While I’d like to think that my clean and tidy home reflects everything I’ve learned during my years as Ideal Home’s House Manual Editor, it’s nothing compared to my mum’s house. Every time I open her front door, I’m reminded that it really is as spotless as you can get – and it’s both impressive and irritating.
I’d love to say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but the reality is that I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from the things people with tidy homes always have to give my house a complete overhaul over the past year or so. But my mum isn’t like that. She isn’t swayed by fancy tools, social media trends or questionable hacks. She’s mastered a regime that works perfectly all on her own.
So, on a recent trip back to Dorset to see my family, I decided it was time to interview the one person whose house has been clean and tidy for as long as I can remember: my mum. And these are her clutter-busting tips for a spotless home.
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1. Deal with clutter immediately
There are many things you’ll never find at my mum’s house: clothes on the floor, clutter on the kitchen worktops, or toys spread all over the living room (which is pretty impressive considering my nephews often turn her living room into their own personal racetrack). That’s because my mum deals with clutter immediately.
As soon as she spots something out of place or something that needs to be thrown in the bin, she moves it to where it needs to be – similar to a 10-minute declutter, but more natural rather than a scheduled organising session.
She’s even got my nephews involved and makes them pop all of their toys back in one of these Really Useful 3 x 62L Plastic Storage Boxes (£33 at Argos) when they’ve finished playing. That box then goes straight in the wardrobe when they leave, keeping the living room – and the rest of the house – as clean and tidy as possible.
Tackling clutter immediately is something I’ve struggled with in the past as I am prone to procrastination, but I’m definitely getting better thanks to my clutter bucket technique. I even keep one on my stairs for clutter, and set a midnight deadline that same day to empty this Woodluv Seagrass Stair Basket (£24.99 at Amazon).
2. Pick a dedicated ‘housework’ day
For as long as I can remember, Friday has been my mum’s ‘housework’ day. And every Friday, she starts her morning by giving the entire house a refresh from top to bottom – dusting every surface with these classic yellow dusters (which you can buy in a pack of 10 on Amazon for £10.95), vacuuming the floors, and giving the bathrooms and kitchen a proper scrub.
The only time she has ever strayed from this routine was when I was still in school, and she was still at work – but even then it was early Friday evening rather than Friday morning. But while this seems to run counter to expert advice to avoid cleaning overwhelm, my mum swears by it.
In her eyes, spending a few hours making the house immaculate one day a week is far superior to cleaning little and often throughout the week, and it makes the house much easier to keep clean. And if any spills or messes occur on another day, she can handle them in seconds and won’t have to think about cleaning for the rest of the week.
She also loves the satisfaction of seeing a properly clean house by the end of her housework day, and I’ve started doing the same in my home. Granted, my housework day is Sunday, and I often cheat by using these overnight cleaning hacks to let my appliances do the cleaning while I’m sleeping. But copying her has still worked wonders in my home.
3. Storage organisers are a must
Although my mum doesn’t spend a huge amount of money on fancy, trending storage organisers you see all over social media, she does use a few staple organisers to keep certain areas of her home tidy. Including her bedroom and bathroom.
Like people with tidy clothes, she loves using drawer organisers to categorise her clothes so she knows where everything is and can keep them neatly folded. This is something I’ve invested in recently, too – and while she uses the SKUBB Boxes from IKEA for £6, I use the DIMJ 12 Pack Drawer Organisers (£19 at Amazon) because I find the sizes to be way more generous.
She also stores ‘non-essential’ shoes at the bottom of her wardrobe, but keeps a small shoe rack by the front door for everyday shoes to prevent clutter. She’s had the same shoe rack for so many years that it’s now completely sold out, but it’s very similar to this Argos Home 2 Shelf Stackable Shoe Rack (£7 at Argos).
In her en-suite, she also uses a caddy to organise her makeup and face creams, preventing them from cluttering her sink area and ensuring everything has a home rather than spreading out across the rest of her bathroom and connected bedroom.
4. Only eco-friendly cleaning products allowed
Over the past few years, my mum has become increasingly eco-conscious. She’s become vegetarian like me, replaced my dad’s diesel van with an electric one, and switched to entirely eco-friendly cleaning products. In fact, Nancy Birtwhistle’s Clean & Green book (£10.99 at Amazon) has become her cleaning Bible.
This is something I really admire her for, as she now makes her own multi-purpose sprays, floor cleaner, window cleaner, and laundry detergent from completely natural, eco-friendly products – and she even convinced me to try Nancy Birtwhistle’s ‘Pure Magic’ recipe, which completely transformed my toilet last year.
Her home is proof that you don’t need chemicals to clean your home; you just need a few staple ingredients such as washing-up liquid, citric acid, white vinegar, soda crystals, and essential oils for cleaning and to add that much-needed scent whenever you want to give your house some TLC.
My mum pops these multi-purpose, eco-friendly cleaning products in bottles like these Amber Glass Spray Bottles (£13.99 at Amazon), but with fewer bottles of chemicals, she also manages to keep her cleaning cupboard ridiculously tidy and organised.
5. Be ruthless when decluttering
My mum and I were both born in July, and as Cancerians, we’re both extremely sensitive and driven by emotion. And while I often struggle to part with items I know I no longer need and lean into my birth-month decluttering style to find a good compromise, my mum takes the more ruthless route.
To maintain a clean and tidy home, she likes to keep as few things out on show at all times. Of course, she keeps photo frames, decor and family heirlooms on display to add personality to her place, but if something can’t be put back in its dedicated home immediately or no longer serves any purpose… it’s time to go.
In her eyes, there’s no need to keep something ‘just in case,’ and she’s tried many ways to get rid of items after a declutter. She’s found the most success – and money – with platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Vinted, where she’s sold everything from old furniture to car mats, clothes, and kitchen appliances she no longer uses.
She wasn’t always so ruthless, but in finally admitting that she doesn’t need as much stuff as she once had, she’s found that it’s so much easier to keep on top of tidying. It’s also easier to clean her house, as she doesn’t need to move everything out of the way just to dust her living room.
I’m not quite at my mum’s level yet, but I’m getting there!
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