15 Simple Habits You Should Adopt for Your Home
Inside: Add these simple habits you should adopt for your home to create a cleaner and healthier living space.
A guest post by Rose Morrison
Who doesn’t want a cleaner and healthier home? There are simple habits you can adopt in your home to make it happen. Changing up just a few parts of your routine has the potential to transform your life for the better and make you more mindful and joyful every day.
These simple habits are easy to implement in your daily routine without disrupting your other priorities. You don’t have to complete each one daily — some are better left as a once-in-a-while activity.
Regardless of which habits you choose to implement, you’re likely to see some changes. Maybe you’ll feel more prepared or accomplished, or perhaps you’ll be able to rest easy knowing that your home is clean for the next day.
Simple Habits to Adopt in Your Home for a Cleaner Space
These simple habits will help you to have a cleaner and happier home.
1. Make Your Bed
Making your bed is an easy chore that you can do first thing in the morning to get your day started on the right foot. This short activity allows you to feel more productive throughout the day because you’ve already accomplished something small just after getting up.
Completing a task first thing can help create a mindset of success for the day ahead. If you have kids, you can include making their beds as part of their morning routine too — they might feel more confident and have a cleaner room as a result.
2. Declutter & Organize Your Storage
When trying to clean out a room quickly, you may not have the time to pack everything neatly and nicely. Often, items that aren’t breakable are just thrown into a box with a promise to deal with it later.
When’s the last time you went through those storage boxes?
Consider going through one box a day until you have no more waiting for you and consuming space. You may find holiday decorations you didn’t know you had or clothes that would fit the weather outside perfectly.
You can also give away things you didn’t know were missing or know that you can live without.
3. Run Your Dishwasher More Often
Regularly run your dishwasher to prevent dishes from piling up in your kitchen.
Spend a few minutes at the end of the day loading the dishwasher and washing any dishes that can’t go in it.
Creating these daily cleaning and decluttering habits will help you to be more efficient the following day.
4. Go Through Papers
When you ignore it, junk starts to take over. If you have random papers and magazines lying around, it’s time to tackle them. Figure out which ones you need to save and which ones you’d rather throw out.
Once you’ve eliminated your piles of papers, resolve never to let them build up again. If you deal with your papers the day they come, you shouldn’t have to ever worry about sifting through a stack of papers for something important again.
You can simplify and organize paperwork in your home to prevent it from creating clutter and becoming a burden.
5. Take Off Your Shoes
If you can’t go shoeless in your own home, where can you? By instructing people to take off their shoes at the door, you can keep your carpets clean and your hardwood floors free of scratches.
Just make sure you have a place where people can store their shoes until they’re ready to retrieve them. Guests should be able to stack their shoes in cubbies or on a shoe rack so they don’t litter your entryway.
For those living in your household, limit how many pairs of shoes they can keep by the door to keep the entryway or mudroom from getting cluttered with excessive shoes.
6. Disinfect High-Touch Objects
When people come and go through your house, you may not notice how much gets touched. Things like the television remote, keyboards, and doorknobs should be sanitized regularly.
You can pick up viruses and other illnesses from high-touch surfaces, like doorknobs or buttons. To keep your household safe and healthy, make sure to sanitize at least once a week, if not more regularly.
7. Plan Your Next Project
Part of making a house a home is personalizing your space to make it a place that you love. A good DIY project can help your home feel cleaner, more organized, or just like a more enjoyable happier space.
Consider the next DIY project you want to tackle. Whether it’s renovating a kitchen or building your first gallery wall, you might find that planning it out methodically, a piece every day will give you better clarity on how to approach your project and the amount of time it should take to complete it. Then, get started!
8. Clean the House Daily
You don’t need to clean your whole home in a single day, every day. Focus on one room at a time, and create a manageable list of tasks per day.
You may not need to deep clean a room once you have a routine in place! By establishing a habit, you’ll come to realize which areas of your home don’t get as dirty as others.
9. Wipe Your Windows
Windows should be cleaned regularly, particularly if you have animals or children who can smudge their surfaces. Aside from making it look neater, clean windows allow more light to come in, which can transform your home by brightening it up.
10. Declutter Neglected Areas
People typically declutter closets and dresser drawers, but the kitchen’s junk drawer and the laundry room’s cabinets often go overlooked. Take the time to declutter these often neglected areas and enjoy the many benefits of having a decluttered space.
11. Streamline Your Chores
Instead of going back to the kitchen cabinet each time you need to get a new cleaning product, invest in a caddy that allows you to carry multiple things at once. Streamlining your process this way will likely make it seem more manageable, too, as you’ll only have to take one thing around with you as you move about the room.
If you’re worried about using the same cleaning objects in multiple places, consider creating a caddy for each of the rooms you plan to clean. You will only use the bathroom caddy in bathrooms, the kitchen caddy will only see the kitchen, and so on.
This will help to simplify cleaning in your home and make it less effort.
Simple Habits to Adopt in Your Home to Be Healthier
Add these simple habits in your home to help you to be healthier too!
12. Plan Your Meals
By planning your meals and buying only groceries you will use, you can decrease waste and eat healthier. This will ensure that you use everything you purchased, saving you money and not letting your food go to waste.
Meal planning can be excellent for households on a budget because it ensures you have something to eat every night without relying on takeout. You can even use coupons to aid you in your quest for the right groceries.
Looking for some new meal planning inspiration? Here is a list of our family’s favorite easy recipes.
13. Eat One Meal Per Day Together
Multiple schedules are challenging to manage in one household, whether you’re toting kids to games or events or can’t seem to find a time to hang out with your roommate properly. Sometimes, slowing down and enjoying a meal with your loved ones is exactly what you need.
Whether it’s breakfast or dinner, you should intentionally have a meal together and connect with each other. Catch up on what is happening in each person’s life. Take turns sharing your highs and lows for the day.
Don’t use your phone usage during this time — you set the example and staying away from the screen will tell the people you’re eating with that you cherish their time.
14. Read a Chapter Each Night
Plenty of people remember reading for fun as kids, so why does it have to change when they grow up? Make a plan to get through your backlog of books by reading a chapter in a book every night.
Create a cozy reading corner you can visit before bed. Reading can boost your empathy and help you sleep better, so it’s no wonder people often advise swapping the screen for a book.
15. Express Your Gratitude
Take time to express your gratitude for your home. Sometimes, people take for granted that they have a temperature-controlled shelter over their heads that stores things like clothes and food to take care of them.
Practicing gratitude can make you happier, and you’ll be more likely to accomplish more, too. Take a moment to see your home for its benefits rather than its flaws or features you want to change.
Even if your home isn’t your dream, there are still things you can find to love about it.
Which of These Simple Habits will You Adopt In Your Home?
When you change little things, the rest of your life adjusts around them. You might start to see a difference in how smooth and straightforward your life has become after doing a few of these things daily.
Your mindset may change, too, and you won’t feel bogged down by dirt and distractions as much anymore. Implementing minor changes is key to finding a lifetime of happiness and making a difference in your life, as well as the lives of others.
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Great article Rose! I liked the points about taking time to eat with your family and read. I think we sometimes forget to actually enjoy our homes and relax in them.
I am also a big fan of meal planning. It relieves a lot of stress.
Yes, these habits do help to reduce/relieve/prevent stress, as well as declutter. And gratitude is something we should all show, every day: and just waking up and being here is enough to show gratitude, IMHO. 🙂
I will never ever ask my friends and family to remove their shoes in my home. Also, if I go to someone’s home and have, you can be certain I will not be returning.
You should always air your bed out for at least one hour after sleeping.
I wonder if this may be a regional thing, but when we go to other people’s homes, it is normal to ask if they do shoes in the house or not (or to simply notice if there are shoes by the door, which indicates if it is a shoeless house). I don’t have to ask visitors to take off their shoes. They just do it because that’s what we do.
Meal planning looks a little different with a veggie garden. It’s more like “what will we harvest this week, so I know what I will cook?” Regardless of why you plan your meals, though, it’s certainly a good idea.
I actually disagree with the one about shoes. By all means, don’t wear your outdoor shoes in the house, but I would advise having indoor shoes. It’s easier to walk (especially if you want to move quickly while taking care of your chores, or chasing little children around) and makes you really feel “put together” even if you are not going out. It’s a habit I learned when I worked in home care because wearing slippers, especially the easy-on-easy-off type, makes it easier to trip (which is serious business if you are helping an elderly person walk). So I have indoor shoes and the only time I trade them for slippers is around the bed (i.e. I slip into slippers when I first get up and then put the shoes on after I dress) and when the floor is just too cold for running shoes.
Also, if you are going to enforce a “no (outdoor) shoes” policy in your home, and you have guests regularly, you might consider investing in some easy-on slippers to keep in a basket by the front door. This is what they do in Japan, so that their guests have something to put on their feet instead of going around in socks or bare feet. Also be sure to be flexible if you have any guests that have physical disabilities or are elderly. Some people need special footwear to walk and thus would not be able to take off their shoes. A clean home is good, but kindness and hospitality should always come first. 🙂
The shoe thing is a good one. I prefer shoes off. When I have guests, I want them to feel comfortable so I just clean after having guests but going barefoot is the healthiest thing you can do for your feet. Feel good about giving your feet a chance to move and build strength. I do suggest a shoe (not sandal) made by Oofa, it’s a recovery shoe for athletes. I think all feet are recovering from shoes. Oofas are like wearing a cooking mat under your feet and they drop back a little helping your spine to align.
I love this blog and your Instagram !
Tyla
❤️
Totally agree with you. For people with foot problems such as plantar fasciitis shoes are essential. My house had tile floors snd my feet hurt all the time. My present house has just hardwood snd I totally notice a difference, now I can stand for longer periods in my kitchen than before.
Great points. I would prefer people to take off their shoes as this spreads germs through my home. Of course if someone has a disability and requires them that’s a different story. I wear indoor foot ware depending on what I am doing. Slippers or sneakers. But indoor footwear only.
Great post. I read through it and immediately did a load of dishes & made my bed. Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
Read a chapter a day!!! Love this!
Very good article.
However making your bed should not always mean pulling the covers up. Many times it is healthier to fold them down neatly and let them “air out”. Night Sweats are one good reason to practice this.
Oh, I was going to mention that. I’m glad someone else out there recognizes this! And not just for night sweats, but also if you suffer from allergies. The best thing is if you can let fresh air circulate and/or the sun shine on the bed. Sunshine is extra important if you have a weak immune system as this will kill bacteria and viruses.
Another good tip is to flip over your pillow or change the pillow case more often than you do the sheets. Especially if you do not wash your face/hair everyday will this be beneficial.
going barefoot is very healthy. we all should go barefoot more even outside. wearing shoes all the time is detrimental to your health
Save energy and simplify your life by washing dishes up by hand. The water from your kitchen sink can be directed to water fruit trees.
You should do decluttering for those of working 5 days a week with much less time to do the daily things that are on here even though they are helpful. Time is a problem for so many – rushed mornings and tired with much to do evenings…
Read a chapter per night :o)
I make my bed every day, AFTER I have allowed it to air for at least 30 minutes, it’s vital to allow fresh air in your bedroom and bed. a well aired bed is not only healthy, but also helps us sleep better in my opinion. please air your beds.
We have numerious home care and friends who come in and some can’t remove shoes. If I walk barefoot, I will get “goat heads” in my feet (at night) then I have to wake up my husband to remove them. (Not good, like waking a sleeping bear). So I wear. Clarks shoes which protect me and give me support and are easy to slip on and off at night. Goat heads are country seeds which have horns that jab and stick into anything that steps on them. Like getting a sewing needle in your foot! Not good.
I have ALWAYS made my bed, since childhood. It gives you a sense of control and accomplishment!
As I have decluttered, cleaned, and designed my home in a way that feels both embracing and attractive, I’ve taken to incorporating a few of these suggestions. When I bought a new bed I decided to use sheets and duvet only, getting rid of burdensome blankets and decorative pillows. It simplified bed making.
I retired a several weeks ago and stopped housecleaning service. I invested in a high end Shark vacuum and eco-friendly cleaning solutions. daily I do something – mop a floor, wash a basin, dust a bookcase. This way I don’t find myself slave to housecleaning for hours on the weekend.
I am a writer and a reader, but lately have an inability to invest gobs of time on a tome of a novel or memoir. Rather than not read, I take in small bites each night, short personal essays or a poem.
I could go on. You’ve published a great list here. I’m enjoying a new relationship with my decluttered, clean, simple, and redecorated home. Thanks for your guidance, as always.