Recently I shared the difference between cleaning and organizing and how we can swap back and forth when working in a space.

Today, I want to share more about something most people ignore when it comes to organizing our homes: maintenance.

We know about general house maintenance like cleaning out gutters or replacing air filters but usually ignore organizational maintenance. That’s right, after you organize a space, you have to keep it up!

Imagine your perfect closet is organized and everything is put away nicely but every time after that you throw clean clothes in the corner and let it fall into disarray.

That wonderful system that you created for your clothing would be easily overcome by the daily failure to maintain. And so it goes all over the house.

Sinks need scrubbing.

Walls and floors need washing.

Door hinges should be oiled and trashcans deodorized.

There are literally hundreds of home maintenance tasks on the structure itself before you even start thinking about maintaining your stuff.

When someone has started on a declutter journey, or filmed on the show Hoarders, we all know that the most challenging part is to not backslide into old habits. So today I wanted to share a few tricks for maintenance that you might appreciate as we head into the last bit of the year.

Dealing with Broken Shit

Things break and this is a lesson that was hard for me to learn with a parent who expected perfection and ideal situations at all times. Sometimes paint brushes get gunky and need to be replaced!

When you consider your home, there’s likely to be a few things that are broken or not working optimally anymore. Personally, I have a few windows with cracks that should be replaced, a kitchen laminate floor which is coming up and a large armchair that is not comfortable anymore.

At the very least maintenance involved removing or fixing broken stuff, hopefully before it gets worse. That cracked window is an annoyance in the summer but a disaster in the winter when it’s cold outside. A ceiling fan that wobbles and creaks can and should be replaced before it’s needed to cool the room.

In many cases the broken thing need not be replaced immediately, for example my arm chair. While it’s been moved out to the garage for an upcoming dump run, I don’t actually need to run out and buy a replacement.

Cleaning is Circular

Spring cleaning is something we never did in my family growing up. We cleaned when company was coming over or someone made a mess but routine cleaning? Nah.

Now as an adult, I have a cleaning schedule that I made and try to keep with monthly tasks that keep my house looking good.

(Note that cleaning is much different than organizing or even tidying up.)

The problem with Spring Cleaning is that it doesn’t have defined dates, there’s too much to do during a time when we’re all dying to get outside and enjoy the weather!

Routine maintenance includes cleaning things so they don’t break down or need replacing. It might involve sweeping your chimney, cleaning the dishwasher filter or bleaching the clothes washer seal which has gotten pretty grimy.

Instead of mentally planning a week sometime 6 months from now to clean, schedule and hour once a week to tackle a task that needs to be done. Pinterest has hundreds of cleaning list examples if you’re stuck.

Sometimes it does feel like running on a hamster wheel of cleaning, you just finished wiping the shelves of the fridge and someone (me) put back the syrup with a sticky base and now it needs cleaning again. I finally got the squeegee and hot, soapy water and went outside to clean the windows and then it rained and they’re all dirty again.

Fixing Annoyances

The last level of maintenance that I like to consider is fixing the things that annoy me but are not urgent. Lately it was the top of my fridge which is a space that no one ever sees or cares about. So I throw all kinds of stuff up there. It had been bugging me for a little while so I got the step stool, cleared it off, cleaned it (so much dust and grime!) and put things back a little neater.

Now, I can almost hear the thought going through many a TikTokers mind… but that’s not a video I can make. It’s not sexy.

No, it’s really not and that’s the point. When done well, maintenance is a bit boring and rote but pays off. We’d rather throw away the whole pantry and design a new one, spend thousands of dollars and snap our fingers on camera to show it off than just dust, use the existing, mismatched containers and put away our groceries after going to the store.

Sometimes a lack of maintenance indicates a lack of planning, the solution is to build it into your schedule.

But when maintenance takes a backseat because we are addicted to having new and nicer and Instagram worthy lives instead of safe, healthy and happy ones, that’s a larger fix.