It’s not hard to have a neat and tidy house. The secret is to not have any clutter. Now that you know why, let’s discuss the how. I like to keep it real around here, since we’re all friends. I don’t need to make any pretenses. I am in fact a lazy mom. Nice to meet you! I hope you are too. We will get along fine!

Please note – these are real Before and After shots of my house. No judging the Before pics, ok? 🙂

How To Clean and Declutter Your House In Less Than An Hour

But I still like to have a neat and tidy house, even though I am lazy. And more importantly, I like my guests to think I ALWAYS have a neat and tidy house. I’m not going to give you some huge project that you will probably quit halfway through anyway. This isn’t about how to get rid of the clutter once and for all. Nope, this is a quick guide on how to clean and declutter your house in 1 hour or less when you have company coming over.

Why Declutter?

Now, this is a quick guide, but ultimately, staying clutter-free will improve your life overall. Physical clutter leads to mental clutter which leads to stress. It’s really as simple as that!

Cleaning Supplies Clutter

Our lives are full to the brim with “stuff.” You know what I mean – just all the stuff that a modern life “needs” to function. I have a full cabinet of cleaning supplies – I bet you do too. But by adding one thing to that cabinet, you can simplify your cleaning routine and (your life!) and get back to doing things you love.

I love to use Endust Lemon multi-surface cleaning spray for all my basic cleaning needs. Dust is a MAJOR culprit when guests are coming over. I used to DREAD dusting because I thought it just took forever. And the other products I used made the house smell antiseptic. Endust Lemon multi-surface cleaning spray makes my house smell like a spa. It smells like I’ve had the essential oil diffuser on all day. My daughters said “it smells good” and “it looks so clean”. #momwin!

The best part is that it replaces other cleaning supplies to keep my cleaning cabinet nicely decluttered.

Kids Toys Clutter

In a perfect world, there would be a place for everything and everything in its place. But this isn’t a perfect world. So I’ve settled on toy bins as the solution to kid’s toy clutter. It’s not perfect, but at least it works.

I would love for it to be more hidden but it’s not. About once a month we sort the bins, throw out broken toys and do a real deep clean. But between those times, we do a quick declutter and just throw toys in the bins. PS – this is a pre-decluttering shot. No judging, remember? 🙂

Kitchen Counter Clutter

Kitchen counter clutter is the bane of all households. It’s something we struggle with no matter how much counter space we have. When I had a much smaller kitchen, I used to think “one day I’ll have more room for this stuff.” But you know what? More counter space and still MORE clutter.

Every day, I am clearing clutter.

My secret clutter hack – have a Clutter Drawer. In fact, I have a few. If I don’t know where to put something, I put it in the clutter drawer. Then I clean the drawer out every few months. It keeps the clutter to one place, gives me a space to accept clutter and not feel bad about it, and keeps it hidden and out of the way.

[Tweet “Do you have a clutter drawer in your kitchen? #momhack”]

Mantle/Shelves/Random Clutter

Now, this type of clutter is just sheer laziness. Someone was holding something and wanted to put it down somewhere and they picked the closest mantle. For this type of clutter, I like to use the Bucket Method.

The Clutter Bucket Method

Grab your favorite bucket (I am partial to my large rectangular laundry basket) and walk around the house. Pick up everything that doesn’t belong and put it in the bucket. Everything! And DON’T put anything away yet. You are just doing a quick sweep of your house and picking up what doesn’t belong.

This should take approximately 5-10 minutes depending on the size of your house. Now hopefully the bucket doesn’t get full before you finish walking around your house.

Part 2 is putting things away. Start where you are and take things out of the bucket that belongs in that room and put them away. Go to the next room and repeat. Repeat until your bucket is empty. This might take you 20-30 minutes depending on the amount of stuff.

Lazy mom hack – don’t have time to do Part 2? Let it wait. Hide the bucket where guests won’t see it. 😉

Bedroom Clutter

Finally – Bedroom Clutter.

I feel like bedroom clutter is in the optional category. Unless your guests really like to wander the house or give themselves a grand tour, usually the master bedroom is off-limits. So you can take your chances that no one will peak, or take care of that clutter too. This is why I like the Bucket Method, since it covers this room too (it covers your whole house).

Now it’s time to clean!

After the clutter is removed, you have one more job to do – don’t worry, it’s quick and easy.

Get your amazing-yummy-smelling Endust Lemon multi-surface cleaning spray and clean up!

I mean, just look at the Before and After – it’s a bit embarrassing how dirty my dresser was. Yikes!

But with no clutter in the way, you can easily clean your house in 30 minutes. And since Endust Lemon multi-surface cleaning spray cleans all the multi-surfaces in your house (furniture, cabinets, countertops, paneling, window sills, non-fabric blinds, even your car dashboards!), you can carry one bottle and one rag and clean the whole house. You don’t have to switch back and forth.

And it doesn’t just remove dust, it’s also a cleaning spray. So your house is decluttered, cleaned and smelling like a spa in under 1 hour. Your guests will be amazed at how clean your house is and you will be amazed because you’re not completely exhausted by the time they get there. #winning

What kind of clutter do you struggle with? Leave a comment and we can brainstorm ways to help together.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Endust. The opinions and text are all mine.