A home maintenance schedule is honestly the best thing I’ve created for myself as a homeowner and busy mom. Whether you have a family or not, taking care of a home can be stressful at times. If not downright overwhelming. Between daily chores, deep cleans, and organizational headaches (pantries get messy so fast, p.s here’s how I deal with mine), it’s easy to lose track of the bigger picture. How do you get the energy for home improvements and fun DIY projects if dishes and dirty laundry is piling up?
Having a set schedule to take care of my home, for things big and small, is the main reason why I’ve been able to tackle larger projects such as upgrading my kitchen. It all comes down to having control over your home maintenance and making it simple with the help of a schedule. If you’re ready to leave behind the stress of catching up on homecare tasks to focus on better things, let’s dive in.
Creating a Sustainable Home Maintenance Checklist
Before you start scheduling chores to do around the home, you need to see the big picture. Having an idea of everything that needs to be done is a must.
Staying on Top of Homeowner Responsibilities
The first step is to come up with a full checklist.
I recommend approaching this task with your partner or a trusted friend. Facing the complete scope of all the homecare that needs to be done is a little scary. I find that sharing the burden with my husband and planning together makes the whole process easier.
To reduce your mental load, set some time aside to sit down with the people you live with and create your checklist. I recommend planning out the year ahead. For a more in-depth look on my process, check out my post: NEW YEAR, NEW HOME: MAKING YOUR HOUSE A HOME.
Creating Your Own Home Maintenance Schedule
Checklist in hand, you know what chores you want to focus on. Now the question is, what’s your timeline?
Everyone has different standards when it comes to homecare tasks. As such, creating and implementing a schedule is highly subjective. My tip? Divide your checklist into categories that make sense to you. My favorite? A simple time frame. Think daily tasks, weekly tasks, monthly tasks, seasonal, etc.
Once you’ve set out a plan, consider adding to your schedule tasks that may require outsourcing.
Take Inventory of Hired Out Services
When it comes to home owner responsibilities, taking care of your home’s health is important. Carving out time once a year to service your furnace and AC unit ensures that your home is protected and functions well. Did you know that proper maintenance can save you up to 30 percent in energy bills each year? That’s definitely something worth doing!
I also suggest cleaning out your gutters and air ducts every season.
Don’t forget to change your filter
Changing the air filter of your furnace is a must, especially if your family is prone to allergies. I follow the general guideline of changing it every 2 to 3 months for best air quality. It’s helped tone down our allergy systems a lot.
Audit Your Home for Small Handyman Projects
You don’t need to be thinking about ever selling your home to invest in a home audit. A professional’s input might help you see problem areas that aren’t apparent yet to the untrained eye. Thus offering you a chance to address them before it’s too late. Or progresses to even more costly repairs instead of a quick fix now.
Consider Paying for a Few Routine Services
Let’s face it, daily and weekly chores can get in the way more than one and done bigger tasks. Cleaning the gutters? Not fun. But once it’s done, it’s done for a while. Dishes in the sink? A recurring nightmare.
If you suffer from a chronic disease or an executive dysfunction issue (hello ADHD), those maintenance tasks can overload you. I feel you. There’s no shame in getting help for day-to-day chores.
Reach out to family and friends or pay a cleaning crew to take over once or twice a month.
Keep a Running List of Repairs
Along with your home maintenance checklist, having a separate record of repairs to be completed is a good idea. To ensure they don’t slip through the cracks. Also some repairs might be dependent on time of year. You don’t want to be stuck with a defective sump pump before spring floods or have broken gutters as winter approaches.
You Have a Home Maintenance Schedule: Now What?
As you settle in the rhythm of your new home maintenance schedule over time, you’ll be ready for the next natural step: tackling your repairs. Big or small, it can be intimidating to start fixing, especially if you’re a beginner when it comes to working with tools. If you can relate, check out my post about the ESSENTIAL TOOLS YOU’LL NEED FOR YOUR DIY HOME PROJECTS.
But if you’re not ready, no worries, I’ll be here when you are with my DIYs and renovations tips.
Let me know in the comments below which home maintenance tip you’re taking with you!
xo, Gbeke
What do you think?