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My Best Tips for a Clean Home
There are seasons when keeping the house tidy just feels harder — when energy is low, we’re inside more, and messes build up quietly without us really noticing. For me, that’s often winter.
The first habit I’m going to share today isn’t about cleaning more — it’s about cleaning differently. And it changed everything for me.
Most days here, it’s just two or three of us, plus a bunch of pets. We have a very full, creative life. We’re working, making, building, and ideas tend to spread out as they happen.
When you live that way, messes don’t arrive all at once. They build slowly, until one day the house just feels… heavy and too full.
And I have to be honest with you right up front: I am not a naturally tidy person. I never have been.
I’ve been a maker my entire life — building businesses, writing books, creating with my hands — in spaces that are meant to be used, not preserved.
So instead of trying to become someone I’m not, I’ve had to build small, repeatable habits that keep our home feeling calm and manageable for MOST of the time, not ALL the time — not perfect, but livable.
Today I want to share eight of those habits with you. They’re simple and realistic. And by the end of this video, my hope is that you’ll have at least one you can use tonight to make your home feel calmer before bed.
TIP #1 — RESET POINTS, NOT ROOMS
This first habit has changed everything for me — and once I understood this, it meant keeping the house tidy much more manageable.
I stopped trying to clean entire rooms. Instead, I started focusing on just a few reset points.
For a long time, I thought cleaning meant finishing something.
Cleaning the whole kitchen.
Tidying the whole bedroom.
Straightening the entire living room.
And when I didn’t have time or energy to do all of that, I felt like there was no point in starting.
What I’ve learned is that most rooms only have one or two places that really matter.
When those are reset, the whole room feels better — even if everything else isn’t perfect.
In the kitchen, it might be the sink or the main counter.
In the bedroom, it’s usually the bed.
In the living room, it could be the couch or the place where things tend to pile up.
When those few spots are clear and usable, the house feels calmer — even if there are still projects out, or laundry waiting, or something that hasn’t been put away yet.
This has been especially helpful for me as a creative person.
There will almost always be something in progress here. And that’s okay.
The goal isn’t to make everything disappear. It’s just to bring things back to a place where the house feels livable again.
Once I started thinking this way, I realized I didn’t need big blocks of time or a lot of energy.
I just needed to reset a few key places, often.
All of the habits I’m sharing today fit into that idea.
They’re small resets, done regularly, so things never get to the point where they feel overwhelming.
TIP #2 – MAKE THE BED
My next tidy tip is a simple one, but it makes a big difference.
Start the day by making your bed.
Not perfectly. Just enough.
Most days that means pulling up the covers and straightening things a bit before moving on.
When the bed is made, the whole room feels calmer. It sets the tone for the day.
And because the bed is one of those reset points, when it’s done, the rest of the room feels easier to manage — even if there are clothes on a chair or something waiting to be put away.
It also means that at the end of the day, no matter how messy things felt, there’s a clean, ready place to sleep.
It’s a small habit, but it gives a lot back.
TIP #3 — DO THE DISHES EVERY NIGHT
My next habit for maintaining a clean home is one that has made a huge difference for us – we tidy the kitchen every night before bed. And that really just means doing the dishes and wiping down surfaces.
So we’re not cleaning the kitchen deeply or perfectly. Just resetting it.
At the end of the day, we load the dishwasher, wipe the counters, and clear the sink.
That’s it.
And even when I just feel really tired, I still do it because I want to get to relax or sleep faster, so it just motivates me more.
Because we do it every night, the mess never gets big. It never turns into something we avoid.
And in the morning, when you walk into a clean kitchen, the whole day feels easier.
You’re not dealing with yesterday’s dishes. You’re not starting behind.
Even on nights when energy is low, I remind myself that five minutes is enough.
It’s not about having a beautiful kitchen. It’s about making tomorrow easier.
TIP #4 — ONE LOAD OF LAUNDRY A DAY
My next habit for a tidy home is all about laundry, because it used to really pile up for me.
I’d wait too long, and then suddenly it felt like an entire day was gone to washing and folding.
What works much better for me is doing one small load every day.
Usually it’s just the clothes we wore that day.
I use a fast 15-minute wash cycle to save water and electricity, and start it in the evening, then make sure to put it in the dryer before I go to bed. By morning, everything is clean and ready.
I keep towels and linens in a separate basket so they can be washed when needed with other things that need a deep clean on a regular cycle.
This keeps laundry from ever turning into a big project.
It just becomes part of the daily rhythm.
This was the point where I realized I didn’t need to clean more — I just needed to stop letting things pile up.
TIP #5 — FULL HANDS
This next habit is one of the easiest to build.
Whenever I leave a room, I take something with me that doesn’t belong there.
An empty mug. A sweater. A piece of mail. A supply or tool.
I put it where it belongs as I go.
That way, there’s no special cleaning time. No big effort.
Just small things being put back in place throughout the day.
And over time, it really adds up.
To help me remember to do this, I tell myself to keep my hands full – so when I am ready to leave a room, I try to fill my hands with something I can take out with me. This habit helps me stay on top of things and prevents them from becoming overwhelming.
TIP #6 — A DAILY QUICK TIDY
My next habit is that, about once a day, I spend about ten or fifteen minutes tidying.
Sometimes it’s the whole house. Sometimes it’s just one room.
I clear surfaces, put things back where they belong, and reset the space.
I’m not trying to finish everything.
I’m just trying to bring things back to working order.
It helps if I set myself a timer and just work for the 15 minutes, and that’s it. I mean, I can handle 15 minutes, even when I’m tired.
Some days that may just mean clearing my desk and putting the pillows back — and that’s enough.
Doing this keeps messes from ever getting to that overwhelming point.
TIP #7 — USE TOOLS THAT HELP
One habit that’s made a big difference for us is being willing to use tools that make everyday cleaning easier.
Over time, I’ve learned that the right tools don’t replace good habits — they support them.
One example is our robot vacuum.
It doesn’t deep clean the house, and it doesn’t replace sweeping altogether.
But it keeps dust and pet hair from building up, especially in the rooms we use the most.
When it runs regularly, the floors never get to that point where they feel gritty or overwhelming.
And that makes the whole house feel cleaner, even on busy days.
Another small thing that helps a lot is a stovetop insert, called a StoveGuard.
It sits over the burners and catches spills and splatters, so cleaning the stove at the end of the day is much quicker.
Instead of scrubbing around burners, I can just wipe it down or lift it out to clean it properly when needed.
It turns a job I used to put off into something that only takes a minute.
And in the laundry room, having a folding wall-mounted drying rack has been incredibly helpful.
It gives me a place to hang things to dry without taking over chairs or doorways.
It also helps clothes last longer and saves on electricity, which is always a bonus.
None of these tools are about doing more.
They’re about removing small points of friction so it’s easier to stay consistent.
And when cleaning feels easier, it’s much more likely to actually happen.
TIP #8 — MAKE CLEANING MORE ENJOYABLE
My last habit for a clean home — and I can’t believe I waited until the end for this one, because it’s probably one of the best – and it is to distract yourself when you have to do the hard stuff… like deep cleaning.
Because, yes, deep cleaning still has to happen from time to time.
So we put on a headset and listen to audiobooks or music while cleaning. Greg does this all the time and it really helps him get things done.
It gives your mind something to focus on while your hands are working.
It makes the time go faster, and it turns cleaning into something that feels almost fun and interesting. I like to listen to long science fiction books, such as “Hail Mary” by Andy Weir. Greg likes to listen to YouTube documentaries on almost any topic.
So find yourself a book you want to listen to, or just queue up videos on YouTube – long videos are the best – and lose yourself in the audio while you clean! It really works!
OUTRO
I want you to notice that none of these habits are about perfection.
They’re all about keeping the house from getting to a place where it feels overwhelming.
Small things, done often, make a big difference.
And if something slips — that’s okay.
You can always reset.
When things start to feel heavy, I don’t try to fix everything. I just reset one small place — and most of the time, that’s enough.
I hope these tips help you keep your home a little tidier,. Let me know which one you liked the best and think you might try out, because I always love to hear from you! And remember: perfection is never the goal.
Want to watch the video when it is done? Share your email below and I’ll message you!
Have a great day!
Love,
Jennifer