Is your house so messy and disgusting that it is completely difficult for you to manage it? Sometimes, our homes become a place that is cluttered, and apart from being a place of hygiene concern, it also poses a mental challenge. My House is a Disgusting Mess and I will make you cleaning expert.
Trust me, you are not alone when you say my house is a mess. Most likely it is due to a simple lack of time or busy schedule.
Having a busy schedule is easily the biggest and most common reason. Cleaning your home is easier said than done, and it requires a lot of motivation.
Why Is My House is so Messy and Cluttered Up?
Trying to answer the very common concern that pops in your mind that “Why does this situation arises in the first place”
Some people completely neglect their home when things become hectic and life changes, like an entire home renovation project.
The reason is simple, a life changing medical event and house renovation are so overwhelming that they completely drain your mental energy and motivation is the last thing on your mind.
In my case, it was postpartum depression.
Once I pulled myself together, I made it a point to tell my story, my journey, and the lessons I learned along the way.
Couples with two young children, like my husband and I, need to figure out efficient home management shortcuts to keep the house in order and maintain it like that.
I hope with all my heart something in this will be useful to you, because this is all that worked for us.
Where To Start Cleaning My House
Remember, you don’t need to focus on perfection or try to achieve a flawless result.
You need to get a start on cleaning your house or perhaps organize a closet, and you just feel like quitting. This is quite common; most people get overwhelmed or give up midway.
There’s a great mantra out there, and it goes something like: You can achieve a lot in just 5 minutes. A great example is when people only have five minutes to spare. While tidy only a small part of their area, they are efficient in decluttering smaller spaces.
Let’s start with the big and easy things that can be done fast.
In most homes that need cleaning, there’s usually lots of clutter that can be tossed out. My strategy is to focus on the decluttering the most, so you dramatically compress the time that needs to be spent cleaning. To start, grab a trash bag, set a timer for fifteen minutes, and you`d be surprised at the mess that can be picked up in a short amount of time.
Go from one room to the next in a circle collecting all the trash.
Spend 15 minutes working on one room. In this room many things go unused. Go through the room and throw everything away if you haven’t used it in a long time.
Once the garbage bag is full, tie it and put it on the door.
In 15 minutes, you will be surprised how much garbage you can collect.
Next step, decluttering. In no-nonsense way
How to Clean a Messy House In One Day
This method works best and fastest if you need the house to clean in the least time possible.
It may sound strange, but it is effective!
I now want you to grab a box, a marker, and choose a room.
Stick with me, this is where it gets amazing and you will begin to see the difference right away.
Go to the most cluttered room in your home, set a timer for fifteen minutes, and begin to put away everything that does not get used on a daily or weekly basis into a box.
Sentimental items that you will not part with but clutter your living space are also fair game.
Label your box so you can find everything later.
The clutter can finally be removed this time around.
Listen to me:
You can decide to spend hours going through every single piece of clothing you own, choosing whether to keep it or donate it, and somewhere along the way you will get demotivated and quit after a while.
You’ve done it and I’m willing to bet a house on the fact that it was not a one time thing either.
We are going to see real change. That’s what progress will be.
Progress equals motivation. Motivation leads to lasting results.
Overcoming the clutter challenge starts with your biggest advantage: getting rid of the packing boxes haphazardly placed around the house.
As you slowly put those boxes away, the clutter upstairs gives you a hint of what the next challenge is and what you need to put your focus on.
The “ah ha!” moment comes when you’ve built a streak of winning that first challenge and now you can take on the next.
My House Is Messy What Do I Start?
The pain area, after some self-introspection, suggests two critical questions to self: Do I really need to address this? And, Do I even have that kind of energy?
The steps I took after those questions were, focus on the house more, and make sure that the cleanup routine was friend and not foe.
Instead of actually hating the two work based reforms, I try to love to implement them.
This includes buying a cheap vacuum cleaner, not spent on the model, for the upstairs.
It’s been life-changing for me – such a simple thing as getting a budget vacuum for each level of the house.
How to Finally Declutter
Our aim here is to completely declutter your whole house from top to bottom.
Bonus points if you actually decide to toss some of the stuff, but that’s not what I’m asking you to do.
Your objective here is to work swiftly through each room, putting everything you do not use on a daily basis into a box.
Using an item once a year is not frequent enough to call it regular use. Box it up!
I know what you’re thinking. You don’t have space in your house, garage, closet, or attic for extra boxes.
Does your house have space for all the extra stuff you don’t use regularly?
For people who are overwhelmed by the clutter, the answer is likely no.
Personally, I prefer that you have a few boxes in the corner instead of having your stuff scattered all over the house.
Seeing clutter damages your enjoyment at home and creates stress, and your cluttered home sure isn’t a place to unwind, relax, and enjoy yourself.
A home is meant to be a safe haven filled with joy, peace, and harmony, so do me a favor and quit arguing and start packing that clutter up.
How to clean your kitchen in seconds
The Fastest Way to Clean Dishes
If dirty dishes piling up, and the sink overflowing is what is preventing you from getting your house in order, then I want you to do the most outrageous thing ever.
You heard me right.
Throw your dishes away.
While my suggestion is we can buy more later and eat off of paper plates and Styrofoam in the meantime.
You may have caught on already, but my aim isn’t to be your eco-friendly, budget-loving, or hand-holding friend to help you out.
My aim is to help you and your family reach a stage where your house can be a home that is fully enjoyable.
Put the guilt away, grab all the dirty dishes, silverware, and the rest into a box and store it in the garage, or better yet, place it outside.
The only rule is that they must be thrown in the dumpster or dump today.
Before buying more dishes, think about how many you truly need. Or, if you do clean the ones you have, rethink how many you need.
In my case, it’s just my husband, two kids, and I. We minimized it to five forks, five plates, and five bowls. The rest I packed away in boxes.
This approach was key in tackling my never-ending pile of dirty dishes and a chaotic kitchen.
Now, assuming you’ve packed everything away and it’s beautifully labeled boxes in the corner, you can move to the next step.
The Fastest Way to Do Laundry
If you’re still buried under heaps of laundry, I have a quick strategy for you.
Grab a timer and set it to 25 minutes. We have a little under half an hour to get everything done.
This strategy comes down to keeping the clothes you want to keep, and getting rid of the clothes you don’t want to keep – and doing it fast.
If the clothes happen to be dirty, it’s because you have worn them recently. So, most likely, you’d want to keep them. less time.
Let’s take a different approach.
Think about the clothes you own. How many of them do you truly need? Which clothes do you wear often and feel good in?
If any of your clothes no longer fit and you’re holding onto them in the hopes of wearing them in the future or hoping they come back in style, you should do yourself a favor and get rid of them.
You want to keep the clothes you truly wish to wear and with the clothes that no longer fit you, a separate pile can be created.
You can decide to either throw the clothes in the separate pile away or, if you still see some life left in those clothes, a better option would be to wash them and keep them in a trunk in your car to be donated.
All that is left is clothes that can be washed and put away.
Washing and organizing clothes should encourage everyone to keep the volume to a minimum.
By keeping the volume of the clothes down, your laundry will be a lot easier to manage and will save you the hassle of getting back to the volume of laundry you need to do at a later time.
Organize Paper Clutter
Now that the clothes have been organized, we can move on to the paper clutter.
As always, the timer is set to 25 minutes, although I highly doubt you will take that long.
Compile every out-of-place document that you can find; now, start combing through them to find the few that are actually needed.
When it comes to important papers that actually must be organized, paying bills comes to mind.
Place them on your fridge as reminders. Everything else can be set aside while we sort the rest of the house out.
With this approach, paper clutter is out of sight, and we are no longer bombarded with random papers. Everything is contained and organized, so we can access any item we’re searching for with ease.
You can regain control of your house in an hour and 15 minutes.
Next, we will move on to removing the grossness; it is never pleasant to live in a gross house.
Most of the unpleasant areas of the house can be tackled in just another hour. With this approach, the house will be back to a pleasant state.
Speed Cleaning – Step-by-Step process
Who’s motivated to clean when the work spent hardly makes a difference.
No one truly enjoys cleaning, especially when the work put in seems unappreciated.
However, once you start to pack the items that you don’t need into boxes, your work is already halfway done.
It is all about cleaning the gross stuff now.
As a parent, I am all too familiar with the feeling of a constant sticky layer of mess, with three toddlers, the never-ending laundry, and discovering unending amounts of spaghetti sauce in the most unexpected of places.
We are all in this together, and I am excited to clean with you.
How to Clean a Messy House Step by Step
Here’s what has worked for me.
Cleaning Flat Surfaces
Tackling all the flat surfaces such as tables, kitchen and bathroom counters, the coffee tables, etc.
Using a vinegar solution, wipe down each flat surface you have. To tackle every surface, I use a mix of one part vinegar and one part water, reserving vinegar use for granite surfaces. I use a spray bottle and microfiber cloth.
Perhaps you’ve noticed a pattern here, but I’d be setting a timer for each room. Trying to play beat the clock seriously revs my motivation up to 10 and helps me get sh*t done!
We’re shooting for 5-10 minutes per room. And don’t forget, perfection is not the aim!
Floors
We’re moving on to sprinkling some baking soda on the carpets. But don’t forget, we have to wait for 30 minutes.
While that’s sitting, vacuum all of your linoleum, tile, and hardwood floors. I have a favorite vacuum for under $50 that you might be interested in!
Next, you can Swiffer, mop, or whatever your preferred option is to all your solid surface floors.
Finally, remember those carpeted rooms? It’s time to vacuum the baking soda we left sitting.
Bathrooms
This is the part of the house we all dread the most. But don’t you worry, it’s only 15-minute solution.
Buy a toilet wand, you’ll thank me later.
Now for the most satisfying step, flush the toilet. And while it’s refilling, spray the exterior with your 50/50 vinegar and water solution.
Come to the shower and spray it with the same mixture.
Return to the toilet and, with a different color microfiber cloth, wipe the toilet’s exterior, the rim, and any other areas that require attention. We are trying to be less gross, and using the same rags in the kitchen and bathroom is just… gross.
Don’t forget the handle. Points of contact are the “grossest.”
Now, repeat this in the shower. A dollar store squeegee works wonders on glass doors, and that’s all there is to it.
After the first time going through this process, it is impossible not to appreciate the fact that it can be this simple moving forward.
How to Keep Your House Clean
Now, it is time to shift focus to managing daily tasks that lead to maintaining a clutter-free home, motivating us to tackle those endless tasks that, once completed, faacilitate maintaining ultimate control:
- Place a basket at the bottom and top of the stairs intended for possessions that belong on the other floor. Functional and stylish, these are perfect for what we are trying to achieve.
- Make Sure There is a Vacuum on Every Floor. You may be concerned about clutter at the moment, but if you have a cheap stick vacuum on the second floor, that area gets cleaned much more often!
- Remove All Duplicates. You can easily start in the kitchen. If you have two of something, choose one to keep and get rid of the other.
- Most of Your Dishes Should be Put Away. For every family member, allow one meal’s worth of dishes. I can’t stress how crucial this is in controlling dishes. Piled up dishes in the sink are nonexistent.
- Do Not Fold Your Kids Laundered Clothes. Neither do we. Instead, we purchased a cheap shelving unit that we used two cubbies for each kid, one for bottoms and one for tops. Kids’ clothes are put away, and they even put away their clothes, even the two-year-old!
Messy House Depression
With a messy house, the likelihood of feeling depressed certainly and having postpartum depression magnifies, doesn’t it?
I would say the absolute peak of our house’s mess would coincide with postpartum depression.
If you believe you are going through depression and that everything around you is crumbling to pieces, let me tell you, “IT WILL GET BETTER!”
But you do have to do the work to achieve that.
For me, that meant going to my physician’s office and getting a prescription for antidepressants, even though I personally prefer more natural forms of treatment.
I understood that this was more complex than me, and no diet changes or supplements I could make would help.
In the meantime, ask for help wherever you can get it, and be bold enough to admit your space is a complete disaster. If someone is ready to assist you in restoring order to your living space, then allow them to help.
Your home should not increase your chances of being stressed or depressed.
Seeking the aid of a qualified expert is very important to remember, especially with the knowledge that many people suffer from anxiety and depression so there is no shame in getting help.
You can do it!