How to Keep a Clean House With Kids (even when you’re tired!)

Let’s be real, keeping a house clean with kids feels like a BHAG (in the business world, we refer to these as Big Hairy Audacious Goals). It’s the kind of goal that scares the shit out of you. You may even feel slightly sick thinking about it.

But, alas, with any goal, all you need is a plan. Sounds simple and I know you’re going to hate me for saying this over and over, but it’s true. If it’s important to you, put it on your calendar and #dothedamnthing. 

According to a 2019 study by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Women spend on average, about 21 hours a week on household duties. Men, on average, spend about 17. Although an improvement from years ago, it still shows that women are leading the pack and need some help juggling all the things.

The below hacks will set you up for success, but if you don’t actually implement them and take action, nothing is going to change. Sorry for the reality check, but it’s true. 

I’m here to give you realistic and actionable organization and productivity hacks to make your life easier, eventually. It will feel like work in the beginning and it will be an adjustment, but over time, it will become habit and you’ll be on auto-pilot getting all the things done.

Now, let’s dive right in and talk about some hacks you can start tomorrow to keep a clean house with kids!

1. Redefine What Clean Means to You

You’re a mom now which means your definition of clean just got severely downgraded. Your floors are no longer clean enough to eat from, they’re now permanently dusted with a layer of crushed up cheez-its. 

Believe me, this was the hardest thing for me to accept when I became a mom. Although my standards are still high if you ask my friends and family, I’ve definitely lowered my expectations. Otherwise I’d go crazy.

It’s not easy to do, but I’ve realized that perfectly clean floors don’t make me happy, spending time with my family does. So, instead of cleaning the floors every day, it’s now weekly and the hubby helps. So, I also have to be happy with how he does them and get over the fact that it’s not how I would do it. 

Done is better than perfect. 

2. Declutter the Clutter

You May Also Like:

14 of the Most Common Decluttering Mistakes & How to Avoid Them (no one talks about #1)!
Quick & Easy 10 Minute Decluttering Tasks To Transform Your Home

Ok, mama, be honest with yourself…how much crap do you have in your house that you barely use let alone look at on a daily basis?

This is the number one thing you need to do before you can keep a clean house with or without kids.

This was a major quarantine project I took on and it’s done wonders! I even made money doing it!

I went room by room and I literally took one thing at a time and decided if we really needed it. If it was broken, outworn, on its last leg or it simply didn’t “bring me joy”, I put it in a pile. 

Now, don’t do every single room in one day, you’ll overwhelm yourself quickly. Plus, you need to actually get it out of your house (the garage doesn’t count). Otherwise we’re just shuffling the mess and it will never go away. 

After you have a pile from one room (or even one area of a room like your closet in the master bedroom), decide if you want to donate the items or sell them. 

Facebook Marketplace has been a dream! You can post your items to sell and do porch pickup for locals in your area. There’s no shipping required! They can PayPayl or Venmo you or leave cash under your front mat. You don’t even need to be there when they pick up, it’s great! I highly recommend looking into it.

If you have higher end items like brand name sunglasses, clothing, purses, etc., then I recommend trying Mercari or Poshmark. I prefer Mercari because you have a little more control of how the item is listed, but both are great. You will need to ship so there’s a downfall there.

Once you’ve decluttered, then you can move on to a routine for cleaning that will actually work. 

3. One in, One Out

Once you’ve decluttered, how do you keep your house from accumulating stuff again?

I recommend having a decluttering schedule (once a month go back through a room) or have a rule that if one thing comes in, one thing goes out. This works well for buying clothes. If you buy a pair of pants, sell or donate one item. This ensures you don’t re-clutter your home. 

I also highly suggest that right before the holidays you have your kids do a major de-clutter so you’re not adding to the ever-growing toy pile. 

Encourage them to get rid of any toys or books they’re done with so other kids who are less fortunate can also enjoy Christmas. Get them involved and teach them a lesson of giving. 

4. The Basket Method

Hand held laundry baskets are a great tool that most of us have laying around. Do the quick pickup basket method and each night before bed or before guests come over, run through the house throwing everything that doesn’t belong on the floor into the basket. 

If you’re super tired, set the basket aside and put everything away the next day. Don’t go longer than a day otherwise, you’ve just created a new clutter pile. Otherwise, put everything away in its home, room by room. 

5. Don’t Leave a Room Without Something

If you walk into the bathroom and there’s a random toy behind the toilet, don’t be lazy and leave it there, pick it up and put it away. Doing it now, means you don’t have to do it later.

If you make a habit of always leaving a room with something to be put away, you’re cleaning over a longer span of time rather than doing it all at once and getting overwhelmed.

6. Have a Morning Routine

If you want to keep a clean house with kids, this is what I call a Must Do! 

Wake up earlier than everyone else even if it’s 15 minutes and add a cleaning schedule into your routine. 15 uninterrupted minutes is more like 30 in the real-kid infested world. 

You won’t get interrupted because someone needs a snack. You can be way more efficient. 

For a killer morning routine and for details on my specific morning routine, check out the post that covers it. There’s also a night time and morning routine checklist for you. 

7. Rotate Toys for the Kids

This is genius. If your kids have an insane amount of toys, then this is for you. 

Keep a basket of toys hidden in the garage and every 2-3 months, rotate some toys into their room while taking others out to hide in the garage for a while. 

The kids think they have new toys, there’s less toys in the house to make a mess and you don’t have to buy new toys as often!

This hack will save you time and money!

8. Baskets in Every Room

Best thing I bought for Xander’s room before he was born was a toy basket (LINK). It’s large enough to store some pretty hefty toys and the smaller ones at the bottom. 

I can keep it in the corner of his room and just throw everything in there at the end of the day not caring what it looks like. 

Baskets around the house are great too. 

You can use baskets for the living room, toy rooms, kids rooms, for shoes, blankets, etc. They look good while serving a purpose and make your life easier.

9. Everything Has a Place

If everything has a place, there’s no question about where it belongs. Your brain doesn’t have to think and it just takes the mental piece out of it. 

If something doesn’t have a place, it either needs one or it needs to be tossed. 

This is huge in our house. The hubby is always asking what I did with something of his and my response is that I always put it in the same place. 

I specifically cleared out a sitting bench in the front of our bed because he would leave all of his sports and PT gear on the floors (he’s a physical therapist). Now, all of it goes in that one place. 

Since then, he’s never questioned where I put those items and now, I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to hide them each time I pick up.

10. Do Your Kids have Daily Chores?

Chores don’t have to be boring or involve yelling. Turn on some jams with the kids and have everyone spend 15 minutes doing their chores while dancing. 

Having help is so important; moms just can’t keep a clean house by themselves. 

Nora had her first chores at two years old and she still does them now. She has morning and evening chores. 

11. Have a Cleaning Schedule

Even if you can only clean a little each day, it’s better than being overwhelmed by a dirty and messy house and feeling like it will never be clean again. 

Create a cleaning schedule that includes daily items that need to be done each day and items that can rotate through the week. Be sure to include each room of the house and laundry in the cleaning schedule.

The key to this is consistency and daily commitment.

12. Use a Timer

Timers help motivate you and acts as a trigger to your brain that your racing against the clock. It’s also a nice reminder that the task won’t last forever.

Timers work great when getting the kids involved as well. If they know they only have 5 minutes to clean their room and they’ll get to tv time or a snack faster, it can motivate them.

13. Have Daily Must Dos

There are certain things I clean every single day to keep a clean house. 

Each morning I get ready for work, I wipe down the bathroom counter and sink. I make sure there are no dishes in the sink each night, the counters are wiped down, the floors are picked up and the kitchen floors are swept. 

These are non-negotiables for me. I may be super tired some nights, but I still get it done. The hubby pretty much always cooks dinner and helps get the kids ready for bed so my task are these daily cleaning items. 

These don’t have to take long and don’t need to be hard, but it helps to know that every single day you’ll be doing something that keeps the house clean. 

14. Invest in Good Products

Our Dyson vacuum was the best investment we’ve ever made when it comes to cleaning. We used to have this clunky, upright that was probably $30 and it was awful. Sure, it lasted a year, but after that, it barely did anything but turn on. 

I’m pretty sure it actually blew dust out everywhere. 

The Dyson is so lightweight that it’s easy to walk around with and doesn’t hurt your back.

We also have the Roomba vacuum and it turns on twice a week in the early morning when no one is awake. It picks up anything we’ve missed throughout the week and goes in all the rooms we don’t vacuum daily. 

High quality cleaning products are also something you wouldn’t always think about, but they can definitely make your life easier. For example, use actual window cleaner for windows, not an all purpose cleaner that can leave streaks.

When you have the proper tools and products to get the job done, it’s a lot easier and can be done quicker.

15. Get Rid of Knick-Knacks, Get Rid of Dust

This is one of the easiest ways to keep a clean house…get rid of those knick-knacks. All they do is collect dust. Unless they’re in some fancy glass case that can be dusted easily, they’re a nightmare to clean. You’d literally have to individually clean each one. 

Now, if you’re going for that au-naturale Halloween spider web look, then by all means, keep them. But if you hate dusting, these are the worst things you could have. 

A simple, clean look is automatically going to make things dust free and easy to clean. 

16. Use Visuals

If visuals help you or the kids know where things go, add some laminated pictures to areas in the closet, pantry, etc. 

It doesn’t need to be complicated, but if your kid can’t read yet and they want to help put things away, pictures are a great alternative to keeping things organized. 

17. Use TV/Screen Time to Your Advantage

I am a firm believer that too much screen time is no bueno for the kiddos, but if it means 30 minutes of silence and no messes while I’m cleaning, I’m all for it. 

I make sure to align the time I want to clean with when Nora gets TV time and when the baby is napping so both kids are occupied and I can focus my energy on cleaning. 

Usually the interruptions are limited (I prepare and give Nora a snack) so I can get things done quickly by using timers for each cleaning task. 

Keeping a Clean House with Kids Isn’t Easy, but it Can be Done

To recap, here are the tips we covered to keep a clean house with kids:

1. Lower your expectations of what “clean” means to you and learn to adjust accordingly.
2. First declutter every room in the house; get rid of things you don’t use.
3. If something new comes into your home, remove something else.
4. Use a laundry basket for a quick pickup around the house.
5. Never leave a room without something in your hand if it doesn’t belong.
6. Follow a morning routine that includes some light cleaning when no one else is awake.
7. Use a toy rotation system so kids feel like they have new toys and there’s less clutter.
8. Use baskets in every room for quick cleaning and hiding of items.
9. Make sure everything has a place to cut down on the time it takes to clean.
10. Involve your kids by giving them some chores.
11. Have a routine cleaning schedule in place and make it a habit to follow it each week.
12. Use a timer to get things done quickly.
13. Have a list of “Must Dos” that need to be done on a daily basis. Never go to bed without those items done.
14. Invest in good quality cleaning tools and products.
15. Limit the number of “knick-knacks” you have in your home.
16. Use visual tools to help keep track of where things go, especially if kids are helping.
17. Clean when your kids are busy with other things such as naps or tv time.

You May Also Like:

11 Steps to Decluttering When You Don’t Know Where to Start
How to Build an Effective Family Command Center
How to Clean Your Home with Zone Cleaning
13 Unique Must-Have Organizational Tools for Your Home

Articles Related to How to Keep a Clean House With Kids