DIY Cleaning Chart and Free Printable

My husband and I like a clean house. We’re not crazy everything has to be its place kind of people, but we’re not big fans of dirt, dust and clutter … or animal hair. And since we have two cats and a dog, that last one is sometimes kind of difficult to keep under control. On top of that, both of our parents have allergies to our animals so it is important for us to keep the house clean and somewhat free of dust and dander. After our son was born and I went back to work part-time my mom and mother-in-law watched him on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I would spend all day Monday cleaning in between nap time and play time. I hated Mondays. I always felt so exhausted and felt like I wasn’t able to devote enough time to my son and cleaning the house. I know what you’re thinking—why not just let the housework go?! Doesn’t your husband help?? Well, since our parents are allergic to the animals, I thought it was really, really important that I mop and steam every week to keep the dander down. And yes, Dennis does help. He helps a lot. (Although he doesn’t clean the bathrooms. Can’t he just clean one bathroom?? I mean, he’ll clean the whole house, but he won’t touch the toilet! ... but he does help). Also for some reason, I had it in my head that since I was staying home, it was my job, even though he told me repeatedly that I didn’t have to do anything but lay around with the baby. After a while, I just couldn’t keep up. It wasn’t just MY job. I was exhausted, I was angry, and my house wasn’t clean.

 

These guys are cute, but they sure do leave a lot of hair and vomit all over the place.

One of the ways we have been able to divvy up the chores, keep a clean house, and stay sane since our son was born was to develop a cleaning chart. I took some inspiration from Pinterest to come up with a cleaning list that suits our home and schedule. I divided the chores into daily, weekly, monthly, and semi-annual chores and designed the chart in Microsoft Publisher. This can be easily done in Word or any type of printing program as well. If you don’t have access to Word at home, your local library probably has a computer you can sign up to use. There are also a number of free and purchasable printables on the interwebs or feel free to download this printable and use it in your home. I printed ours out at Office Max (it’s the closest), framed it, and hung it in the kitchen. We use a wax pencil or wet-erase marker to check off the chores when they are done. So simple—anyone can do it!