Simple cleaning tips to improve your day

Okay, hear me out – cleaning is not necessarily the first thing you would think of to lighten your mood; however if you are feeling anxious or down, it’s a great way to spend the day.  It distracts you, particularly if you choose to do something quite physical (scrubbing the floor, or doing the garden), and also gives you a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.  Organising is fun – lets do it! Lets clean yourself happier with these simple cleaning tips.

Tidying around is something we all do – even if we have a cleaner that comes in every so often. If you are asking yourself can I clean before the housekeeper comes, then you probably need to have a declutter. Your housekeeper or cleaning staff should be used to do the hard stuff – the windows, mopping the floor – even changing the beds. But things like tidying kids toys, putting washing up away or sorting out piles of unwanted clothes – that’s your job!

Quite often, even in a tidy house, the wardrobe is one area that gets neglected.  Random hangers with clothes falling off them, shoes and bags jumbled up on the floor, belts or ties hanging around with nowhere to go. 

1 – Sort out your wardrobe

Start by decluttering – if you haven’t worn it in a year you probably won’t wear it again.  If you are keeping a load of clothes in case you lose/gain weight – think about it sensibly.  If you are unlikely to need them, get rid.  Sort out all your clothes into piles – Keep, Charity, Bin. 

Once you have all your Keeps – hang them in some sort of order, whatever suits you.  It could be in colour order, or by type of clothes.  I personally hang mine like this: Jumpers, shirts, day dresses, evening dresses, work clothes, hoodies and gymwear.  This makes it easy to go to one particular section in the mornings and also much easier to put away tidily.

Sort out your bags and shoes – do you have room to put a shelf at the bottom of your wardrobe?  If you do, you can put the shoes on the floor of the wardrobe, and the bags on the shelf, displayed nicely. 

2 – Kitchen cupboards

Do a cupboard at a time, exercising the same sort of rules as for your clothes – Keep, Charity, Bin.  Do you need 20 mugs?  Or can you pick 6 of your favourites and send the rest to a charity shop, giving yourself more space?  Same with wine glasses- I counted 18 champagne flutes and I am the only champagne drinker in my house!

Tupperware is always a pain – thrown away mismatching boxes and stack them inside each other, using a pan rack for the lids.

Throw away any out of date food, and if you have any in date food that you know you won’t eat, donate it to the local foodbank.

3 – Clean the windows

This is quite a simple one, and less time consuming than organising.  But its so rewarding to see beautiful clear windows.  I suggest using a Minky glass cloth with any good window spray – Astonish are great.  If you get one with a hint of vinegar it makes the room smell clean too, which really helps your mood lift.  Take before and after pictures and be proud! Window cleaning is fun – really!

4 – Clean the skirting boards and door frames

When you decorate a room, as soon as you paint the skirting boards the room looks cleaner.  The same goes for a quick wipe over every so often!  If you have a dog,it is likely that the door frames will be mud spattered and grubby – use a slightly damp Magic Eraser so that you don’t damage the paintwork. Try cleaning the front door too – there will be tape and marks everywhere! More housework hacks here

5 – Dust and polish!  Get a suitable polish or furniture cleaner (I use Dettol All in One Spray on all my white gloss furniture), and get rid of all that dust!  Polish everything up so the room smells clean and gorgeous, then hope for some sun flooding through the window to show your efforts off, especially if you have done the window cleaning.

Then – why not do some meditation? Did you clean yourself happier? Check out our ideas for a great staycation in your new shiny home!