Table of Contents
A study at the University of Colorado found that the average household has more than 9,000 different species of bacteria, fungus and microbes, as Lifehack reports.
While the exact number will depend on factors including the home’s geographic location and how many people live inside the building, the bottom line is that your home will have a lot of germs.
Some of these will be harmless — but cleaning a home regularly is a depressingly time-draining endeavour. So, how can you redesign your interiors to ease the job of cleaning them in the future?
Invest in elevated furniture
What is ‘elevated furniture’? Basically, it’s furniture that leaves a space between itself and the floor. So, furniture pieces with legs — think certain sofas, credenzas and side tables — would fit into this category, as would cabinets that are affixed directly to the wall and levitate off the floor as a result.
Elevated furniture is crucial because it would allow you to easily vacuum or sweep the empty space beneath them. You could even trust a robotic vacuum cleaner with sneaking into this space for you.
Go for the minimalist look
It naturally follows that, the less you have in your home, the less you need to clean. Nonetheless, capturing a stripped-down style for your domestic space isn’t easy, and can require you to be unscrupulous about what you keep and what you give away.
Alternatively, you could just shrink what you’ve already got. For example, for many cabinets, beds, sofas and TV stands, you can source furniture legs that are relatively small while remaining physically resilient.
Opt for smooth and shiny — rather than matte — paint finishes
One simple reason why is that, on the glossier surfaces, it would be easier for you to wipe dirt and grime away, as Real Simple explains.
This especially bears emphasis if you have pets or kids who are prone to leaving a mess. A matte paint finish can act as too much of a canvas for food smudges; in other words, once unwanted blotches do end up on this surface, only repainting it could suffice for restoring its condition.
Choose a durable sofa
Chances are that sofas you currently have in your home have fabric, rather than leather, covers. This can be problematic, as those fabric covers could lack the stain-repellant treatments or stain-resistant microfibres that would otherwise be able to help you with keeping the sofas clean.
Leather sofas are, however, a gold standard when it comes to easy-clean sofas — as spills that end up on leather can be easily wiped away.
Store items in glass front cabinets instead of open shelves
Yes, the latter might often look nicer on Instagram, but they can take a disconcertingly long time to dust.
You could do your cleaning routine a big favour by swapping open shelves for glass front cabinets, as the latter would enable you to put pieces on display without leaving them vulnerable to accumulating dust. Besides, even these cabinets can still draw plenty of positive attention on Instagram!
