Cleaning your Space

[garg]

I searched but I couldn't find a thread discussing this topic. How do you keep your personal space clean and neat?

How often do you vacuum your house?
How often do you dust your house?
How often do you take out the trash?
Do you have a trash can in every room of your house?
How often do you do the dishes?
Are there any rules/algorithms that you follow that help you keep your house neat, spic and span ?

Right now my house is clean (that is it is hygienic) but it's not very neat. There are jumbled up books. There are computer wires on the floor. It doesn't seem balanced in this room. Every now and then I make it neat and pretty with everything in its place but then it all gets jumbled up pretty fast.

Please share tips that help you keep your living/personal space clean and neat and pretty for good.

I'll start with a tip:

Throw away / give away / sell stuff that you have not used in over 5 months

[Cron]

I think what works best is to train yourself to clean things up as you use them and reserve regular for things that need a special job ( dusting, vacuming etc )

[Andrew Brunelle]

I would have to say the most important thing is finding places for everything to go. Once you do that, putting things away will not be a problem. But if you don't allocate space to the things you have lying around, where do you put them? Wherever.

[dacoatne]

You said something important: "It doesn't seem balanced in this room." I think that's terrific! So, "how do you keep your personal space clean and neat?" For starters, besides the very specific plausible answers, a general answer might be: "Pick up, organize, arrange, to the degree that the room eventually feels 'balanced.'" Obviously different degrees of clutter might mean wholly different things to different people but being "balanced" is so beautifully subjective.

[New Every Day]

check out flylady.net It's a great site for helping you decrease the clutter.

[asrai]

flylady.net will not only help you with decluttering, it helps you figure out YOUR routine for cleaning.

Her stuff is geared towards women and despite her best efforts, come across at stay at home mom related. But you can tune her stuff to what works for you.

[WanderingOak]

Originally Posted by garg

Throw away / give away / sell stuff that you have not used in over 5 months

I would revise that to 'haven't used in over five months and probably won't use in the next seven'. There are items that are usually used only for 2-3 months of the year such as winter coats, snow-blowers, and swim-wear.

As for your other questions:
How often do you vacuum your house?
Whenever I am expecting company over. IOW, not often enough.

How often do you dust your house?
What is this dusting I keep hearing about? Seriously, I may dust individual pieces of furniture when the cat dander gets too thick, but that's it. I try to wipe things down if somebody with allergies is due for company.

How often do you take out the trash?
Whenever it needs to be emptied. Usually once a week. Immediately, if there is something the cat might find 'interesting' in the trash.

Do you have a trash can in every room of your house?
Yes.

How often do you do the dishes?
As needed. Usually 2-3x a week. Daily on weekends.

Are there any rules/algorithms that you follow that help you keep your house neat, spic and span ?
Don't have a cat? Sorry. I'm a bachelor. Besides, my house is a continuous con/destruction zone.

The balance or Feng-Shui of my place could use some work. Then again, the place is being worked on and I am in the middle of a move. I do keep my bedside table organized by keeping a small wicker 'in box' that I empty my pockets into when I get home from work. My glasses and wristwatch go into the basket as well when I'm not wearing them. When I get dressed in the morning, everything I need is right there in the basket.