apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Some of the people that thought "Michael Stipe & Thomas Dozol's New York Apartment " is cool with their untideness should really, really read this.

- No dishes in the sink longer than overnight.
- Laundry, vacuum once a week (usually Sunday or Monday)
- Clean the bathroom twice a month
- Clean floors and dusting once a month

-Sweep the kitchen after cooking and doing the dishes
-Wash the (simple cotton) curtains once a month. The kitties like to sit in the (damp cabin) windows and there is curtain of fur after about a month.
-other things, too, but I think I have a little OCD when it comes to cleaning. :)

Wow, KidMoe, do you really only do the bathroom, floors, and dusting once a month?

I think a big thing that a lot of people over look - and it drives me INSANE when people overlook this in my home. You need to put the crap you use back where it belongs and bus your mess before you go to sleep. I fell asleep early on New Years Eve and woke up to wine glasses and blankets all over the living room. Half drunk soda cans on my desk... toothpaste uncapped on the bathroom sink - not in the shower where I usually keep it. The wrapper of a toilet paper roll on top of the toilet tank instead of the trash bin. Everyone at my house was lucky as hell I was in a good mood on 1/1/09. I'm not asking you to wash dishes, fold my blankets, clean my john, but seriously, you can't move your sodas/glasses to the kitchen? If you're not going to clean before you go to bed, at least corral everything NEAR it's proper place.

I do laundry and change the sheets and towels on Sunday night. I'm almost always home that night, so everything gets washed and dried while I'm watching The Simpsons.

All unsolicited materials are permanently banned from my home. If I receive junk mail, I make the sender take me off their mailing list. Also, I have a "no unsolicited materials" sign on my front door. So far no one's dared to disregard it.

One of my cats is a messy eater, so any bits of kibble he leaves on the floor get cleaned up right away to deter pests.

And I always have at least 10 gallons of bottled water on hand in case there's an earthquake.

I always go to sleep with a clean kitchen so I can wake up happy. It really makes a difference when it is the first place I go in the a.m. to have things nice and clean.

Dust/sweep hardwood floors once/wk
Bathrooms (clean, scrub, mop) at least every other. More if I cut my hair and more when my BF acts like a slob..ok once/wk
Vacuum upstairs every other wk. (not so much traffic up there)
Mop kitchen every other
sweep kitchen MANY times per/wk
Put my BF crap away (every damn day!)

however, I wreak havoc with my clothes on any given weekday morning.

In regards to Rick Roberts, I like to think that some of us live alone and do not have heavy traffic in the bathroom/keep it fairly clean on a daily basis. This doesn't constitute cleaning it every single week, but every other week is plenty good (at least for me).

To each his/her own, I say. :)

I love waking up to a clean kitchen. It's worth it to take 10 minutes to do the dishes.

I'm not sure I completely understand the question. I mean, those who are neat freaks will have a spotless house, those who are comfortable with more untidyness will have a less than spotless house.

Are you looking for the intersection between the two? like, what is the lowest common denominator in terms of cleanliness standards?

* vacuum twice a week
* laundry every other day (unless it rains and I can't hang things out to dry)
* no dishes in the sink when I go to bed
* dust everything once a week, and the living room 3x
* bed made every morning
* milk always on hand

the idea of sweeping instead of enjoying the pre-coffee morning is unthinkable to me. I generally use this time to lie in bed and/or snuggle with small child.

we do the dishes every night & have 1/2 & 1/2 for coffee. the rest is divided labor, whenever the laborer sees fit to do their tasks.

whoa chusmabilly, i do not want to party at your house! i would be too afraid of touching anything!

Rick Roberts, I said I do my bathrooms twice a month. Tiles, tub, toilet, sink, everything. I live alone (no pets) in a small apartment with little furniture, with carpet only in the bedroom. A vacuum once a week is usually alright by my standards--my tiled floors are white, so I can see every speck of dirt that's on it.

Everyday is cleaning the kitchen- dishes washed, counters and stove cleaned..making the bed and putting things away.

Laundry is twice a week.

Once a week the entire house gets vacuumed, mopped and dusted, the bathroom gets cleaned and the patio gets a sweep, my office gets dusted and things get put away. Sheets are changed. Trash, recycling and compost are taken outside.

Once a month the molding, base boards and ceiling get cleaned and dusted..the fridge and oven get cleaned, the bath tub gets a real real cleaning, the shower curtain gets washed and basic attention to details like wiping down all cabinets and cleaning inside cabinets and closets. Trash cans get washed. Laundry room gets cleaned and oragnized.. My bed gets flipped and walls are cleaned.

Windows get cleaned every two months.

I have a system and it is nice when my house cleaner does come for the big cleaning otherwise I feel like it is endless.

I keep water, coffee, wine, power bars, dog food, soy milk and canned food on hand incase there is a big one. I keep my camping gear- stove, batteries, flash light and other items up to date as well.

My boyfriend and I are just awful. I think it's because of our dog. We get little dust balls everywhere (also our Ikea carpet sheds, I think that contributes) and really we don't clean them up except once every few months. I never thought I was a messy person, but I guess I am and boy do I hate it!

lol danasays, I know I sound like a control freak there. But you need to understand: Most people - drunk or not, will help at least tidy.I always try to corral my shit into it's area when I'm a guest. The people I had over attempted nothing of the sort. I just find it rude when people, drunk and sober, don't pick up after themselves. The toilet paper wrapper on top of the toilet instead of the trashcan right next to the toilet. Stuff like that irks the crap outta me. I'm all for having a good time, but when the good times are over, be a sport and tidy what you mussed. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to ruin the day and honestly it didn't bother me on the 1st... but when I had to clean by myself on the 2nd, i started getting fussy. Am I overreacting?

I power wash the front of my house once a month. The water runs off into my planters, giving my foliage a nice drink of water.

I'm happily type A so Mondays are:

Laundry
Grocery shopping
Change sheets and towels
Clean bathrooms and kitchen top to bottom
Dusting

Entire house (all hardwoods) gets swept as needed each week with a full on jam on Mondays. They get "mopped" once a month with hardwood cleaner.

The bed is made every day - whoever gets up last which is usually me. No dishes left in the sink overnight, no junk mail, recycle whatever I can, and keep unwanted crap off the counters as much as possible. And no shoes in the house if at all possible. I have a basket of slippers for guests.

I keep a pretty big food stockpile since I cook about 5 times a week. But juice, cookies of some kind, fruit, granola bars, wine, lemons and limes, and a stocked bar are all musts. All keep me from going crazy at various times of the day.

I dream of a full staff...

My 2 big things:

-Wipe inside of microwave every time I do dishes. Wipe stove top and burners as well.
-Remove any leftovers or older food from fridge when returning from the grocery store. Wipe inside of fridge.

I have a huge pet peeve of dirty microwaves and messy stove tops!

As eight rescued dogs (yes, that's right) share their home wth me, I depend on two iRobot Roombas -- one for each floor -- and run them daily. Long ago all carpeting and rugs left my home, and the hard floors are pretty easy to keep clean. I mop them every Saturday, which is cleaning day here.

I patrol my backyard and remove The Inevitable morning, noon and night.

The dogs get a bath once a month. That helps a lot in containing loose fur and smells.

I was afraid to click on this topic, but I couldn't help it. Although I don't have great guilt over my poor housekeeping, I admit it isn't where I would like it to be (even with my low standards). I live alone with two, elderly (indoor) dogs and a muddy yard, so a lot of cleaning is impromptu as needed. I work from home a lot and my work schedule is highly variable, so I don't have a rigid schedule that I stick by and if I am working against a tight deadline, I let almost everything go.

That being said, I mostly eat at home, but I don't stockpile food because I don't want it to grow old before I can eat it. I don't hoard food. I do laundry on an ongoing basis - when the basket starts to get full or I need something that is dirty then I wash a load of clothes (I don't try to wash all laundry at any one time - there is always something that is dirty). I clean up kitchen mess every night and run the dishwasher when it is full. I dust as I notice the need - I dust something once or twice every week (seldom a whole room at once). I mop or vacuum as I notice - I mop or vacumm something every week. I clean up spills when they happen and clean parts of the bathrooms when I am in them and have time (I may wash out the sink one day when it looks dirty or scrub the toilet on another - either task only takes a few minutes). I fluff the duvet, pillows and featherbed when they need it - my bed is never quite "made" yet it never looks particularly messy (to me) and I love clean sheets so they get changed at least once a week. I try to put things away as soon as I can, though I am not obsessive. Things tend to not get lost or broken when put away, so this motivates me. I straighten up after my dogs everyday - it is an ongoing battle with them since they have a different idea about housekeeping. I guess my strategy is to do a little bit of something every day so that things are never completely out of control - but probably never completely immaculate either. I don't see housework as anything that can ever be 'finished' so I don't even try. I guess "good enough" is my standard.

Alas, my home office is always a disaster.....

I'm a student so I'm home a lot during the day. As such, I do my dished throughout the day. Generally when I eat a meal or grab a snack form the kitchen, I clean whatever is in the sink right then.

The rest of my cleaning generally happens on Saturday mornings. I go the the Farmer's Market and get my produce for the week, come home and scrub & sweep the whole apartment.

The thing that I don't do nearly often enough is mop. I live by myself and don't wear shoes inside so I tell myself that the frequent sweeping totally makes it ok.

The only things I do habitually are:

- laundry twice a week
- wash dishes before going to bed

For the rest, I just clean it when it gets dirty enough, be it once a week or once a month. Or not... unless someone is coming over. And I never seem to have enough food around, because I hate grocery shopping.

After reading all these comments, I feel like a lazy slob now. Heh.

Daily: open, sort and recycle mail. Scan for clutter and pick up. Visible dirt on kitchen or other floors gets swept. Wipe down top of stove, counters, cutting board and sink. run and empty dishwasher as needed. Laundry as needed.

Weekly: Scan and clean out food from fridge, recycling sorted and put out, dog bowls washed, dust, wipe fingerprints off woodwork, light switches and cabinets vacuum, change and wash sheets, towels, dishtowels, clean bathroom (tub/shower, toilet, sink, faucets, mirrors, floor), wash kitchen floor, scrub sink, sweep front and back porches and steps, sweep basement stairs. Pay bills. Laundry as needed. Shopping and cooking list for week. Ironing as needed.

Monthly: Change duvet cover, deep clean (move and dust/vacuum behind furniture), windows, mirrors, dust and vacuum basement

Every 4-6 months: clean light fixtures, clean out pantry and all closets - edit clothing, books, linens and other crap, deep clean fridge, clean oven. Steam clean carpet, sofa and upholstery as needed. Wash shower curtains, wipe down walls and ceilings of bathroom and kitchen, deep clean basement (dust, mop). Wash porches, steps, sidewalk. Swap out winter linens/clothing and edit wardrobe/linens.

Yearly: Wash walls and ceilings, go through all files and organize paperwork (long term file, update important paperwork, shred, etc). Have major appliances and chimney/fireplace serviced

I learned a lot of the above from a summer job in high school working with Service Master who provides clients with a checklist of sorts. I have also been known to fail frequently and often with the above.

I only work partime at the moment, and so I'm home a bit during the day. Which means that after I check my email, read AT and Fark, and have my tea, I automagically switch into cleaning mode. There's not a whole lot to do, but when you share a space that is 30m^2, little things out of place can quickly make it look untidy or dirty.

And so I treat my neighbours to my horrid singing as I waltz around and tidy up. Doesn't take long, and it makes the place much friendlier to be in.

Once a week (usually on Saturday morning or Friday afternoon) we tear down and scrub the place. With the amount of snow we have, the sand dragged in (they sand here, not salt) gets a bit unruly.

can I just say to Holland....WOOF! That is a lot of dog loving, right there.

In our house with 2 children under 2, I can't afford to let my guard down too much or it would all get on top of me. My standards are similar to what others have said but I second the pet peeve of people leaving a mess behind. This mostly refers to my poor husband - whom I thank for dealing with todder breakfast time, but not so much the weetabix mush left on the hardwood floor to solidify with what appears to be the density and resistance of industrial concrete.

As I read through AT each day, I am amazed that there is sooooo much info on here about cleaning and organizing. I don't get why people need so much help in this area.

Why is it hard to tidy and clean a home? Why don't people want to? Why do so many seem to live in chaos?

It is beyond my understanding. We're all busy. We almost all work (and if you don't, then there's really no excuse). We have children, dogs, cats, birds, visitors, parties, school, whatever. Why do any of these things prevent clean and organized homes? I think people are just lazy. And slobs.

Wow, I guess I fall into the lazy slob category. I usually clean every 2-weeks to a month, whenever I get around to it. I just don't want to waste my precious free time with chores, and a little dust doesn't bother me. I live alone, so my place doesn't get that dirty anyway.

Ms. Pea, it's not hard, I just don't care that much.

I thought you shouldn't make your bed in the morning because of all the moisture in the sheets and blankets. I let mine air out during the day with the bedroom window open.

The only time I try to really ease my standard for cleanliness is a party. If you have a party, you need to plan to clean up yourself. That's just what you sign up for. And truthfully, I kind of like the ritual of the after party cleanup. The house is quiet and I can go about cleaning and thinking about what a fun time we had!

I grew up in a house where every monday was intense, all-day cleaning day. god forbid you didn't have school and mom needed to vacuum your room! and then if you got out of bed and left foot indentations in the freshly vacuumed carpet...watch out!!

I kind of went the complete opposite way for a while, but have settled into a once-a-month full cleaning of the apt. What makes a huge difference is cleaning up the little messes as they happen and putting things away after you use them. It's just common sense!

Jeez, Ms. Pea, judgmental much? Perhaps not everyone has the same priorities as you.

I had a grandmother who insisted on scrubbing every dish, sweeping, and vacuuming the kitchen and dining room after every meal. She lived far away, I rarely saw her, and you know what her priority was? Cleaning the kitchen floor, not spending time with her grandchildren. I was never as close to her as I was to the grandmother who put family first.

So, here's my question: do you want your family to think of you as warm and loving and present, or the lunatic cleaning the kitchen while everyone else is hanging out enjoying each other's company?

Bah! Humbug! to cleaning

jooly = ftw!

I make sure to have someone visit at least once a month so I can convince myself to clean, otherwise I just tend to the necessities when visual disorder bothers me. I think the modern 'need' to (over)clean is one I choose not to partake in. A few spiders and germs are welcome to stay for short visits.

My rule is "clean as you go" including "put things away as soon as you are done with them."

I eat out a lot, but when I cook, I clean the mess I'm making between the other steps, and all dirty dishes go straight into the dishwasher out of sight. (Nothing ever sits in or next to the sink.)

When we track slush or whatever into the house, I run my Swiffer mop immediately, before the mess settles and dries. Other than emergancy cleanups like that, I sweep the kitchen when I notice dirt (or bits of cat food that get dropped outside the dish). I vacuum about every 2 weeks, but if things look clean I might skip a week... no worries!

My weekend day off (either Friday or Saturday) I do laundry, and whatever general cleaning that needs doing. Run the dishwasher and put the clean dishes away immediately. Etc.

If you clean as you go and put things away, it's easy to keep up with the rest.

Always thought of myself as clean but not tidy. No dirt & crumbs but lots of messy clothes, piles, shoes laying around. Working on the latter in 2009.

Mostly clean up when I get irked or if folks are coming over. Some things I do habitually tho:

Empty old food from fridge whenever garbage is taken out, don't want stinky food warming up and festering in the garbage can.

Empty dishwasher or organize kitchen drawers/cabinets while dinner is stewing/browning/baking or coffee is brewing. As long as the rest of the food prep work is done. I love to have an empty dishwasher to reload as I mess up new dishes.

I don't spend all my time cleaning. And, I don't neglect my family (who do, by the way, do think of me as warm, loving and present). I enjoy the company of my friends and family, and my kids make messes, just like everyone else's. I also have pets, including a bird, which is the messiest creature ever.

Having explained all that, I will add that I also take quite a bit of pride in the home I have created. I've worked hard for what I have, and I take care of it. I don't like my children to sit on dirty, dust-bunny covered floors. I like my bathrooms clean. I don't enjoy junk and mess.

So, I spend A FEW MINUTES each day making things clean and organized. That's all it takes. I'm teaching my kids to put their toys and books away after they use them and to help clear the table after dinner.

I don't see this as a burden or an extremely time-consuming process. And, I'm not a cleaning nazi. I am organized, my family lives in clean comfort and I think we're all better off for it.

People make all kinds of excuses about why they can't/don't have clean homes. But, they are only excuses. We pretend it's because it's so time consuming and we'd rather spend time with family or whatever, but the truth is - people are lazy and don't care how they live.

I wonder why so many read a blog like AT, which is all about having nice homes, entertaining, etc., and then they admit they couldn't care less about their homes.

No dishes in sink. No unecessary clutter. No hair in sink. Maids every other week.

If I could be a butler I would be one. Cleaning for me is an enjoyable task. It's a good thing to see and feel the results of a thorough cleaning.

Sweep every two days-All rooms, including porch & patio.

Mop once a month.

Hand wash dirty dishes, clean counters every night.

Trash round-up and out every night.

Laundry-Including bed sheets every Sunday.

Scrub sink, tub & toilet once a month.

This is just the daily chores, there's also the cleaning of the fridge, closet, cars, pantry.

No clutter. The house has to smell good (sometimes I will simmer cinnamon, cloves, apple slices, and nutmeg in water for an apple-pie smell, or bake bread.) General cleanliness is a must!

Ms. Pea,

You may be right about some people, but not all. There are plenty of people who haven't learned the skills of keeping house yet, so they struggle with it.

I'm glad you're teaching your children how to clean up after themselves and how to do chores, but not everyone is lucky enough to have that kind of upbringing. Either their parents were slobs and so they (the children, once they've grown up) don't know how to keep house, or the parents take care of everything so they (again, the kids) don't know how to do it.

Then there are those who have different priorities than you do. They can't understand you any more than you can understand them. Just because they think differently than you doesn't mean they're wrong or a bad person. They're just different.

You seem to think the situation is very black and white. Unfortunately, it's not.

As Mrs. Mack notes, there's a large gray area between obsessively clean and "lazy slob". There are many reasons a person's home might be less than acceptable to Ms. Pea, including advanced age, infirmity, disability, massively busy schedules involving school and/or multiple jobs, children with special needs, incredibly messy housemates or spouse, ADD, or, you know, just really not giving a shit if there are dust bunnies under the bed.

It's the judgmental tone that cheeses me off - if we're not just like Ms Pea, we're "lazy slobs". That's just effing rude and really lacking in any kind of compassion or understanding for other human beings who are not the paragons of virtuous housekeeping and cleanliness that Ms. Pea is.

there's no doubt someone out there that is even more "clean" than the cleanest folks commenting, just like there is always some woman or man that is secretly (or not so secretly) more attractive to your partner than you! everybody's standards are different, so what repulses me (coffee grinds left on tile counters) will no doubt be of little worry to others. live and let live i say! :-)

p.s.: i hate washing dishes, but don't mind cleaning the bathroom at all. a bit weird. i use gloves either way, though. i clean whenever i feel like my place needs cleaning, or when i get mad about something.

I try my best to clean as I go in the kitchen (cook almost every day), but the rest is really impromptu. We have 4 animals around, so sweeping happens about every other day.

If I were to articulate a standard, it's approximately: if I can describe the house and it starts to sound even a bit like a CPS investigation, it's time to do something.

No kids, though, so no worries about that, before anyone starts to wonder.

I really wish it were tidier, but I have almost no help and am messy myself. And between studying for the bar, working, and tending to the pets, it just doesn't get done.

Well this exchange has definitely made me sit back and reflect upon my own level of housekeeping. Often I feel like I'm barely keeping up with all of the little day to day things that accumulate around the house - laundry, dusting, etc. instead of taking a more proactive approach like the folks above who have a structured schedule. I will definitely strive to take control of my housekeeping in a more organized way! Thanks for the inspiration!

Mrs Pea -- I don't really need any instruction in cleaning or tidying, but I do take pleasure in reading how others manage their routines. Occasionally I'm inspired by a post to change my methods (for example, I've cut back to a minimum of green cleaning products because of tips on AT.)

It's pretty clear many of us like the organizing/cleaning category, for a variety of personal reasons. How can that be a bad thing?

I tend to think of myself as on the messy side but (in my late 20s now) gradually getting better all the time. I didn't learn much at all about housekeeping before I left home, so I've spent the last ten or so years bumbling through and picking up tips from housemates and from places like AT. I think it's fascinating how variable we all are - so many different pet peeves and tolerance levels etc.
Even as a naturally messy person, some of the routines mentioned here I couldn't live with - eg cleaning floors or bathrooms twice a month - I live alone too, and I don't think I'm especially grubby, but I still like to clean floors and the bathroom much more often than this.
But then again, I NEVER make my bed or clean my light fixtures, so some people would probably find me icky! And -again as a single person, and also as someone living in drought-stricken Australia - doing laundry more than once a week (especially if you're using a dryer - don't even get me started on the environmental impact!!) seems excessive and indulgent. Which doesn't mean it IS excessive, in all circumstances - I just find it intersting that we're all so quick to judge others' standards by our own.
Also - I've lived by myself for the first time for the last six months, and I'm interested to find that I'm much better at keeping my space tidy now than when I was living with my ex-boyfriend. When we lived together, we'd both blame each other for the filth/mess, we'd both refuse to clean up after the other person, so our house was always pretty messy. Now that we're both living separately, we both clean up after our individual selves uncomplainingly, and both my new house and his new house are MUCH tidier and nicer than any of the places we shared together.
When it comes down to it, it doesn't take that much physical effort to keep a small apartment clean. But so many other factors - emotional, political, psychological.
Fascinating :)

you guys would tear me apart lol so I wont dare list what i do or dont do here. although i will say in my (lack of) defense I have a almost 2 year old who likes to throw things, and a 6'6" tall husband who throws his enormous clothes on the floor when he takes them off.

Oh and when I party at anyones house, I def clean up after myself, and probably others too. :)

I think a lot of this has to do with our living situations (obviously). I live alone, and before I got a puppy I was very disorganized and took a lax attitude towards cleaning and clutter. Now that I've got a dog and a steady beau, I find that I straighten up daily, and clean much more often.

My *ideal* schedule would be:
Daily:
dishes in the dishwasher (run when full)
bed made
clutter away
counters wiped

Weekly:
floors mopped/swept
general dusting
bathroom cleaned
trash out

Bi-Weekly:
clean sheets/towels
laundry
fridge de-grossed
stove & microwave scoured

Sometimes this happens, and sometimes it doesn't, but at least I have a general idea of where I'd like things to be. That said, I can put up with a lot of dirt and clutter, especially if it's for a good cause (e.g. apartment renovations)!