Simplify your housekeeping by focusing on one area or completing one big task per month, alongside your smaller daily and weekly routines. Follow this monthly calendar full of helpful tips to get your home clean and tidy and keep it clutter-free all year round.
January
January is a great time to go through your closets, wardrobes and drawers that hold clothing. Start with the smallest closet, such as the coat closet, and work your way up to the largest one, which is likely to be in the main bedroom.
Take out everything and review every item in them. Sort into piles of clothing that need repairing, items that are damaged beyond repair, and items that you do not wear, that are too big or too small, or that you simply no longer want or need.
Neatly put away anything you wish to keep. Store similar items together, such as trousers in one drawer, skirts in another drawer, and dresses in the wardrobe.
Throw away the items that are damaged beyond repair, and sort items to be donated or sold. If you have items which are damaged yet salvageable, then either repair or arrange for them to be repaired during January.
February
Focus on your kitchen in February. With so many utensils, appliances, and aids required for cooking and baking, the kitchen tends to be the most cluttered room in the house.
Break your kitchen down into several smaller areas and focus on a different section each week of the month. For example, during the first week you could clean all of the appliances such as the oven, microwave, and refrigerator.
The following week, you could focus on organising the cupboards, then the drawers the next week. Then during the final week, you could focus on decluttering the counters and table if you have one in the kitchen.
March
Spend your time in March organising any papers that you have lying around the house. Gather up any receipts, flyers, leaflets, certificates, letters, bank statements, invitations, and other documents that you can find.
Go through what you have collected up, and sort them into piles of what is rubbish or no longer needed, and what you would like to or need to keep.
Anything that contains personal or sensitive information should be shredded, and everything else can be recycled if possible or otherwise thrown away.
Put away anything that is left over. If you don’t already, you should get files or boxes to store any important papers and documents in, to keep them safe and organised so that you can easily find them in future.
April
Dedicate April to deep cleaning and organising your bathroom. Having a clean and organised bathroom is not only aesthetically pleasing, it also helps to minimize the risk of health hazards and accidents.
You are likely to have accumulated an assortment of health and beauty items in your bathroom. Some of which may have expired or that have not been used in a long time.
Take some time to review the items in your shower, bathroom drawers, cabinets, and cupboards, and on shelves. Throw out any expired medication or beauty products, and get rid of anything that you no longer use or need, like old toothbrushes.
If you have unused and unwanted gift sets or toiletries, consider donating them to a charity shop or homeless shelter. If you have linens, blankets, or towels that need replacing or that you no longer use, consider donating them to an animal shelter.
Have a deep clean of the bathroom. Thoroughly clean the tiles, sink, bath, shower, toilet, walls, floor, and ceiling. Be sure to tackle any mould or grime that has accumulated in the bathroom.
May
Organise your shoes and boots in May, when it is typically dry and not too muddy outside. Gather all of the footwear that is in your home and get rid of any shoes or boots that are peeling, have holes in them, or have irreparable zips or heels.
Clean and disinfect the remaining shoes and sort them. Keep your everyday shoes stored in a shoe cupboard or on a rack. Put shoes that are for special occasions or that are valuable or delicate in a box for safe keeping.
Then sort the rest of your shoes into boxes dedicated to each season or type of weather. For example, sandals and flip flops in one box, and boots and wellies in another box.
June
Tackle your garages and sheds in June. Garages and sheds quite quickly and easily become unorganised and full of clutter. Keep them organised by splitting them up into zones.
Have separate zones for auto supplies, sports and athletic equipment, household items, and gardening tools. Review any items are left over that do not fit into these zones and group similar items together in their own zone.
Having items in set zones will help make it easier for you to find them in your garage or shed when you need them.
July
July is typically the hottest month of the year in the UK. Instead of getting yourself all hot and bothered doing housework, spend some time reviewing your routines and planning for the latter half of the year.
Think about any new habits you want to get into or things you want to try or goals you have and start taking action towards achieving or implementing those. You may want to start waking up earlier, or going to bed earlier, eating more healthily, drinking more water, doing more exercise, or scheduling time for yourself.
August
Spend time in August decluttering and cleaning your bedroom. Collect up any clutter and put it in its rightful place. Dust and polish any surfaces and then vacuum or sweep and clean the floor.
Take off all of your bedding and vacuum your mattress to help get rid of dust, skin flakes, allergens, and dust mites.
Although you already went through your clothing in January, you may want to re-review everything since many months have passed since then.
September
Focus on your living room in September. If you have kids, then they will be returning to school after the summer holidays and having spent more time at home and making a mess. So, now is the perfect time to organise the living room.
Gather clutter and return it to its designated place. Clean, dust and polish all hard surfaces, ornaments, and furnishings. Vacuum or sweep and clean the floor. Spot clean and vacuum all soft furnishings. Wash your cushion covers, throws and blankets. You may even want to wash your curtains.
October
In October, address anywhere else in the house that has been missed or that you feel you need to revisit. Perhaps the stairs, office or dining room need some attention, or maybe you need to go back and do another deep clean in the bathroom.
November
November is a great time to start prepping your kitchen for the holidays. Have a thorough look at the contents of drawers and cupboards.
Ensure all of your drawers and cupboards in the kitchens are clean and well-organised. As it has been several months since you last reviewed what is in your cupboards, re-review the food in your kitchen and throw out anything that is past its sell-by date. Take out or bring to the front anything that you know you will need for the holidays.
Examine your cutlery, pans and other utensils. Replace anything that is badly tarnished or stained, or that is damaged, and replace dull knives. Ensure you have enough knives, forks, and spoons and replenish anything that is missing ready for the holidays.
December
The focus for December is maintaining and decluttering. Do a general sweep of the house to make sure it is clean and tidy for any guests coming to your house over the holidays.
After the holiday rush, be sure to declutter ready for the new year. Throw away or recycle boxes, wrapping paper, and gift bags. Look to donate, give away, sell, or recycle as much as you can to make room for new things, or to simply clear some of the clutter.
Neatly and carefully put away your seasonal decorations. You may want to invest in storage bags or boxes for your tree and ornaments to keep them safe and neatly stored away.
If you do not have the time or supplies to keep on top of your cleaning, or would simply prefer to leave it to the professionals so that you can spend your time relaxing or doing other activities, you may want to consider hiring a cleaner to take care of the cleaning for you.
Time For You specialises in providing properly screened and vetted domestic cleaners to private households to provide you, our client, with more time for you. Find a cleaner near you by simply entering your postcode, and let us take care of the cleaning, so you do not have to.
Time For You is the premier international house cleaning service company with hundreds of local business owners which clean tens of thousands of homes around the world every week.
Time For You are the premier international house cleaning service company with hundreds of local business owners across the UK, Australia and Canada. Time For You are currently cleaning tens of thousands of homes across the world on a weekly basis.
