Cleaning can be a daunting task as it is. Do you clean all the time yet feel like it still looks a mess?! Let’s discuss 10 reasons why your house always looks messy, even after a full day of cleaning.
There are a lot of habitual practices that come down to having a truly clean looking home. What I mean by this is simple things like putting things back where they belong or maybe your possessions don’t have a home so most things are just scattered, and also the fact that you probably just have too much stuff. If you realize you’re doing most of these things, then it’s time for a change! Let’s begin.
Shoes
When shoes are found all over the house, it makes me wonder…. “What made you take your shoes off right HERE?” Like in this exact spot, right in front of the kitchen island?! Your shoes need to have a home. I’m going to use this phrase a lot in this post!
Ideally, the easiest way to keep your shoes organized is by having a spot by the front door. Whether this is inside a closet with shoe shelves, bins, or baskets by the door, or under an entryway piece of furniture. Another place you will want to designate for your shoes is inside your bedroom closet. I love these stackable shoe shelves.
Your Stovetop
Let me start this one by saying, everything is easier to clean on the stove while it is still fresh! Meaning, if you say you’ll “do it tomorrow” it will be dried and stuck on and even more difficult to clean had you just wiped it right after turning the burner off. After cooking on the stove, take thirty seconds to grab a wet sponge and wipe down the surface of the stove and around the burners. You won’t even need any cleaner!
Countertops
Have you ever had your home professionally cleaned? Or been to someone home who had cleaners come that morning? The first thing I always notice is just how sparkly clean the kitchen and bathroom countertops are. This tip is so simple! At the end of every day, spray some 409 on the countertops and wipes them down. One, this will help you get crap off the counters. Two, this alone will make any kitchen look cleaner. Three, your kitchen will smell clean!
Papers
Not having a method when you get the mail can be a messy problem. As soon as you bring in the mail, throw away any junk as soon as you go through it. All the bills that have been taken care of, shred them immediately. Have a file or some sort of paper organizer system. God forbid if an emergency were to happen and you don’t have all the important files you need! Learn How To Organize Important Documents, here.
Fluffing
This is one of my favorite tricks to keeping a clean looking home! When you have canvas couches and chairs, they seem to “deflate” after use. So, my best trick for this is to flip the backs of the couch or chair cushions and give them a good few punches. Then, if needed, smoosh the filling upwards to give it that “filled” look again. For the pillows, I like to take them and slam them against my knee or the couch to fluff them back up. This works primarily for feather-filled pillows. Then line up your pillows at an angle in front of one another and give them a good karate chop down the top/center of your pillow. This gives them that staged look and makes your living room feel put-together.
Carpet Stains
Carpets can be one of the main reasons your house looks messy. Especially if you live in an older home that has been through a lot! If carpet replacing isn’t in your budget, either invest in a good steam carpet cleaner or get yourself some Folex. If you live in Texas, HEB has a service where you can rent a steam carpet cleaner for 24 hours for $25! You just have to buy a solution to steam it with. We did this when our new puppy stopped having accidents in the house.
Dishes
Here’s the deal. If you use a dishwasher regularly, why do you even bother putting things in the sink? Just putting dishes directly into the dishwasher is one, easier. And two, less work. When you’re done with a plate, a glass, a bowl, putting these directly into the dishwasher just makes life so much easier and efficient!
Decor
The most obvious reason that keeps your house looking messy is that you have too much decor! People don’t even realize this most of the time. Your blinders have been up and you just don’t see it anymore. One way to tell if you have too much stuff is to take a random photo of your home. Does it look crowded, overwhelming, cluttered, messy? Just focusing on how much stuff you have, can help start the decluttering process.
Fingerprints
You just cleaned all the stainless steel appliances and someone used their grimy little hands to open it and got fingerprints and smudges on the door….. While this is frustrating, this is also an easy clean! Just take a dry and clean towel and wipe it in the direction of the steel grain. Easy peasy.
Dusting
If you are guilty about having too much decor, you are probably guilty of this one too. Another reason why your house always looks messy is that dust accumulates so quickly around all those trinket-y decor pieces and it’s too difficult to dust around them, so you end up not dusting at all. Have you looked at your fan blades recently? Those pack on dust like crazy! Make sure you are regularly dusting. This includes removing decor off of surfaces to dust shelves, counters, tables, dust the window blinds, window sills, baseboards, vents, tops of picture frames, cabinetry, curtains even! Throw those in the wash!
That’s it! I hope you are inspired to start implementing these into your cleaning routine!
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