There’s an old joke among professionals that if a client asks a question for which they don’t have an answer, they should respond by saying, “That depends,” which gives the professional enough time to look up the right answer. In this case, however, “that depends” is probably the most appropriate answer since it allows for a considerable number of variables which could hold true for a variety of different situations. 

Size of Your Home
It’s probably easy to assume that almost everyone does what they can to keep their home tidy and clean as things progress throughout the week. It doesn’t matter what size your home is since what is most important is that you make the attempt to do what you can when you can do it and at a time when the fewest number of people are around to make messes. It’s also safe to assume that you would also like to do other things throughout your week other than clean a home, so this approach can be a good one. The bottom line being that how often you clean a room depends on the purpose of that room and how often you use it.

The Living Room and Bedrooms
Most families don’t make a lot of use of their living rooms unless there is no family or television room. As a result, keeping a living room clean is usually limited to a once a week vacuuming and dusting to keep it tidy. For bedrooms, a daily schedule of making the bed and picking up clothes and other clutter that finds its way to the floor usually keeps these rooms orderly. If there is a family or television room, a daily once through keeps things in there clean and orderly too.

Kitchens and Bathrooms
Kitchens are often the most frequently used room of the house. Not only is it used for the preparation of food several times each day, but it is often the scene of where meals are served as well. Further, kitchens are used as a family “hangout” as well, which means that it is occupied much of a given day. As a result, the best strategy for keeping the kitchen as clean as it can be is to clean up messes as soon as possible. This way things don’t pile up and not only make an unsightly mess, but it won’t make it difficult to find things to prepare the next meal either. And with things like dishwashers and automatic oven cleaners, as soon as meals are finished, these appliances can be started to be ready for the next meal. Bathrooms are similar to kitchens in that they are used throughout the day, and as a result they should be cleaned as they are used. Not only does this keep the bathroom tidy, but it is common courtesy for things to be cleaned in anticipation that the next person to use it is probably close behind. Periodic use of brushes to clean sinks, showers, bathtubs and toilets also prevent build ups of grime as well as minimizing the chances of finding mildew and mold on walls and other surfaces.

The “Once a Week” Cleanup
Undoubtedly, certain rooms that are not listed here appear in practically everyone’s home. Examples include such rooms as that for the laundry, mudrooms, and others, but these are usually best reserved for the weekends and other times when there are extended periods of time that can be used to catch up on cleaning that is not done during the week. And even with certain cleaning projects that are done during the week, such as making the beds, “extended clean” items such as laundering the sheets can also be done on weekends when there is more help available for the completion of these chores.

Lots More
Of course, there are other items that might be touched upon when time permits, but these are largely dependent on the lifestyle of those who live in a home. Not only does how a family lives presents unique situations for things to be cleaned, but the willingness of each member of the family to help greatly impacts not only what needs to be done and when, but how easy and quickly the housekeeping chores are likely to be done since there is more labor available for their successful and efficient completion.