Thursday 3 September 2015

household cleaning essentials

Image from An angel at my table
Today's subject for my beautiful utility post series is Household cleaning.
I've lost your interest already, haven't I??
But wait!
Nobody likes cleaning, ok, I get that...and if you are anything like me, your cleaning tools and supplies are not what you want to spend your money on, right?
But in all honesty, doesn't your arsenal of cheap plastic brooms and buckets, ugly, branded bottles of cleaning products and your old, washed out cleaning cloths kind of ruin the aesthetics of your home? 
I've been stuffing all that crap under my kitchen sink for years...outta sight , outta mind, right?
Only, the truth is : Housekeeping and cleaning is an ongoing job...never ending (Uuuurgh!) and inevitably all that stuff will be found laying around the house as it's being used...or not put away, like little eyesores in my otherwise well thought out interior!
Image found on Elements of style
I'd love to have a separate room to house all my cleaning and laundry tools and supplies...a Utility room! But in our tiny Victorian terraced cottage, space is at a premium, and unfortunately such a luxury is in-achievable...And I'm guessing that I'm not alone!
So in terms of storing my cleaning supplies, I have to get creative, as the little space under the sink is quite frankly insufficient...I mean, it may be fine for housing a few bottles of bleach etc., but this does not help me hide away the hoover, buckets and brooms and other large things needed around the house....things that I quite frankly do not want to feast my eyes upon whilst eating at the kitchen table, or trying to relax on the sofa.... Their bright and ugly plastic-ness only serves as a reminder of all things not done in a day!
Image from Kitchen source book
Just a little area, a spare nook in our home would have been great, as keeping all those household essentials i one place would be ideal.

Image from A beautiful mess

I'd love to have a peg-board covered wall to organize my cleaning supply storage and I'd use wall hooks to hang dusters and brooms from....




Even just a few shelves on a wall where I could keep everything handy but out of sight would be great...
Image from BHG
I'd use pretty storage baskets to house unsightly washing paraphernalia and decanter all my cleaning liquids into pretty jars and boxes to make it visually more pleasing...

Image from Ollie and Seb
But unfortunately I have not got any such spare nook in my tiny home . At least not in a suitable space....

The only option I currently have, is to convert the little cupboard under the stairs, which is currently being used as a general dumping ground for stuff, into a designated storage station for all things household...
And quite frankly, it is not a bad option at all, and I count myself lucky to have such a space...
It will be my next project in the house.

If you have not got the luxury of having such a space to your disposal, why not try to convert a free standing cupboard in your home into your household supply station, like below:

Image from Kitchen source book
To convert such a small space to hold things like the hoover, mops and buckets and other necessary cleaning supplies, will take a bit of planning, and a few clever ideas to maximize the storage potential of the space, like using the back of the door, as pictured, below....
And if you'd like to follow along at how I do mine, sign up to my weekly newsletter by entering your e-mail in the bar at the bottom of this page, as I will be posting updates on my cupboard design and makeover over the next few weeks...

Image from Kitchen sourcebook
But, even with a great storage space for all my housekeeping and cleaning equipment, there is still the element of the ongoing nature of keeping a home tidy and fresh to consider, and as mentioned above, this stuff inevitably becomes a part of a home's make-up...

Image from House to home
So my solution to prevent garish eyesores in the form of cheap plastic dusters etc. laying about is to pledge to invest in some well designed, functional but good looking cleaning tools and other household essentials, along with the aforementioned stylish storage solutions...
Here's a few nice examples:




A handy cleaning caddy ,will mean that I can carry what I need for the job around the house in style, and a nice looking bin is top of my wishlist for the kitchen. The idea of having beautiful tools, like a good-looking mop (did I just say that??) and bucket appeals to the glamour-puss in me (I have been known to clean my floors wearing high heels whilst dancing to loud music....I mean: Making the best of a dreary situation, like cleaning, has got to be a good thing , right??) And I've recently replaced my broken plastic duster with a gorgeous ostrich feather one, and quite frankly, I now proudly display that thing in my kitchen. I've also been on the look-out for a nice long-handled dustpan and brush to replace my "get-on-your-hands-and-knees" plastic set for ages, and love the one in my collage above.
When researching for this post, I must say that John Lewis has the most stylish range of cleaning and household products out there, and they are NOT paying me to say that! I adore the packaging on their Brooklyn range of cleaners...in fact their entire Brooklyn home range  is beautifully designed, and I'll be sharing more from it next week when I tackle the subject of Laundry!

Image from Garden trading

In my recent series of posts, labelled Beautiful Utility, I have been investigating my own theory that your home's everyday essentials should be equally stylish as your interiors to become a more integrated part of your home and thus improving the aesthetics and quality of your home-life.

Considering design as well as functionality when purchasing tools for housekeeping, will make your home feel more pulled together and maybe even make the jobs around the house seem a little less of a chore (Optimistic, I know)...At the very least, if your duster is as gorgeous as mine, you wont mind taking it for a spin every now and then!

Pop back next week to see me trying to bring some style into doing the Laundry!

13 comments:

Sophie said...

Hej June,
I know this (not so glamourous) problem very well. So I can't wait to see your reveal!
And a tiny tip from me: sew a new cover fpr your ironing board from anice fabric. Super easy and makes the thing a little more plrasing on the eye ;)

xx
Sophie

june olsen said...

Hi Sophie!Thanks for stopping by, and cheers for the tip!!

Delbert Powers said...

The peg board is a creative and really attractive way to use wall space for cleaning supplies, I love it. I might use that along with the free-standing cupboard idea. I came across this post when searching for storage solutions for cleaning products, and I am glad I did. Cleaning essentials and storage should definitely be stylish and attractive!

Delbert Powers @ MinuteMan International

Unknown said...

Having the right cleaning essentials is the first step. Being sure to use them when the time comes is the other. I do suggest keeping all cleaning essentials neatly and properly organized. The big mistake I make is to not put things back in their place. This leads to me not being able to find things, and not being able to clean up in the proper way.

Bo Tolbert @ HJS Supply Co.

James Abram said...

Thanks for sharing this household cleaning essentials! Do you have any idea where to buy cleaning chemicals in the Philippines?

Unknown said...


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SGHomeNeeds said...

Wow you really have the handy tools for easy cleaning at home! Thanks for the good read:)

This will really help the house cleaning services in singapore

Henry Thomas said...

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Jackson Alby said...

Thanks for writing such a detailed article on best eco-friendly cleaning tools, I found what I was looking for.

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Md Rasel Islam said...

nice post!

Faru Forhan said...

Your blog post about household cleaning essentials was so helpful and creative! I never would have thought to use a peg board for organizing cleaning supplies, but it's such a great idea. I can't wait to see the reveal of your organized space. Keep up the great work! All cleaning tools

James said...

Thank you! very informative when it comes to home cleaning. However, some people might find cleaning time-consuming like me. So I just hire house cleaning service centreville va. This is a residential cleaning service located in Northern Virginia.

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