I’m a huge lover of cleaning. Normally I clean my house all the time, but during this lockdown I’ve been in major cleaning and declutter mode. My husband thinks I’ve lost it but he has also made comments about how easy it is to find stuff and how clean the house smells all the time.
I’ve ‘decluttered’ my house 3 times during the last 2 months of lock down. The first time was a general ‘let’s get rid of stuff’ kind of declutter; the second was a ‘let’s minimise and get organising’ and the third was ‘let’s get organised to the max and clean everything’. Viking Direct UK have some great value size and affordable cleaning products some of which are included in this post as gifted items.
I want to share my tips on how I cleaned and decluttered my kitchen and bathroom specifically. These two rooms are the most used in my house. My kitchen is a kitchen diner and the heart of our home. In this post I will share how I decluttered an organised them and how I clean them regularly.
A couple of years ago I wrote and shared a post on how I do a basic spring clean, if you need some inspiration check it out. I recently started a new Instagram account, a place to share my love for cleaning and organising as well as our home renovation journey. @mindfulhomeliving is a place where I want to share everything home. As a private person I never usually share inside my home but as times are changing and things are now very different, our homes are the heart of our lives. A home is a place where we can become grounded and create a happy and mindful space we can live and be happy; this is why it is important to be have a decluttered and clean space to thrive and nest.
Over the past 2 years, I’ve made changes to create a mindful life for myself and my family. From mindful eating, which I share on @pinarcooks and mindfulness through selfcare with skincare on @beautywithpinarx and both on this blog, I am now ready to share my mindfulness journey through living in my home. When I’m having a wobbly day, cleaning and organising is like a therapy for me. I’ll put on a podcast, usually the Happy Place with Fearne Cotton or Thanks A Million with Angela Scanlon and zone into a mindfulness practice of cleaning. This works for me! A clean house is a clean mind for me and I want to share this on my blog too. I have a few posts where I have already shared some of my self-care and mindfulness journey, so make sure to have a read of those too.
Here are three steps I follow to complete the most satisfying declutter and clean of the kitchen and bathroom. Let me start off with the bathroom first.
First, start off with a declutter before any cleaning starts. Use a bin bag and start from one corner of the bathroom to the other. My tips include:
Don’t be scared to have a good old throw out in the bathroom. Any unopened products can be left in a box to use when needed or donate or give away what you don’t need. If you have products that have been left open and no longer serve a purpose – bin it. If the packaging can be recycled, clean and dry it out and recycle it.
Now, the same method is applied to the kitchen. Declutter first, start from one corner of the kitchen, the first cupboard and work your way around. The kitchen may take you a couple of days to declutter, don’t see it as a chore! Just think how clean and organised it will be when you are finished.
Here are some steps to follow to keep your declutter method organised and get the most out of your clean:
Don’t be put off by what may seem like a mammoth declutter and clean. Initially, it may take you a while but once you do the hard part, the maintaining and cleaning part will be easier and quicker every time. If like me you like a list, get yourself a Hinch: The Little Book of List. On Sunday evening I write what cleaning and decluttering I need to do in the house in the upcoming week. I list every room and write what needs to be done. This is a great way to help you remember what you want to do and take the whole week to get it done, don’t cram it in to one day. Stick on some music or a podcast, get your partner and children involved or take this time for you.
I hope to share more home organising and cleaning posts on my blog, but for now go and check out @mindfulhomeliving on Instagram for my daily posts.
Until next time,
Pinar xo
*cleaning products kindly gifted by Viking Direct UK
*contains affiliate links