If the washing basket somehow refills itself overnight and there’s always something waiting to be put away, this 51-year-old-Mum’s admission might sound very familiar.
After years of feeling like she simply couldn’t keep on top of her home, this 51-year-old mum has finally found something that works. And no, it isn’t a fancy cleaning gadget, a colour-coded organisation system, or spending your entire Sunday scrubbing. It comes down to seven surprisingly simple habits for a clutter free home.
She Admits Her House Had Always Been Messy
The 51-year-old mum recently became an empty nester and shared her experience in an online cleaning community. With her kids now grown, she found herself facing something many mums probably recognise: after years of raising children and simply keeping family life moving, maintaining the house had never quite clicked.
She admitted her home had been messy throughout her life – not disaster-level messy, but enough that an unexpected visitor would have caused some serious embarrassment. When her children were younger, the family even had a housekeeper because keeping up with everything felt impossible.
Then came her empty-nest years and a rather confronting thought: she realised she had never really learned how to keep a house tidy.
Honestly? We suspect plenty of mums could relate.
Her turning point came partly from reading Unf*ck Your Habitat: You’re Better Than Your Mess. Instead of adopting an enormous cleaning schedule, however, she started changing the little things she did every day.
7 Simple Daily Tips for a Clutter Free Home
1. Put It Away, Don’t Just Put It Down
The first part of this Empty-Nester Mum’s Realisation sounds ridiculously simple: put things away rather than putting them down.
But think about it, mums. How often does the handbag land on a chair, the mail get dumped on the kitchen bench, or clothes find their way onto that infamous bedroom chair? Instead, when she finishes using something, she puts it back where it belongs. Tiny action. Surprisingly big difference.
2. Finish One Load of Washing Every Day
Ah, Mount Washmore. We know her well. Rather than allowing laundry to become an overwhelming weekend project, she does one load every day from beginning to end.
That means wash, dry, fold, and put away. Clothes don’t get dumped on chairs or floors either. They go straight into the hamper or back into the wardrobe. She also makes her bed every morning. It only takes a few minutes, but returning to a tidy bedroom later in the day gives her another little sense of order.
3. Give Busy Rooms a Quick Daily Once-Over
Instead of waiting until the bathroom needs a serious scrub, she tackles the little messes as they appear.
She keeps cleaning cloths handy and quickly wipes the bathroom counter, mirror and toilet while putting stray items back where they belong. The idea isn’t to deep-clean the bathroom every day. It’s simply to stop today’s little mess from becoming Saturday’s enormous cleaning job.
4. Don’t Let the Dishes Take Over the Kitchen
You know how one coffee cup somehow becomes three plates, two bowls, six spoons and a saucepan? Her kitchen rule helps stop that domino effect.
When the dishwasher finishes, she empties it. That means dirty dishes have somewhere to go immediately, rather than piling up in the sink or across the kitchen bench.
It takes a few minutes now and potentially saves a much bigger job later. No dramatic Saturday cleaning marathon required.
5. Yes, Even the Shoes Have a Place
Now we’re getting serious, mums. She puts shoes away as soon as she enters the house. There’s no growing pile beside the front door waiting for someone to eventually deal with it.
Again, none of this is revolutionary on its own. And that’s actually what makes her approach so relatable. Her home isn’t staying tidy because she suddenly discovered a passion for cleaning. It’s staying manageable because dozens of tiny messes are being dealt with before they become one enormous mess.
6. The Five-Minute Rule Behind This Empty-Nester Mum’s Realisation
This one might be our favourite. If a cleaning job takes less than five minutes, she knocks it over while waiting for something else.
Kettle boiling? Wipe the bench.
Dinner has five minutes left in the oven? Put away whatever has mysteriously migrated onto the dining table. Waiting for the kids to find the shoes you asked them to put on 10 minutes ago? Well, there’s probably enough time to clean the entire kitchen.
Those little pockets of otherwise wasted time suddenly become useful without needing to declare, “Right, I’m cleaning the house today.”
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Ditch the Big ‘Cleaning Day’ Altogether
And here’s perhaps the most surprising trick of the lot. The 51-year-old says she doesn’t schedule cleaning days at all.
Her life can be unpredictable, and she enjoys travelling and heading out for the day, so a rigid cleaning schedule doesn’t suit her. Instead, she does small things consistently throughout the week. That’s the thread running through all seven tricks: don’t wait for everything to pile up before dealing with it.
Maybe Keeping House Isn’t About Doing More
There will always be seasons when the house is chaotic. Babies need cuddling, kids need collecting, dinner needs cooking, and sometimes the laundry absolutely can wait.
But this Empty-Nester Mum’s Realisation offers an interesting alternative to spending hours desperately “catching up”.
Maybe keeping a home manageable isn’t about becoming better at marathon cleaning sessions. Maybe it’s about preventing quite so much from reaching marathon status in the first place.
Put it away instead of down. Finish the washing. Empty the dishwasher. Use those spare five minutes. Seven little changes that don’t sound particularly life-changing on their own.
But if they can help you finally shake that exhausting feeling that you’re always behind on housework, we reckon this empty-nester mum might just be onto something
What to read next:
- Mum Shares Clever Decluttering Hack For Busy Mums and We’re For It!
- QUIZ: Find Your Organisational Style by Determining Which Cleaning Bug Are You?
- KonMari Who? 5 Real Mum Tips for Decluttering your House
