New Years Organizing: Speed Cleaning Your Home (And Keeping it Clean!)

As thrifters, resellers, and crafters life is a never-ending cycle of diabolical messes and frantic cleaning. Destroy. Clean. Destroy. Clean. Rinse, Repeat. After doing this for years I've mastered the art of speed cleaning. And I mean really cleaning- not just my half-assed toss the mess in the closet trick. But I do recommend designating one closet your "junk closet" for emergencies. It's handy!

In the middle of an overly ambitious book purge. Tea was needed. Lots of tea!

1. Tackle the counter clutter

Quickly toss anything littering your counters into a box. If you have time, sort these items into their proper places. If not, set the box aside to sort later.

2. Dusting and Polishing

Dust and polish your freshly cleared counters. Dust the items you've decided to keep on display. Here's where you'll wash any dishes and scrub toilets or tubs as needed, too.

3. Sweep, Vacuum, Mop

Shake out your rugs, sweep your hardwood or tile floors, and vacuum  where necessary. Once all that's done, mop the whole house.

Now that you've speed cleaned your home, it's time to maintain:

4. Perfect Your Entryway or Mudroom

Keep a basket by the front door to deposit your shoes upon entering. Perhaps keep a little catch-all (like a pretty vintage plate) where you can drop keys and pocket change.

5. Get in the maintenance cleaning habit

Put things away as soon as you're done with them, clean messes as soon as you make them. Do this and there will never be a pile of dishes in the sink or craft messes all over the tables.

6. Clean between projects when you're home

Getting tired of tagging merchandise, editing a blog post, or checking e-mail? Take a break and organize one small section of the home, dust, or tackle the dishes.

 What my pad ends up looking like in the middle of an ambitious purge. Aaaah! Kill it with fire!

7. Maybe you need less stuff...

Less stuff means less cleaning, so donate and sell away!  See: Thrifter's Decluttering Guide: Sell Your Trash for Cash. Be careful with what you bring home at the thrifts after your home purge.

8. Schedule Your Cleaning 

This year I'm going to mop and dust every Tuesday and Friday. Schedule deep cleaning every few months where you'll clean windows, dust ceiling fans, dust floor boards, and really scrub down the pad.

9.  Never try to organize everything all at once

Take everything out of your drawers and closets at once and you'll burn out. Your home will stay messy for weeks on end. Instead, organize your house one box and section at a time.

These two boxes contain sewing and craft supplies I use frequently. 

10. Keep frequently used items accessible.

My drawers and cabinets only contain the items I use daily. Less frequently used items are stored out of the way. I like to use vintage baskets and suitcases to store frequently used supplies, too.

Using these methods I can always thoroughly clean the house after a busy day of destroying it! So play some fast-paced music and give your house a quickie. You'll both be spent and satisfied. Oh yes.

Want more cleaning help and inspiration? Last year I wrote a detailed series on organizing:

• Thrifter's Decluttering Guide: Learn the Rules 
• Thrifter's Decluttering Guide: Tackle the Surface 
• Thrifter's Decluttering Guide: Closets, Cabinets, and Junk Drawers 
• Thrifter's Decluttering Guide: Sell Your Trash for Cash

What are your cleaning and organizing tips? Do share in the comments, let's continue to inspire each other! We won't be magical completely organized people overnight. Let's keep that "junk closet" available in the meantime...

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