else.
I hate mopping, but getting a Swiffer Wet Jet has helped me do it more, because it's just easier.
Also, and maybe this is just a reminder for myself, just because your mom always did it one way does not mean it was the best way or the right way for you.
Trying to clean your whole kitchen with just an APC is going to have you scrubbing at sticky spots for minutes and leave streaks on your stainless steel. Once you figure out which tool to use for which job, the results will be amazing and you'll spend way less time and effort on cleaning.
Clean when you're dirty: This feels obvious, but it's always easier to overcome the anti-cleaning inertia when you are also dirty. Then, you can take a nice hot shower as a reward.
Clean from the top down: Again, feels obvious, but you should dust before you vacuum. Clean your counters before you sweep, et cetera, et cetera.
The Outgoing Pile: It's really easy to get distracted while tidying and putting things away. One way I avoid this is by putting things in an "outgoing" pile while I'm picking up a specific room. For instance, in the living room, I'll tidy the shoes, straighten blankets, fluff pillows, whatever. But anything that needs to go in the kitchen or office or bedroom goes in a single pile near the door until I'm finished with the living room. Then, when I'm done, I'm free to take things to their home and if I get a little distracted, at least the living room is tidy.
Thrift any organizers: If you have to get more stuff for organizing, check your local thrift stores first! There are lots of great baskets and things available at most thrift stores.
Decluttering and organizing never stops: Even if you do one big, successful and concerted effort, you will continue to accumulate stuff and your life will change. You will have to periodically adjust your "right" and how you organize things. This is good and normal!
Buy nothing life: A lot of people have a hard time actually getting the final step of decluttering done - getting the shit out of your house. If you live in a city, just put it on your curb with a sign that says "Free". I have literally gotten rid of 90% of my declutter in 2025 this way. Even broken things (though I did note that on the sign).
Reward yourself: You worked hard! Every time I clean the house (tidy, vacuum, dust) I always light a scented candle after. As a witchy friend put it one time, "it's not enough to get rid of bad energy, you have to invite good energy in."
Anyway, that's all I can think of right now. I hope this helps someone!
Especially when it comes to organization and cleaning, everything is so individual, so if these tips feel completely undoable or perhaps don't go far enough, that's fine! This is just how I do things. You're welcome to do whatever makes you happiest.
That said, if you're not happy with your home, try it. The only way to fix what is wrong is by changing our patterns.
1. Acknowledge that Tidying and Cleaning are Two Different Things
One of the reasons that people often find "cleaning up" overwhelming is because we try to do All The Things in a single swoop. I'm very guilty of this, and as you'll see later down the list, I've had to really reframe how I think about everything to help me be, well, cleaner.
The first place I started is by differentiating between "Tidying" and "Cleaning". In our brains, we probably do this already, however it's helpful to have these two things clearly defined.
For me, "Tidying" is the act of picking up and putting away. It focuses on objects, clutter, and organization. Getting dirty laundry off the floor and into the basket is tidying. Getting clean laundry off the bed, folded, and into the dresser is tidying. Picking up dirty dishes in the living room and moving them into the kitchen is tidying.
On the other hand, "Cleaning" is all about removing dirt from my home. This is stuff like vacuuming, washing the dishes, sweeping, dusting, wiping down the counters, etc. You know what cleaning is.
I have always been pretty good at tidying, because clutter gives me incredible anxiety, but cleaning is very much a chore to me. And when I combined them both in my brain, I did neither because I just didn't want to do the cleaning part. Both are necessary to have a "clean" house. However, you don't need to do all the cleaning and all the tidying at once, and in fact, it's probably better if you don't.
2. Have the "Right" Amount of Stuff
Listen, when you have too much stuff, no matter how much you clean or tidy, your house is just not going to feel clean.
How do you know you have too much stuff? You sit in your space and you cannot relax. It's not peaceful. Your mind cannot rest because your eyes cannot rest.
What is the "right" amount of stuff? Well, that's incredibly individual.
I find maximalist settings overwhelming and anxiety inducing, however minimalism is too stark for me. I have a lot of hobbies and I care a lot about certain things (cooking, fashion, art) so I tend to have a lot of kitchen stuff and clothing, but I don't actually care about collecting kpop merch despite that being a hobby, so I don't have posters or a ton of albums or plushies to deal with.
Also, there are other factors that play into your "right" amount. 1) The more space you have, the more stuff you are likely to accumulate. This is true everywhere, we are a species that nests, however is especially true in the US, with our big, American homes. Going from a 1600 square foot 3 bed, 2 bath house in Texas to my 700 square foot 1-1 in Colorado meant I had to get rid of a LOT of stuff to make my space feel comfortable. This actually took several years to do!
2) Living with other people means they will have stuff, too. I fortunately live alone, so I don't have to deal with that, but most people do! Kids famously acquire like eighteen times the amount of stuff that adults do. When you have a roommate, you have to compromise on shared spaces, and you will have very little say over what they do with their personal items.
Finding your "right" will take time and, very likely, some decluttering.
My favorite decluttering guru is April from the Space Maker Method. Her YouTube is a joy, and she even has a book to help you along your decluttering journey.
The brutally honest truth is that you cannot get to tidy (picked up, put away, organized) and clean (dirt cleared from your house) when you have stuff on every surface and squirreled into every hole.
3. Everything Needs a Department
Okay, we're finally getting into the practical advice.
Organization is not about putting your juice into a clear plastic container so you can have this beautiful instagramian tableau when you open the fridge.
Organization is knowing the juice goes in the fucking fridge.
If you haven't already found your "right" (or even just your "better"), it is very difficult to get organized. And organization is key to being Tidy. You can't pick up and put away if you don't have the Away to Put Into.
Now, again, how to organize is very individual. I have one big bookshelf so anything book, kpop album, or stationary goes in that bookshelf. I have specific sections of the bookshelf for each of those things. I have a box under my bed for documents I keep, such as tax documents, as well as sentimental papers like postcards sent from overseas. I have one tote bag I use to keep bubble wrap for packing, and one kitchen cabinet specifically dedicated to all the varieties of noodles I buy. Whenever I am faced with a book, or important mail, or groceries, I know where it goes, so it doesn't ever stay in a pile in the living room for long.
Marie Kondo, April, and I all recommend you eschew the aesthetics of organization and focus on practical matters. Don't buy any organizers (including the trendy clear plastic ones for your juices) until you go through at least one pass of decluttering. It's likely you'll find everything you need in that pass because before it was full of stuff.
(That said, I cannot recommend closed storage enough. Three of the Big Furniture Purchases I made for this apartment were all cabinets to store things in because I need all the bits and bobs out of sight to feel calm and peaceful.)
Also it's okay to organize and re-organize. Maybe you try sticking all your silverware in the top left drawer, but in practice you always are reaching into the top right. Change it! Your space is supposed to work for you, and the only way to know what will work is by doing.
4. Repetition > Effort
This is probably the most life changing rule of staying tidy & clean.
It is more important to tidy and clean frequently than it is to tidy and clean perfectly.
This isn't saying a deep clean is unnecessary, because those definitely are, but for motivation and general peace of mind, spending five minutes picking up three stray items every day and putting them away is way better for you than waiting until the weekend and spending an hour shuffling things from room to room.
One of my least favorite household chores is folding laundry. I don't have any issues with the gathering of the laundry and putting it in the machine and getting it dry part. But folding it? Loathe it.
It is way easier to fold one load of laundry than three or four. So for me, it is better to do one small load every few days than it is to do an entire day of dealing with laundry. Because I won't! I just won't deal with it!
Also, the more you clean, the cleaner your place will be on balance.
If you wipe down your counters every other day, even badly, they will be less gross than if you do a good job one day a week. Something is always better than nothing. Frequency over perfection.
Allowing yourself to do "good enough" jobs helps you do more jobs. Which makes your life nicer every day and makes the big jobs slightly less big.
5. Find a Routine that Works for You
I am one of those terrible no good Morning People. Which means I have most of my energy and motivation early. I am also one of those people who needs a pot of coffee right after I wake up. It takes approximately 5 minutes for my kettle to heat up for my coffee, so instead of standing there, willing it to boil faster, I use that time to tidy up.
I pick up trash in the living room, and dirty dishes from the day before. I put away clean dishes from the dishwasher. I shuffle through the mail and discard things into the recycling. I don't get done with everything, usually, but it's a good start (again, repetition).
I also work from home three days a week. When I'm at home and I need a break from work, I'll usually spend five minutes rinsing dishes or starting a load of laundry (or folding one, ugh).
By breaking tasks into little pieces, they are manageable for me to do throughout the day and I never feel overwhelmed by them.
Being a morning person also means that by about 7 PM I am done. I have had to accept that I am not going to clean up dishes from dinner after I eat and that I'll almost always be waking up to a slightly messy kitchen. It's just not part of my routine. But because I have energy the next day, I can just take care of it then.
No one has the same energy levels or tendencies or work schedule. Even if a pinterest graphic tells you "you should clean this once a day / this once a week / this once a month" it may not work for you and that's okay! If you're a night owl, use those 10pm zoomies to take care of the dishes or sweep the floor or dust your bedroom.
Maybe leave the vacuuming until the daytime, though.
6. Harness the Momentum (When You Have It)
This is just me repeating myself but I strongly believe in The Momentum. If you are faced with a big task, start with a small task.
A few weekends ago, I knew I really, really needed to clean the oven. In fact, even though I'd done plenty of little cleaning, I had put off a lot of the big cleaning. The cabinets were starting to get dusty (and greasy over the stove). The floor needed to be mopped, not just swept. Some of the decor was also really grubby.
So, instead of worrying about all of that, I sprayed down the oven, closed it to let the cleaner work, and did the dishes from the night before. Rather than sitting down for the hour that the cleaning agent needed, I harnessed the momentum from having one thing clean (the dishes) to drag my stepstool out and get to work on the cabinets. By the time I was done with the cabinets, the oven was ready to scrub. And on and on and on, until my kitchen was gleaming.
I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of work, and I was very sore the next day, but by chaining the tasks together and letting the success of one motivate me to do the next, the whole thing was complete.
So when you're overwhelmed by All The Things, just start with one, small, doable thing and then don't sit down.
7. The Right Tool for the Right Job
Take advantage of the technology we have available to us.
I suspect nearly everyone has a vacuum. My floors became so much cleaner when I finally clued into vacuuming the hard surfaces as well as the soft ones.
If you have a dishwasher, use it for everything you possibly can. When used correctly (and check out this video for some excellent info) dishwashers are far more powerful and efficient than washing by hand.
I'm a big fan of using dust rags/cloths over paper towels for most jobs. You can wash them on a sanitizing cycle and it's significantly cheaper and more environmentally friendly. I'm also obsessed with these scrubbers for dishes/general cleaning. They're scrubby enough to actually clean things, gentle enough they don't scratch, and they can be sanitized in the dishwasher. I've had the same set for over a year and they still work great. Strongly recommend ditching your sponges and getting these.
I also recommend getting a degreaser spray to help out alongside your All Purpose Cleaner (APC). I like Mr. Clean Clean Freak and Method All Purpose Cleaner, respectively. A good degreaser will help with big, sticky messes (or if your cabinets are filthy like mine), but it doesn't sanitize, so you still need a regular APC.
In the bathroom, your toilet cleaners is going to be acid-based, so it can do some crazy deep cleaning, however you don't want to put it on anything that corrodes. If you have a particularly tough stain on your toilet, carefully soak a piece of toilet paper with cleaner and slap that bad boy on it for 5-10 minutes. It took the rust/hard water stains off my toilet like they were never there.
I happen to have several antique wood pieces, so I need a dusting spray with wood oil in it to keep those hydrated. My favorite is Pledge with Wood Oil. I use a regular APC or Endust for everything else.
I hate mopping, but getting a Swiffer Wet Jet has helped me do it more, because it's just easier.
Also, and maybe this is just a reminder for myself, just because your mom always did it one way does not mean it was the best way or the right way for you.
Trying to clean your whole kitchen with just an APC is going to have you scrubbing at sticky spots for minutes and leave streaks on your stainless steel. Once you figure out which tool to use for which job, the results will be amazing and you'll spend way less time and effort on cleaning.
8. Final Tips and Tricks
Clean when you're dirty: This feels obvious, but it's always easier to overcome the anti-cleaning inertia when you are also dirty. Then, you can take a nice hot shower as a reward.
Clean from the top down: Again, feels obvious, but you should dust before you vacuum. Clean your counters before you sweep, et cetera, et cetera.
The Outgoing Pile: It's really easy to get distracted while tidying and putting things away. One way I avoid this is by putting things in an "outgoing" pile while I'm picking up a specific room. For instance, in the living room, I'll tidy the shoes, straighten blankets, fluff pillows, whatever. But anything that needs to go in the kitchen or office or bedroom goes in a single pile near the door until I'm finished with the living room. Then, when I'm done, I'm free to take things to their home and if I get a little distracted, at least the living room is tidy.
Thrift any organizers: If you have to get more stuff for organizing, check your local thrift stores first! There are lots of great baskets and things available at most thrift stores.
Decluttering and organizing never stops: Even if you do one big, successful and concerted effort, you will continue to accumulate stuff and your life will change. You will have to periodically adjust your "right" and how you organize things. This is good and normal!
Buy nothing life: A lot of people have a hard time actually getting the final step of decluttering done - getting the shit out of your house. If you live in a city, just put it on your curb with a sign that says "Free". I have literally gotten rid of 90% of my declutter in 2025 this way. Even broken things (though I did note that on the sign).
Reward yourself: You worked hard! Every time I clean the house (tidy, vacuum, dust) I always light a scented candle after. As a witchy friend put it one time, "it's not enough to get rid of bad energy, you have to invite good energy in."
Anyway, that's all I can think of right now. I hope this helps someone!
