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Decorating Better and Clean Less

Most of us dread having to clean. If you are trying to sell your home, you want everything to look wonderful for potential buyers. If you have just moved in, you want your perfect home to remain perfect for more than five minutes. The rest of us are just trying to keep our heads above water. A recent Realty Times article discussed a number of ways, both big and small, you can help minimize the amount of cleaning you have to do. We start off by showing you the major changes that can help, and then show you what simple things can be done to make life easier!

Major Changes

There are a number of reasons why you might want to do some major redecorating in your home. If boredom can be a good reason, then reducing your cleaning time can be an excellent one.

• Flooring. By using wood, tile, or laminating flooring, spills and stains are infinitely easier to take care of. If you cannot live without a carpet, then choose your color carefully. Either choose something that contains the coloring of some major food groups, or simply a mid-range color that shows less dirt than lighter colors, and less dust than darker colors. My personal recommendation would be something that has a speckling of color.
• Walls. Consider giving your walls some texture and depth by using techniques such as glazing, sponge-painting, or rag-rolling, all of which will create an interesting new look to your room, as well as cover up many otherwise unsightly marks.
• Lighting can be key. Use lamps and chandeliers that are simple, and therefore simple to clean. Even better is recessed lighting, which is practically effortless to take care of. Consider installing dimmer switches, which can be used to dim the lights and hide the dirt, which is great when an unexpected guest drops by, as well as being very romantic!
• Blinds be gone. Blinds can be incredibly time consuming to clean properly. Consider something with as few sections as possible. Also, consider buying something that has been treated with a dust resistant finish.

Minor Changes

If changing fundamental elements of your home doesn’t sound appealing, there are also a number of more cosmetic things that you can do.

• Use lots of cupboards and drawers. Everything that can be stored away, store it away. Consider getting an entertainment unit to hide your television and accessories. Use a large trunk, or a coffee table with plenty of drawers, to hide all your clutter. Put panels on open cabinets, and make effective use of side tables with drawers in them. The more that is put away, the less that can get dusty!
• Matte surfaces hide dust a lot better than gloss furniture. Keep this in mind when purchasing any new furniture items.
• Add shelves in your closet. This helps maximize the space you have available for your clothes, as well as your accessories, such as perfume.
• When you decorate, think about organization. Choose attractive pieces that serve a practical purpose, such as a coffee table box to store pens, paper, and whatever else you want nearby.
• If all else fails, use attractive scents to at least make a room smell clean. You can use scented soaps, room fresheners, oils, and my personal favorite, scented candles.

Cleaning is always something that has to be done, but there are a number of ways to minimize how much you have to deal with on a regular basis. By following some of these tips, you can spend more time doing the things you really want to do.

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