It’s no secret that one of the perks of living small is a quicker cleaning routine. Our previous house was >2,700 square feet laid out over two floors and it took me a good 1-2 days to clean it thoroughly. At the time, I was working as a pharmacist and eventually I hired a housekeeper to come in once a month for a deep clean. (Initially, I felt extremely guilty and hoity-toity about hiring help. But the first time I came home to a clean house that I hadn’t cleaned, all negative feelings subsided.) I would try to follow a daily cleaning schedule to stay on top of things in between the deep cleans but I felt like I was constantly cleaning. Cleaning that house was the bane of my existence.

Fast forward to 2015 and cleaning still isn’t my favorite pastime but it’s much less painful in a smaller house. Not only do I have less house to clean, I have less stuff to clean. And I love it. I gave up the daily cleaning schedule in exchange for once-a-week whole house cleans. Daily cleaning isn’t necessary in this smaller space and, honestly, I enjoy an entire just-cleaned house. Otherwise, I start thinking about what isn’t clean or what I have to clean the next day.

At first, I did whole house cleans on Saturdays. I thought that everyone would pitch in and things would go more quickly. This went on for months unsuccessfully. Yes, everyone was home. Yes, everyone had a job to do. But it wasn’t quick. At all. We didn’t have a good rhythm. Not to mention, we were spending our rare family time cleaning. And as soon as the house was deemed clean, everyone was home to mess it up again in no time.

So I made the executive decision to stop cleaning house on weekends. Now I clean house on Mondays and, I have to say, it’s wonderful. We do laundry over the weekend but it’s a task that is easily broken up and sprinkled into our schedule with little disruption. On Sunday nights, we do a quick pickup of the entire house. On Monday mornings after everyone is off to school / work, (Mabrey and) I clean. I finally have a good routine and can clean the entire house in a little over an hour. I start wiping, dusting and vacuuming in the kitchen and then work my way into the living room and mudroom. Once the common areas are done, I check off the bedrooms. (Bed linens are washed over the weekend so things go quickly.) I use a Bona floor mop on the hardwoods throughout before moving on to the bathrooms. I finish up in the master bathroom where I clean the tub while I shower to save time. When I’m all done, I have several hours to enjoy a clean house before the post-school / post-work chaos ensues. I savor it.

Of course, we still have daily chores (emptying dishwasher, post-meal cleanup, litter box scooping, wiping down bathroom counters, taking out the trash, putting toys away, etc.) to attend to during the week but those are things that happen regardless. I think the biggest difference with this cleaning routine is that I’m not cleaning in anticipation of guests when I clean on Mondays. It’s more of a maintenance thing and I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor afterward. On the weekends, I’ve stopped fretting about our house’s appearance and focus on the people around me instead. Plus, I realized that most of our guests don’t really notice the difference between a Saturday clean versus a Monday clean (as long as we tidy up, wipe down the bathroom counters and swirl a brush around in the toilets before their visit). One weekend we had our good friends over and when they arrived I was folding a pile of laundry in the living room. My girlfriend said, “I’m so happy to see laundry in your living room! It’s like a real house.”

What about you? How long does it take you to clean your (big or small) home? Do you follow a daily schedule or do you prefer whole house cleans? Do you clean on weekends? Any advice for quicker cleans? Obviously, this routine works for us because I’m home. If you work outside of the house, don’t feel guilty about hiring out if you can afford it! And I would encourage you to choose a day of the week that allows you to enjoy your clean house as much as possible on your time off.

P.S. – A quick cleaning tip from my grandma: Lay old newspapers or used tissue paper on the top of exposed upper cabinetry to collect dust. On cleaning day, just fold up the papers and replace. Easy!

P.S.S. – My quick cleaning tips are: 1) Start with a tidy house. (I’m easily distracted if I have to walk into another room to put something away.) 2) Keep cleaning tools and products close to where you use them. 3) Let little kids wipe down base cabinets and call it done even if you would do it better. 4) Buy a smaller house! Get rid of stuff!

More cleaning-related posts: how I clean the globe lights, how I clean the wood floors.

image: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I need ideas for our hallway! But first, a story.

A few weeks ago I was introduced to FilterEasy. I hadn’t heard of the company before. FilterEasy is a subscription air filter delivery service. When you sign up, you simply select the number of filters needed, the individual sizes, your preferred level of allergen protection and how often you want to switch them out. FilterEasy does the rest and when it’s time to change, your filter order shows up at your doorstep. No more marking calendars. No more forgetting your filter’s size. No more nasty filters. It’s an ingenious concept.

When was the last time you changed your air filter? You’re not alone. We’ve changed ours maybe three times in the last three years. Which brings me to this…

In the middle of the night last week our furnace suddenly started making a high-pitched screeching sound. It was not pleasant. Steve took a look at it (as much as someone can “take a look” half asleep at 3 a.m. with a flashlight running on nearly dead batteries) and guessed it was a bad bearing on the fan motor. The next morning we had a local HVAC company come out to confirm his initial diagnosis. Just for kicks, we asked for a quote for the repair. They quoted us >$600! Gulp. Luckily, Steve was able to find the part elsewhere and replace it himself for <$100 in just a few minutes. Whew.

Still, we got to thinking about our furnace. It’s 14 years old and we’d really like to have it around for a while longer. I can think of a million other things I’d rather spend my money on than a new furnace. (Wallpaper for the hallway? Hint, hint.) So we jumped on the FilterEasy bandwagon. Obviously, we haven’t been doing our furnace, our lungs or the environment any favors by skimping on air filters. Steve and I were pleasantly surprised to discover that the cost of the subscription service is actually CHEAPER than buying direct from our local home improvement store. And the filters are made right here in the U.S. by the same manufacturer that provides filters to hospitals and NASA. Really, it’s a no-brainer, folks. Act fast! The first 100 readers to sign up here will receive their first order for FREE!

Now we have no excuse not to change our filter on time, every time. It’s as simple as opening a box and replacing the old with the new. (Is it just me or am I the only one who is overly excited to see where all the bloggers’ furnaces are? It seems like such a personal thing. It’s like getting a peek at their closet or something.)

So, back to the hallway. The new, clean air filter is the most exciting thing here. Just look at how bored Cheetah is. She can’t even keep her eyes open. It’s a complete snooze fest and I’m ready to do something about it.

The hallway is narrow and riddled with doors. A short hall jaunts off to the left at the bottom of the image. You can see the door to a small linen closet and at the end of the tangent hall is the main bathroom. My biggest problem with the main hallway is that it dead-ends into a closet door. Boo. In an effort to spruce up the space, I’m considering wallpaper.

Usually, I’m not a wallpaper person. (I thought I wasn’t a cat person either and we all know what happened there.) But I kinda want to go for it. It’s just a hallway, right? It’s not an entire room. And it might be just the oomph! this hallway needs.

I’ve been scouring wallpaper sources, and I’ve fallen hard for this Eskayel grayscale pattern but I’m not sure about the scale. The kids said it looks like “grandma wallpaper.”

I’m also digging this Hygge & West pattern.

And I’ve admired this ostrich motif for years.

To tone down the busyness (and save money on wallpaper), I’m thinking of DIYing a wainscoting but I can’t decide if that would be appropriate for our house and / or if it will only chop up the hallway even more. I go back and forth. As far as the dead-end door goes, I’m hoping the wallpaper will distract the eye. If not, I’ve considered painting the door black or hanging coat hooks on it.

Anyway, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts! Sometimes it helps to have an outsider’s eye. What would you do if this were your hallway? Wallpaper? Wainscoting? Gallery display? Any wallpaper sources you’d like to pass along?

Thanks in advance and don’t forget to show your furnace some FREE love!

*This post sponsored in part by FilterEasy. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog! FilterEasy offers any size custom or 4” filter if necessary. Just email hello@filtereasy.com and mention HOUSETWEAKING.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking