Housekeeping How-to

Ever marvel at the consistency, the efficiency, the ease with which hotels appear to ensure cleanliness and charm in their premises? The most fundamental amenity a luxury hotel establishment can offer is a pristine experience – whether in the entryway, common area, or private room. Although hotels employ dedicated housekeeping staff, a guest’s neat and tidy experience is not just attributed to employees the establishment has a behind-the-scenes housekeeping strategy in place to ensure cleanliness levels across the property.

“Home keeping” is an often-overlooked term, yet a vital component to developing a superior experience at home. In true Hotels to Home fashion, I invite you to investigate your own housekeeping strategies! The goal is to customize an approach that specifically suits your household perfectly. Be true to your instincts as you move through this process as one person’s tidy is another’s spotless.

Stay on the surface or take a deep dive is it time for an overhaul (organizing the garage) or a minor adjustment (dusting the rarely-remembered fans and baseboards)? Perhaps a single room is a profound pain point – alternatively, your methodology may be tackling the house room by room. Whichever your process, your standardized home-keeping system should reflect what fits your cleanliness preferences. This should be a very personal, rather than popular, approach. Your neighbor may prioritize dusting, while your household’s priority is mopping.

Be organized: What do you want cleaned? Compile a list of items in your home that require cleaning. A countertop, the floors, mirrors, furniture, etc. Decide which items in each room need to be clean so that you feel content and relaxed throughout your home’s environment. Feel free to be as general (vacuuming) or detailed (laundering couch cushions) as is necessary for your home. Mind you, this directory should be completely unique as neat and tidy is highly personalized and shifts from home to home. Once this list is created, you can ensure that housekeeping standards are met by using the same box-checking routine that hotels employ. Not to mention, this home-keeping touchstone can be used by anyone else in the house, even your hired housekeeping professionals. No matter who cleans, household satisfaction ensues.

Be consistent: When should it be cleaned? Consider how heavily trafficked a room or space is utilized and create a frequency scheme within the home-keeping strategy. Is it a seldomly used guest room? Or the highly popular living room where movie nights and play dates take place? The more often the room is in use, the more regularly it will require cleaning. This question of prevalence is also highly personal because it ties to your household’s habits. Scrubbing kitchen counters or vacuuming the living room can be undertaken two to three times per week, while mopping the floor or polishing the silver can follow a more infrequent schedule. If your family most commonly uses a private entrance to your home, remember that area will need regular tending, rather than the entryway reserved for guests. However, in Hotels to Home living, all spaces are of equal importance even if not technically a room so entryways, stairways, foyers and (especially walk-in) closets should be included in the overall home keeping scheme. This ensures consistent satisfaction across your home’s floorplan.

With a home-keeping blueprint to follow – one that determines what tasks are needed in which room and how often – you are sure to find that keeping a clean home is far simpler than it may seem. This is true whether you reside as a large family, couple, with housemates, or perhaps solo with a furry friend underfoot. I’m happy to disprove this one pervasive myth: Housekeeping at home doesn’t have to be horrendous. So, dust off your lifestyle excavation skills and reveal a home cleanliness aesthetic that never leaves you in the lurch!

TO HOME LIFESTYLING

Housekeeping how-to

5.3.22