Practical Household Tips and Tricks for a Clean and Tidy Home

Staying clean and organized can be a job and a half!

Keeping up with everyday cleaning tasks is tough, and once you start drifting behind, you can really fall back on your household schedule.

Living Room or Media Room

This is a difficult spot in your house to keep clean because it’s so central. Clutter accumulates regularly from a lot of different sources.

These tips will help you get things back under control. For the best results, get everyone in your household onboard with your new cleaning and organizing tactics!

1. Clear the clutter first.

Especially if you have kids, all kinds of random items are going to pile up in the living room. Grab a laundry basket or a large plastic bin and start by collecting all the loose random items. Get that out of the way and redistribute it all later.

2. Get a basket for the remote control

If you don’t already have one, get a basket for your remote controls so they stop getting lost behind the couch or under cushions.

3. Get a magazine rack or newspaper stand

But make sure you don’t keep anything in there for too long. The moment you let that get out of hand, you will just end up with heaps of magazines you will “go through later” but never do. After you have gone through them, clip out anything you want to save and recycle the rest.

4. Come up with a clever organizing system for your multimedia.

One great way to condense your collection of DVDs and CDs is by purchasing those booklets you can store the discs in. Put the original boxes in storage. You will free up so much space.

5. Remove marks on wood furniture using a walnut

Cut it in half and rub it into the scratch. Don’t have a walnut? Pecans, Brazil nuts and almonds all work fine. After you rub the nut across the furniture, rub the area with your fingers. This will help the oils from the nut soak into the surface of the wood. Buff it up with a cloth, and you’re set.

6. Clean dusty leaves with banana skin

Have houseplants with dusty leaves? Grab a banana and eat it and keep the skin. Use the skin to clean the leaves. The dust will stick right to it, and the juice is healthy for the plants.

7. Get rid of static TV with a dryer sheet

Static electricity on your TV screen? Grab a dryer sheet and run it across your screen to get rid of it.

8. Use a mix of olive oil and lemon for your furniture’s shine

Want to shine up your wood with a quick and easy home mixture? Never mind furniture polish. Just grab some olive oil and lemon juice and mix them in a 2:1 ratio. Go over your wood surfaces with it and your furniture will shine.

9. Clean vases with vinegar

If you look inside your vases and find they are full of dirt, you can clean them out by filling them with vinegar. Add a handful of dry rise, and swish the vases around. Pour everything out, and they should be significantly cleaner inside. A very cool little trick.

10. Don’t use commercial wood cleaners.

Believe it or not, these supposedly specialized products often contain silicone. Silicone can leave a residue in your wood grain, which can actually be bad for the wood’s appearance over time. A damp cloth works better; just use water. It is all you really need!

11. Use a dry lint-free cloth to clean your DVD player and your other electronics.

You want to avoid moisture since it is way too easy to damage your circuits. Canned air makes a great alternative for cleaning dust and also cleaning out vents without endangering your technology.

12. Clean your cables with a dry cloth

Likewise, be very careful when you are cleaning your cables, since moisture can short them out as well. You do want to make sure connections stay clean, and you don’t want dust to accumulate on your wires and make them grimy.

13. Put a cork on the bottoms of heavy vases

and other objects that you regularly have to clean under. Doing this will prevent these items from gouging your floor, which will in turn prevent damage and make your floors easier to clean.

14. Keep a dust cloth in a handy spot in your living room

If you regularly wipe down surfaces when you notice dust building up on them, you will have a much easier time keeping everything under control.

15. Consider replacing solid fabrics with patterned upholstery.

Patterns help hide dust, dirt, and stains.

16. Regularly open and close window blinds or curtains.

Even if you would prefer to just keep them closed all the time. Doing this will help to dispel dust and will make them easier to keep clean over time.

17. Add a cinnamon stick to your vacuum cleaner

This can help to add a nice scent to the living room the next time you go through it.

18. Another trick is to squirt a little room deodorizer on a cool lightbulb

(do not use too much or you will short out your bulb!). When you turn on the lightbulb and it heats up, it will disperse the nice smell into the air.

19. Corral your cords.

If your media center has a lot of screens, projectors, consoles, and other technology, take the time to bundle your cords together and tape them out of the way.

Concealing surge protectors inside shoe boxes (cut holes for the wire) is a great way to get things looking neater, and it also prevents the surge protectors from accumulating dust. Label your wires with tags and you will find them much easier to manage as well.

 

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