Restoration and Preservation
There is a charm, even for homely things, in perfect maintenance.
Louis Auchincloss
There is quite a difference between the intense effort required for restoration – it’s a one and done. And then the world runs its course and the items are again returned to shabbiness, as is it’s natural order.
That’s where preservation comes in.
Both are necessary to keep a home running and work in cyclical tandem: restoring order after chaos, like a glass of milk spilled into the sofa, and then quiet maintenence of straightening cushions and disinfectant spray before retiring for the evening.
Maintenance isn’t glamorous but it doesn’t have to be laborious – there is also beauty to be found in the mundance routines.
Those mundane routines create an environment of balanced maintenance so your restoration energy can be reserved for special things, and restoration is not a daily task – preservation is.
Once I learned to think of restoration and preservation as distinct tasks, my home maintenance schedule became more easy to manage. Because life is busy and no one has time to deep clean their entire home every day. At the very least, I do not.
Enter: the cyclical routine. There are three stages to each topic of maintaining my home and each field guide has the steps for each. But as a general guideline, the scheme is there are immediate tasks (spills!), routine/quick cleaning (daily tasks), and deep cleaning (cyclical/seasonal chores).
The Routine
immediate cleaning
Clean up after yourself. Sounds simple but it is all too easy to leave that spilled spaghetti sauce thinking you’ll come back to it when the rest of supper isn’t burning. (Ah…yes, that’s probably just me.) Do your best to follow the steps to put the house to bed and clean up any messes, spills, who-knows-what-because-I-live-in-the-thunderdome right away. That’s it.
quick cleaning
Actually clean the thing but the 5 minute version. For most chores, this is usually about once a week and timed so all of your maintenance cleaning isn’t all on the same day (unless you like that). For example, the night before trash pick-up (Monday for me), I take out all of the trash and give the bins a good wipe-down but don’t get into all the little crevices. Sundays are grocery shopping days so when I get home from the store, I make sure and throw out anything expired and wipe down shelves before putting the new groceries away.
Deep cleaning
Like really, really clean it (aka the steps). Depending on the task, this is maybe every month or two (or 6!). Just pull up the guide for that task or use your own method and really make sure it’s sparkling and organized. The important thing is you’re not trying to deep clean your house all in one day – it’s just rotating through one thing at a time.
The Schedule
I’ve been wondering how one gets on the rotation. It seems like what works at home really depends on one’s own life, but from my experience, I’ve found a certain approach that feels right. I figure it’s best to start with that and then tweak it as needed.
So, when I complete a step in my cleaning plan, I like to set my schedule right then. Did I just finish the pantry on Tuesday the 30th? Nice. That means every Tuesday I do a quick clean, and on the 30th of each month, I tackle a deep clean. It’s kind of satisfying to have a routine like that.
I’ve always been more of a paper person than digital, but over time, digital tools have become so much more efficient and easier for my whole family to keep up with that I’ve actually switched to using them. I really like an app called Structured (no, they don’t pay me – unfortunately) that helps me organize my daily tasks and schedules, but honestly, any digital planner like Google or Apple calendars works just as well! I’ve set aside specific blocks of time for housework, and in the notes, I jot down what I want to focus on—like quick fridge and pantry cleanings on Sundays, linens on Saturdays, or air vents at the start of each month. Then I just schedule those tasks to repeat weekly, monthly, or yearly—whatever works best. It’s so simple! Now my schedule is all set, and I don’t have to waste mental energy wondering what to tackle each day or when I last cleaned under the fridge.
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