5 Tips for Keeping a Tidy Home
Advice from Noell Jett of Jett Set Farmhouse
Words by Ashley Locke
Noell Jett dreamed of having a beautiful home ever since she was a little girl, flipping through magazines that featured fairytale-like houses—a stark contrast from the world she knew growing up in poverty. But when she met her husband Daniel, who worked in remodeling bathrooms and kitchens, her dream no longer seemed so out of reach. After they married, she began designing rooms for his clients, and she started sharing their hard work on social media. Eventually she built up an audience that followed along as she started building her very own dream home.
For Noell, home is not just a place you live. “Rather than something tangible, it’s a feeling invoked by being surrounded by those we love and things that bring comfort to our soul,” she said. She fosters that feeling through the design of her own home. “I love an open, spacious kitchen with lots of natural light and windows that allow me to watch my children play as I’m preparing meals or doing dishes,” she said.
Though the kitchen is her favorite room in her home, it’s also the most difficult to keep clean. “I’ve planted my love for cooking in my kids, and while I love watching them be creative in the kitchen, they haven’t quite mastered cleaning as they go, so there’s constantly dirty dishes and messes on the counters,” she said. But even though cleaning up is a chore, it’s one she won’t skip. “Your mindset is affected by your surroundings. If you are living in a cluttered, messy home, it may cause you to feel discouraged and overwhelmed. Establishing routines that keep your home clutter free and organized can allow you to feel empowered and motivated.”
As a mom of five, she knows how difficult it can be to keep your home tidy. “It’s all about setting up systems that work for your family and having a home for everything,” she said. “Remember that it’s not just a ‘set it and forget it’ process; it takes work to make these systems work!”
Here are Noell’s five tips for keeping a tidy home:
- Practice minimalism. Keep your home as clutter free as possible. Toss or donate items without second guessing yourself.
- Set up systems for everything. When kids come home from school and clean out their backpacks, have a file system for the pieces you want to keep, and place everything else immediately in the garbage. Make it your goal to touch stuff only one time!
- Start small. Rather than trying to take on your whole house, begin by focusing on one room. Get it organized and spend five to 10 minutes every day making it a habit to reset it. Once it becomes a part of your day, add on another room. Continue until you have a system in each room.
- Include your family. You’re not making the messes yourself, so you can’t keep it clean yourself. As soon as your kids are old enough, begin giving them small tasks. As they grow, involve them as you set up your systems, and teach them to take pride in keeping those systems in place.
- Do laundry. Try to do at least one load of laundry a day all the way through: wash, dry, fold and put away. This will allow you to stay on top of your laundry and not feel overwhelmed!