Stupid-Easy House Cleaning. Creating a home that is EASY to keep clean

On Saturday morning, our family cleans the house.

Minimalism has made house cleaning much easier and faster.

Last week, our two youngest sons decided to clean the house by themselves. When the kids do that, I either pay them with money or video game time. We limit screen time, and they wanted a couple of extra hours to spend on their video games.

I filmed most of their work, and if you’d like to see what they did, you can watch the video here:

I’m not naturally a tidy person. I wasn’t born with an innate sense of cleanliness and organization. But since I wanted a clean and tidy home, I had to figure out a way to get that, that worked with my natural tendencies of being more on the messy side.

What I found was, the more stuff I had, the messier my home was. So with embracing minimalism, my home became easier to keep clean. 

Minimalism is my self-limiter. 

  • When I only have enough dishes for one days worth of meals, the dishes HAVE to be done.
  • If I only have 7 outfits, I HAVE to wash clothes every week.
  • If I only have a small amount of craft supplies, I’m more likely to bring them out and also put them away again.

And having less stuff means I have less to clean.

I like stuff. I like trinkets and dodads, I like candle holders and vases, I love art on the walls – but do I like it enough to dust it every week?

Honestly, no.

But I do want a home that is dusted. So, I got rid of most of the trinkets and now dusting takes a couple of minutes at most.

When I kept all those things, all the beautiful tea sets and victorian decor, the dried flowers and piles of books – I HATED dusting. So I wouldn’t do it. And after a few years of not dusting, those decorations look pretty gross. And then something gets bumped, and you see the ring of no dust where it had been sitting for 3 years, and it looks even worse.

And I get it – lots of people that follow me say, “I will never be a minimalist; I just want a home that’s manageable.” And that’s great! You should make sure your home is manageable for you.

I found that what is manageable for me is much less than the people who were born organized.

And I didn’t just want to be capable of managing – I wanted it to take the least amount of effort possible.

I could make it extremely easy and get rid of all decor and all shelves, but  I want my home to look cozy, so I learned to be very picky and ask myself what I’m willing to take care of.

I am willing to dust my art.

But I don’t have a gallery wall anymore because even though I enjoyed it, I decided, I didn’t want that much to take care of.

  • When I only have a few things, keeping them organized is easy.
  • When I don’t have things on the surfaces in the living room, it’s easy to dust.
  • When I don’t have piles on the floor or a lot of furniture, it’s easy to sweep, mop & vacuum.
  • When the kitchen counters are clear of appliances, spices, or snack foods, it’s easier to wipe them down.
  • When there is only one laundry basket worth of clothing, it’s easier to do the laundry.
  • When there are only 5 items of makeup, it’s easier to keep the bathroom counter clean.
  • When there are only 2 bottles of hair products in the bathroom, it’s easier to clean the shower and tub.
  • When the kids only have a small bin of toys, it’s easier to pick them up.

This applies to every area of the home.

I know when I title an article “stupid-easy house cleaning,” some people will think I will talk about hacks that make cleaning easier.

And I am – it’s just not about what product to use or what vacuum makes it faster; no, it’s the ultimate cleaning hack: If you want cleaning to be the easiest and fastest possible, get rid of as much stuff as possible.

The less stuff you own, the less you have to clean.

Minimalism, to me, isn’t about the aesthetic; it’s about making my everyday life easier.

I want to have a clean home.

I want a home that welcomes visitors, which I’m not embarrassed about.

And I can have that because I don’t have as much stuff.

If you want to join me in decluttering a LOT of stuff, I have a free download – a challenge to get rid of the same amount of stuff as the year we’re in, so this year, the challenge is to get rid of 2023 things.

People will think I will be talking about hacks to make cleaning easier. And I am - it’s just not about what product to use, instead, this is the ULTIMATE hack!

About Rachel Jones

Hi there! I’m Rachel Jones, and I founded Nourishing Minimalism in 2012 at the beginning of my minimalist journey. If you're looking for encouragement in your journey, I created a FREE Facebook Group - feel free to join me there: Nourishing Minimalism Facebook Group and I share videos each week on YouTube

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