May 3, 2025
Cleaning Routines Inspired by Minimalist Living
New Yorkers are always on the go. After all, it’s the city that never sleeps. With so much to do, it’s easy to accumulate a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, many people buy first and ask questions later, a strategy that often leads to clutter in their homes.
Clutter, especially in smaller living spaces, can feel overwhelming. It leaves many feeling anxious, but they’re unsure where to start to get rid of it.
That’s where minimalist living comes in. A minimalist mindset can help simplify your living spaces. These open living spaces not only promote peace and harmony, but they can also streamline home cleaning, which is a big plus.
Below, we’ll give you a crash course in minimalist living, including strategies to help you declutter and clean more intentionally to create your minimalist home. It may sound scary at first, but it’s easier than you think.
Minimalist-Inspired Decluttering Strategies
When people think of minimalist living, the first thing that comes to mind is a sparse living space with no personality. While that can be the case for some, it doesn’t have to be for you.
Instead, when you adopt a minimalist lifestyle, it should be about being more intentional with your purchases. That way, you end up with less clutter. It will make cleaning go more quickly and reduce the need for frequent deep cleans.
1. Find a Home for Everything
Everything needs to have a home. It shouldn’t just sit on your counters, side tables, and entertainment centers, waiting to be organized. If it doesn’t have a home, you need to either find one for it or get rid of it.
If you have the space, you can build another bookcase or get a curio cabinet to store your knick-knacks. Your personal items don’t have to be hidden away for you to still have a minimalist vibe in your house.
2. Limit Impulse Buys
Retail therapy is a real phenomenon. When you buy things, you feel a sudden rush of dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and other hormones that make you feel happy. Unfortunately, those feelings don’t last, but the things you buy do.
That’s how many households end up with a lot of mismatched stuff – unintentional decor that doesn’t go together, seasonal decor that takes up space, and random items that have no home. You bought simply to buy, and now you’re paying the price.
Consider your spaces. Does it fit with your theme? Is it sentimental? If the answer is no, consider getting rid of the items. Donate them to a friend or give them to a resale shop.
3. Check Your Emotions
When decluttering, approach it with a rational mindset. Check your emotions at the door. Consider what you actually wear and use. Those jeans you haven’t fit into since high school? It’s time to donate them. That fancy espresso machine you swore you’d learn how to use? It’s just taking up space on your counter.
Of course, if an item holds sentimental value, you can keep it. You don’t have to get rid of everything just because you don’t use it. However, remember that by getting rid of things, you’ll have more space. You’ll be better organized, and it will help you feel more centered in your home.
4. Adopt a Less is More Mindset
Less is often more when it comes to everything in your house. You don’t need that dress in three different colors or the latest TV when your current one is working just fine. The fewer items you have, the less you’ll need to fix if they break or move to properly clean.
Additionally, the less is more mindset also applies to cleaning products themselves. It can be tempting to purchase specialized cleaning products and tools, but they often contain toxic chemicals that can be harmful to you and your family.
Practically speaking, it also takes up a lot of space under your counter. However, if you only use a few items, you’ll have more storage space and save money on fewer products.
The Importance of Intentional Cleaning
A minimalist household should be focused on intentional cleaning. In fact, some of the best cleaning routines prioritize consistency over intensity. By simply tidying up throughout the week, you’ll reduce the need to tackle big messes and deep clean more frequently.
1. Use Green Products
Take a look at the products you’re using to clean your home. Many often use toxic chemicals that can leave a harsh residue on surfaces. Instead, focus on all-natural or hypoallergenic products. These are usually safer to use in homes, especially if you have pets and little ones at home.
You can even use steamers to keep your home clean and reduce the need for most products. They use hot water and pressure to clean surfaces without the need for chemicals.
2. Build Strong Habits
The more you do without thinking about it, the less you’ll have to clean up. When the messes don’t pile up, it’s easier to clean in a few minutes rather than dedicating an entire day to the process. What does that look like in practice?
- Don’t go to sleep with dirty dishes. Run the dishwasher at night. Anything that doesn’t fit in there should be washed by hand and left to dry.
- Put away clutter on the counters. Return any cooking supplies to the cupboards and recycle any junk mail. Do this before you go to bed so you can wake up clutter-free.
- Clean up spills immediately. Wipe up messes before they dry on your floors or counters. You won’t have to scrub them off later.
- Do smaller laundry loads throughout the week. Smaller loads are often easier to fold, making them more approachable than the giant piles that accumulate after a long week.
The small tasks will add up, reinforcing good cleaning behaviors that will quickly become second nature.
3. Create a Cleaning Routine
Often, people feel overwhelmed because they feel like they have to spend hours cleaning. That’s not the case. Create a cleaning routine and spread out your tasks throughout the week to make them more manageable.
Write down your plans and place them in a visible location. If it helps, check things off the list as they go. This routine will help you feel a sense of structure, even as you work on your decluttering journey.
4. Make Cleaning Fun
Of course, cleaning is a chore, but it doesn’t have to feel like one. Do what you can to make it fun. Listen to music and dance while you sweep. Pick an audiobook and only listen to it while you clean. Use cleaning as a moment of mindfulness and meditate.
The more enjoyable you can make cleaning, the more you’ll look forward to doing it, which is essential as you continue on your minimalist living journey.
Tips for Creating a Minimalist Home
Ultimately, you want to do what you can to create a calmer, clutter-free environment. Depending on what stage of life you’re in, that may be easier said than done, so here are some simple tips you can follow to create a minimalist home.
- If you see it needs to be done, do it. Take out the garbage instead of pushing it down. Put the dirty dish in the dishwasher. Wipe down the mess in the microwave. It takes a few minutes, but you’ll be amazed at the difference it will make.
- Grab out-of-place items as you walk into rooms. If you have a glass on your desk and you’re going to the kitchen, take it with you. You can save yourself a trip and clean up small items in the process.
- Limit items on the floor. This can be particularly challenging for those with children and pets, but the fewer items you have on the floor, the easier it will be to sweep or vacuum quickly. If you have to move a lot of things out of the way, it becomes less convenient.
- You don’t need everything. You don’t have to jam-pack furniture, decor, and electronics into a room. The fewer items you have, the less dusting and cleaning you have to do.
- Understand when to phone a friend. Professional cleaners can help you keep your home clean.
If you create a minimalist space, it will be easier to keep clean, which is the dream of any busy New Yorker.
Let the Professionals Help
Even a minimalist home will benefit from the expertise of White Glove Cleaner. We create customized cleaning routines tailored to your specific needs. Whether you’re looking for a routine cleaning in New York or something more thorough, we’re here to help. Thanks to our team of expert professionals, you can maintain a space that’s both free from clutter and dust, allowing all our NYC clients to feel more at peace in their homes.