When You Are Overwhelmed by Your Messy House, Do This.

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Are you overwhelmed by your messy house? I think we have all been there. We look around at our homes and wonder, “How did it get this way?! I don’t even know where to start!”

When I was sick during the first part of my pregnancy, our family was simply in survival mode. I didn’t do one thing in our home.

Needless to say, my home was a complete mess for many weeks. If anyone came over, I was super embarrassed by my messy house!

The laundry and dishes were piled high. There was trash on the countertops. The floors were a mess. There was clutter everywhere.

When I finally did feel well enough to get my home back in order, it felt overwhelming to even think about cleaning my messy house, and I wasn’t motivated to clean. Instead of just giving up though, I slowly started getting my home back in order.

If you feel overwhelmed with your messy house too, here are a few suggestions of where to start.

How to Get Motivated to Clean a Messy House

Take care of yourself first.

Get dressed, wash your face, and drink some water.  When you feel better about yourself, you’ll be more motivated to clean your home!

Visualize your clean home before you start.

The ending result of all your hard work will be a clean home! So look at your mess and then make a mental picture of what your home will look and feel like when the mess is cleaned.

Work in shifts.

You don’t have to tackle your house all at once. Pick one place to start and clean until you run out of physical or mental energy. Then pick up where you left off the next day.

Ask for help.

If you are feeling too overwhelmed to do it yourself, ask a friend or family member to help. When I was getting over being sick, I didn’t have all my strength. Thankfully, some family members helped me get caught up on the dishes.

Where to Start Cleaning a Messy House:

1. Gather the laundry.

Gather all the dirty clothes you can find, and start a load of laundry. Your family needs clean clothes to wear, and this is an easy task that will get you going in the right direction.

Set a reminder on your phone to transfer the clothes to the dryer, so that you don’t forget and leave them in the washing machine over night. I know I’m not the only one who has done that! 😉

If you feel overwhelmed by the piles of laundry, make it your goal to wash, dry, fold, and put away 1-2 loads each day. And only wash clothes that you family still wears. Clothes that no longer fit should leave your home. You can give these clothes away to people you know or donate them to charities.

One of the first things I do each morning is throw in a load of laundry and add it to the dryer mid morning. After lunch, I put the clothes away. This way the laundry doesn’t get out of control.

2. Clean the Kitchen.

Your kitchen is the heart of the home and used multiple times a day. So having a clean kitchen is a great place to start after you have the laundry going.

Gather all the dirty dishes you can find throughout your home. Fill up the dishwasher and start a load if you have one. Then hand wash the rest of the dirty dishes.

Once the dishes are done, find any trash that is sitting out and throw it away. If there are things on your countertop that don’t belong there, put them away. If your countertops and table are so full that it feels overwhelming, start with only one space or corner.

Work on that one area until it is clear. Then move on to another area of the kitchen. It may take time, but you will get it done little by little.

Once the counters and table are clear, wipe them down and sweep the floor. Your kitchen should be looking good now! In the future, you’ll want to follow an evening routine to make sure the kitchen is always cleaned up each night.

3. Clean the Living Room.

Are your couches covered in clutter? Start there.

• Put away clean laundry.
• Put away shoes, book bags, or toys.
• Throw away trash.
• Stack papers in a pile to go through later.

Move on to your side tables and coffee tables. Again throw away trash and put other things away.

Then move on to the floor. Once you have finished cleaning the mess in your living room, quickly wipe the dust off of surfaces with a dry microfiber cloth. Sweep or vacuum the floors.

*By this time, you may need to throw that load of laundry into the dryer. 🙂

Once you have done these things, your home will already feel much better and the chaos will start to settle down. You may need to take a break at this time and pick up the next day.

4. Clean the bathrooms.

You and your family use the bathroom on a daily basis so it’s an important place in your home to get clean.

Start by taking out any dirty laundry if you didn’t get it earlier. Then throw away trash and put away toiletries. Once those things are out of the way, you can clean the bathroom easier.

• Wipe down mirrors.
• Scrub sink and countertop.
• Scrub the toilet bowl and wipe down the outside of the toilet.
• Scrub the shower walls and tub.
• Sweep and mop the floor.

Once the bathroom is clean, all you have left are the bedrooms! You are well on your way to having a clean house!

5. Clean the bedrooms.

Decide which messy bedroom you will start in. I think the best place to start is your own room. That way you set an example to the others in your home.

So where do you even start cleaning a messy bedroom?

Start by clearing off and making the bed.

If your bed is full of clutter, start by clearing off whatever is there. Put clean laundry away in the closet or dresser. Dirty laundry goes in the laundry room. Throw trash away and put any other items where they belong.

When you have removed everything off the bed, you can now make it! Put on a clean fitted sheet, top sheet, and pillow case. Then add your comforter and any throw pillows. Having your bed made will motivate you to take the next step in cleaning your room.

Gather all clothes and shoes that are out of place.

Hang clean clothes in the closet or place them in dresser drawers. Place shoes in on a shoe rack or designated place in your closet. Put dirty clothes in the laundry room.

If you find that you don’t have room for your clothes, it’s probably time to declutter. This will take some time, but is an important step. Go through one type of clothing as a time. ie: shirts, pants, dresses, shoes.

Get rid of any clothes that:

• you don’t like wearing
• doesn’t fit
• is ruined beyond repair

Gather the rest of the clutter.

Start in one corner of your room and go through anything that does not belong. Carry a trash bag with you as you clean up the mess. You will find items that belong in different categories: trash, donate, put away, or stay.

As you come across trash, put it in your trash bag. If you are donating anything, put those items in a donation box. Everything else should be put where it belongs.

Once you finish one corner, move to another corner until you have cleaned the entire room! Once the room is done, wipe a dusting rag over all the surfaces and vacuum or sweep the floor.

If you need to clean out a child’s bedroom as well, you’ll want to follow the same steps: Start with the bed. Put away clothes and shoes. Then work from one corner to the others until you get through the whole room.

As you come across broken toys, throw them away. If your child has a hard time picking up their toys, he/she may have too many toys. This is a perfect time to declutter toys that don’t get played with very often.

At this point your home should be looking and feeling good! You did it!

If there are other messy areas throughout your home like the entryway, office, or dining room, use the same process you followed in the other spaces.

How to Clean a Messy Room:

1. Throw away trash.
2. Put clothes and shoes away.
3. Place items where they belong.
4. Dust surfaces.
5. Vacuum, sweep, or mop floors.

Before your home gets messy again, think about how you could prevent the mess from happening again.

Routines have helped my out tremendously. My simple routines keep my home from getting to the point where I feel overwhelmed with messes. I’m able to stay on top of the laundry, dishes, and daily clutter by following daily habits.

Here are some things you can do to prevent big messes in the future.

• Wash one load of laundry a day.
• Clean up the kitchen every night.
• Put belongings away when you are done using them.
• Throw away trash right away.

PIN IT TO REMEMBER!

 

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