Today I’m telling you how to start the domestic daydreams cleaning method, everything that you need to know to have a house that’s always clean!
Hey, domestic darlings! I’m Cheyenne, Bulloch, the founder of the blog, Instagram and YouTube channel Domestic Daydreams where my goal is to help you transform your home into a haven for those that you love-including yourself-because self love is important and YOU deserve a clean house too. Today, I want to break down my cleaning system and method and give you all the information that you need to know to get started for yourself!
First things first, the morning routine is where the bulk of the cleaning magic happens! Especially if you are living in a small apartment, or are newlyweds with just the two of you in the household, following the morning routine is usually enough to keep things ultra tidy!
What the heck does this routine consist of? I’ll tell you! There are 5 tasks I do every morning, in just thirty minutes. At first when my house had built up with clutter and mess it took me a bit longer, but now it actually takes me LESS time than this, so i’ll use my 5 Minute Miracles to take up extra time. (I’ll explain what those are in just a bit!)
The 5 Main Cleaning Tasks
I do these every morning, Monday-Saturday and they are the only things you need to do to get ahead. BUT if you really want to get ahead, or have a bigger household, I also recommend adding my evening routine which I’ll get into later in this post. BUT, the tasks stay the same in that…just look a little different.
- Air the Beds: Many routines will tell you you need to make your beds every single day. As part of the Domestic Daydreams routine I say that it’s more important to actually AIR your bed every day. Airing your bed is where you crack a window in your bedroom then pull back each layer of bedding (and dust by beating with a pillow) until you get to the fitted sheet. You leave your covers pulled back (you can fold them back if you prefer) and air that fitted sheet/mattress. You also stack the pillows you slept with, and any throw blankets and pajamas you slept with on a chair by the window. If you like you can come back and make your bed up nicely, but it’s not necessary. The key here is that airing your bed for just 30 minutes prevents dust mites and bed bugs, and greatly reduces allergies!
- One Load of Laundry: One of the most crucial tasks in my morning cleaning routine is to do one load of laundry Monday through Saturday to make sure everything gets rotated through. I actually follow a specific system with certain loads assigned to each day so they are washed in the right order. This system is designed to make sure that your clothes last as long as possible and are in their best shape. Washing darks right after washing towels often leaves little white fuzzies all over your clothing, for example. This prevents that! I’ll discuss the laundry rotation in detail a little further on in this post so don’t worry! Or you can check out my blog post JUST on the laundry here. I also keep laundry tags on all of my dirty clothes baskets, that tell me what load to wash and on what day, what wash settings to use, and what addons to include. You can get those here!
- Dishes: Every morning I unload the dishwasher, and load it with any coffee/breakfast dishes I may have used already. The goal is to fill your sink with warm soapy water before you start making dinner each night, and then load + run your dishwasher every night before bed as part of the evening routine (I’ll go into more detail about the evening routine below, but you can also read about it here.) This way, as part of the morning routine you can unload your dishwasher and have it ready to load as you cook/use dishes throughout your day. I always recommend filling one side of your sink with warm soapy water (or a draining bucket in your sink, if you have a one bowl sink) before every meal you prep/serve. This way dirty dishes can be scraped, placed in the warm soapy water, then right into the dishwasher after the meal. If it’s just one or two of you in the house, you may not need to run the dishwasher every night! That’s okay, you can simply use the morning dishes time to make sure that everything stays loaded and is run when it’s full enough. If you don’t have a dishwasher (I didn’t for a long time! You simply put away in the mornings + hand wash breakfast’s. And hand wash dishes from the day at night.
- Clear the Clutter: Next, it’s time to clear the clutter in the house. I try to clean as I cook, so I don’t have to clean off the counters as part of my clutter clearing. But usually, there are still some things on there that I’ll pick up as well. I spend 5 minutes speed cleaning all the clutter. I like to grab a basket and go around the house, throwing everything that’s out of place in the basket. As I move from room to room, I put things where they belong. This method makes it much quicker to get all the clutter cleared up. Another good rule to establish that helps is if you see something out of placde, or use something, to put it away immediately. And children can learn this too, to always clean up before moving on to something else.
- 15 Minutes on a Weekly Task: Every day, I finish with a weekly task (read my blog post on this here! Or just keep reading below, because I will go over all of it). For example, cleaning the floors on Fridays or deep cleaning a zone (read my blog post on my zone system here, or keep reading because I cover it in this post too) on Mondays for 15 minutes. This helps me avoid any major spring cleaning and ensures those bigger tasks like dusting or cleaning bathrooms, that take longer to accomplish, still get done weekly!
The Laundry Routine!
Alright, so we talked above about how I do a load of laundry every morning as part of my morning cleaning routine! I do have assigned laundry loads to each day of the week to make sure I wash them all in the right order! I even use a laundry tag system on my bins that tell me what settings to use on my washer/dryer, and what add ins to include. I’ll tell you all the details on those settings below, but if you’d like the tags you can get those here or here in my printable bundle.
Monday: Whites & Lights
I start my week by washing my whites and lights. White and lights are best washed in hot water with a ‘whiten and brighten’ boost and fabric softener, then dried on low heat. I’m super sensitive to chemical/store bought detergents and boosts so I like to use my own non-toxic hacks for this instead. You can check out my post on non-toxic laundry hacks here, if you feel the same!
Tuesday: Delicate Clothing
Tuesdays are for lingerie and sweaters or any ultra-nice delicate clothing that may need a little extra care! Use cold water on a hand-wash or delicate setting on your machine in laundry bags. Some pieces might need to be hand-washed like cashmere or expensive bras. Everhting should be hung out to dry instead of dried in your machine! A hack that saves me some time, is I will keep a little laundry detergent in the shower and take my bra or panties in with me to wash while I shower.
Wednesday: Exercise Clothes & Casual Underthings
Mid-week, I wash exercise clothes and any colored or casual undergarments. For this I use warm water on a delicate wash setting, followed by an ultra-low dry. There’s no need for any add-ins usually depending on what I’m washing!
Thursday: Darks
Thursdays are for darks, and is usally the biggest load for most families like mine who wear a lot of jeans and dark neutrals. Wash these in cold water (remember to turn jeans inside out) and use fabric softener. Then all you have to do is dry on ultra-low heat.
Friday: Rags & Towels
On Fridays, I wash rags and towels on a sanitize wash setting with hot water. I like to add my natural ‘whiten and brighten’ boost (hydrogen peroxide in the bleach dispenser) and dry on regular heat.
Saturday: Sheets & Pillowcases
Finally, Saturdays are for sheets and pillowcases. I don’t know about you, but I ADORE the feeling of slipping into a bed with clean, fresh-smelling sheets, especially after a hot shower cloaked in clean pjs! All you have to do for these is use warm water on a normal wash cycle and a regular dry cycle.
Get My Ultimate Laundry Guide + Tag Printable!
To make things even easier, I have a laundry printable guide that has tags you can laminate and put on your laundry baskets that guide you through everything I talked about in this post! This way, you know what loads they are, and it also breaks down the wash settings, so you have all the information written out in front of you. You can check that out here.
My Weekly Tasks
1. Monday: Deep Cleaning Or Decluttering
On Mondays, I dedicate 15 minutes to deep cleaning or decluttering in the zone that I’m focusing on that week. (You can check out my post on my zone cleaning system here) If you’re not familiar with the zone system, it’s a method of dividing your home into zones and focusing on deep cleaning one zone per week. It’s been around for a long time (I’ve even found it referenced in homemaking books from the 1960s!) and is a tried-and-true method for keeping your home clean and organized.
But how on earth do I know what to deep clean/declutter in such a short period of time? Girl, I’ll tell ya! I have a “Five Minute Miracles” printable checklist that I laminated and keep in my homemaking clipboard which lists deep cleaning tasks that can be completed in five minutes or less. I race myself to complete and mark off as many tasks as I can in 15 minutes. Over time, I work my way through the entire checklist, erase, and start over! If you’d like to get your hands on this you can get my 5 Minute Miracles Guide + Checklist printable here!
2. Tuesday: Bathroom Cleaning
I know, I know. For most homemakers, bathroom cleaning is one of the most dreaded cleaning tasks. But when you clean it once a week, it doesn’t build up too much! And sometimes, it even allows for some extra time to deep clean or declutter. I DO have some hacks for you that I use to make this easier, and reduce the amount of cleanup I need to do weekly.
1. I Keep a sponge with soap/cleaner in it in the shower to clean with while I’m in there.
2. I keep spray and a rag handy by the sink so that I can wipe down any toothpast drips or splatters on the mirror.
3. After most “#2s done in the toilet, it’s a great idea to do a quick swish of the bowl with some cleaner. This helps prevent buildup over the week! These are totally optional though, and even without them weekly bathroom cleaning is a breeze!
3. Wednesday: Fridge Cleaning, Meal Planning, And Grocery Shopping
On Wednesdays, I clean the fridge and plan my meals for the week. Since I just cleaned out the fridge, I usually have a good idea of what groceries I need which makes shopping soooo much easier. This is also a time when I will freeze leftovers form the previous couple of days if needed. Cleaning the fridge weekly is not only healthier because it prevents bacteria buildup, but it also prevents it from becoming a miserable task. (Check out my video on cleaning out your fridge here, or below) I don’t know about you, but when nastiness builds up in the fridge I honestly dread it waaaay worse than the bathroom! No one likes digging through nasty smelly containers of old food and rotting veggies!
4. Thursday: Dusting
Thursday is dusting day! I go around the house as quickly as possible and do a little dusting everywhere. One of my favorite hacks for this is a pair of old socks, and my natural dusting spray recipe! When I was still at home with my youngest siblings, this was a great hack to get them involved. Just put socks sprayed with the natural dusting spray on the kiddos hands and send them around the house to dust away. I have a printable with all of my natural cleaning recipes (with printable recipe stickers/ingredient labels which you can check out here. I also have a post on my Top 3 Cleaning Recipes that I use the most often. You can read that here!
5. Friday: Vacuuming And Mopping
My weekly cleaning schedule task for Fridays is to vacuum and mop the floors. I’m not a perfectionist about this – I don’t move furniture or try to get into the corners too much. I just do a quick clean, knowing that I’ll deep clean the floors when they come up in my zone rotation! Besides, half-a**ing a task is still far better than never completing a task! We can’t be perfectionists here, or nothing will ever get done!
6. Saturday: Another 15 Minute Zone Clean-Up
Saturday is another chance to dive into your zone and continue to deep clean or declutter that space. I might choose to declutter on Monday and deep clean on Saturday, or vice versa. It’s entirely flexible to where my home is at and what needs to be done! Some days I might even get on a roll and go past the 15 minute time limit because I’m motivated from all the progress!
My Zone System AKA my Monthly Tasks
All I do is spend 15 minutes on Mondays and Saturdays as part of my morning cleaning routine, deep cleaning the zone of the week. But what are these zones? And what do we even do when we’re deep cleaning or decluttering in these zones? Don’t worry, I’ve got all the tea on that below.
Zone 1: Kitchen & Dining Room
My first zone in the rotation is the kitchen and dining room. I use my “Five Minute Miracle” checklist (get yours here) that I laminated and keep in my homemaking clipboard for both rooms, ticking off as many tasks as I can fit into a 15-minute period until they’re all checked off over time. Once they are, I simply erase them and start again. Here are some of my favorite deep cleaning tasks you can do in the kitchen and the dining room (in 5 minutes or less) from my checklist.
Kitchen Miracles:
- Cleaning your air fryer
- Scrubbing the sink
- Cleaning the coffeemaker
- Decluttering cookbooks
Dining Room Miracles:
- Wipe the table surface and legs
- Clean chairs
- Wipe coasters
- Wash a window
- Wash vases or centerpieces
Zone 2: Entrance & Living Room
Next up is the entrance and living room. My 5 Minute Miracles printable has checklists for every single zone area, so I use that again here. Here’s some of the deep cleaning tasks you can do in this zone.
- Finding 10-20 items to donate
- Wiping cell phones or landlines
- Dusting lampshades
- Cleaning mirrors
- Decluttering the coffee table
- Fluffing and rotating sofa cushions
Zone 3: Guest Bathroom & One Bedroom
In zone 3 I tackle the guest bathroom and one other bedroom. I like to tack the bedroom on Mondays, and the bathroom on Saturdays because I’ll have cleaned the bathroom on Tuesday for my weekly cleaning task as part of my morning cleaning routine. Here’s some tasks you can do in these zones!
Bedroom Miracles:
- Wash mattress pad
- Change the pillow cases
- Wash sheets
- Air your comforter in the sun
- Clean pillows
- Clean off nightstand
- Wash a window
Bathroom Miracles (Saturday)
- Clean toilet-down to the floor
- Declutter under the sink
- Empty & wipe out a drawer
- Declutter makeup
- Wash shower liner
- Wash shower curtain
- Clean mirrors
Zone 4: Master Bedroom & Bathroom
The master bedroom and bathroom follow the same Five Minute Miracle checklist as Zone 3. So just mentally copy and paste what I wrote above, 😉
Zone 5: Yard & Laundry Room
Finally, the last week in the rotation the yard and laundry room! Once I hit this point, I start over with Zone 1 and just keep chunking away throughout the year! Now let’s get into some tasks you can do in the yard and the laundry room.
Yard miracles
- Sweep the porch
- Wipe outdoor furniture
- Clean the mailbox
- Hose down garden statues/ornaments
- Prune back dead flower stems
Laundry Room Miracles
- Wipe washing machine exterior
- Wipe dryer exterior
- Clean lint trap
- Wash detergent dispenser
- Wipe laundry baskets
- Wipe counter surfaces
My Secret To Getting It ALL Done With ADHD + Free Morning Cleaning Routine
Now I do all of this while listening to my Domestic Daydreams morning radio cleaning routine.
What the heck is that you might be asking? I’ll tell you.
I found out I had ADHD, and all of a sudden it made TOTAL sense why “habits” never stuck, and I always felt like I was DROWNING in housework. I needed a tool that would 1. help me keep a routine 2. be a routine I could ACTUALLY do as a working homemaker. I finally started using audio morning cleaning routines ft. 1950s radio shows like Dragnet! I press play before work, it guides me through a routine in 30 minutes, and after work I have a clean house!
📻With my Domestic Daydreams Audio Morning Cleaning Routine I’ve combined the nostalgic 1950s Dragnet! True Crime Radio Show and transformed it into an audio guided daily morning cleaning routine that will guide you through
- ✅daily,
- ✅weekly, (like cleaning the bathroom on Tuesdays!)
- ✅monthly cleaning tasks in just
- ✅30 minutes a day.
I needed something that all I had to do was JUST PRESS PLAY every morning to get me started , and by the end of it I had a clean house. THIS is it!
And it means…
- ❌NO having to drag around & keep track of a timer
- ❌NO having to decide what your next cleaning task is- I guide you through it!
- ❌NO decision fatigue over what load of laundry to put in the washer, I tell you what’s assigned for the day AND EVEN what the proper settings are for your machine!
- ❌NO getting side tracked and frustrated! Our audio brings you right back to your task at hand.
🚨I’m giving EVERYONE who wants one a FREE mp3 download of the routine! Just click here!
Evening Routine
Last, is my optional evening routine. I’ve found I can get ahead, and stay ahead, by just doing my morning routine every day. However, adding this evening routine keeps things extra organized, and clutter free and I love that! Here’s what I do:
1. Clear The Clutter
The first thing that I do is clear the clutter. I do a 10-minute speed clean where I grab a basket and rush around grabbing everything that I see that’s out of place. I just throw it in the basket so that as I move from room to room, I can put things right where they belong without having to do it one thing at a time, which just takes so much longer. I also try to clean as I go while cooking dinner. This way, cleaning the kitchen isn’t something that I have to do extensively in the evenings. There might just be a few things still out that need to be put away.
2. Laundry
I make sure to put away the laundry every night. If you’re a longtime follower, you’ll know that I do one load of laundry every morning. Making sure that I do a load of laundry every day from start to finish has really helped transform my home. It’s probably been one of the biggest game-changers. Now, how you want to put away the laundry is totally up to you. Some homemakers prefer not to fold their children’s clothes and instead sort them directly into drawers. I also have a clothing steamer for important items so that I don’t have to stress about wrinkly clothes! You can either steam in the evenings, or just keep it on hand and steam before wearing!
3. Dishes (One Of The Most Important Parts Of My Evening Reset!)
I fill the sink with warm soapy water before every meal I cook or serve. That way, the dishes go straight from cooking to the warm soapy water and then to the dishwasher. It makes things easy because after serving dinner, the family knows to scrape their plate then put them into the soapy water. So this part of my evening cleaning routine goes SO FAST because all I have to do is add in whatever dishes might be in the sink, and run the dishwasher before bed.
4. Floors
I don’t go through and deep clean all my floors every night. Instead, as part of my morning audio cleaning routines I follow, I clean the floors extensively once a week. (You can check out my post on what weekly tasks I do as part of my morning routine right here!) Because of this, in the evenings I only spot sweep or mop high traffic areas. This takes about five minutes. Usually, these high traffic areas are under the kitchen table, entrance, cooking areas, and maybe the mudroom. (I’m not fancy enough to have one of these, but if I did I’m pretty sure it’d be on the list! haha)
5. Self-Care
As part of my evening reset, I do a little self-care. I put on my PJs and do just a little skincare. I know that may sound silly, but for some reason it really helps me come back to myself after a long day. You can even use cryo globes or a gua sha tool or a jade roller after applying your moisturizer. Or get a red light for some red light therapy. This helps me feel a little extra pampered and pretty before I go to bed and helps me recharge. You can take this time to listen to a podcast or music, OR it’s even built into my 1950s Radio Show Evening Cleaning Routines! I’ll tell you what the heck that is right now.
My Audio Evening Cleaning Routine
I use follow the entire routine above and use it as a time to mentally reset while listening to my Domestic Dreams Evening Cleaning Routine, which features the 1950s radio show Suspense!. This awesome audio-guided cleaning routine will transport you back to the fabulous 50s, and in just 30 minutes every night, you’ll be guided through all of the cleaning tasks I just mentioned above, while listening to a vintage radio story.
New episodes drop six nights a week, so you’ll never miss a task and your home will always be spotless. Now, I’m giving away a few free episodes to anyone who wants them. You can get yours here. These have been such a game-changer for me because they’ve turned the evening reset in my home from a chore to something like a self-care moment!