keeping it clean | the 5 minute sweep

I bet you thought I forgot about this series.  I did, but then I remembered again.  Twice.  I drafted this post about a week ago, then forgot about it.  I have a few more on the burner!

My favorite cleaning tip/trick is the 5-minute sweep.  For the most part I do it every night, and if not I take care of it first thing in the morning.  The sweep is married to my favorite cleaning principle, "a place for everything, and everything in its place."  It is exactly what the name entails--an intentional 5 minute blitz of putting away anything that isn't in it's home.  Clothes get hung up, shoes put away, dishes to the drying rack, etc.  I rarely pull out cleaning products, it's just a run through of my space.

Speaking of putting things away, do you have any specialized spaces for stuff?  Some of my favorites are:

• Keeping a stash of bandaids (well for me, paper tape and gauze) in my knife/sharp things drawer in the kitchen.  When I cut myself at home, it's usually in the kitchen and I consider it genius having those things at hand.
• Having a set of cleaning products in the room they clean.
• Zoned-places.  For instance, anything sharp in my kitchen lives in the "sharp drawer."  All adhesives (glues, mod-podge, different kinds of tape) in the house are in one place together (except paper tape).  Magazines stay together, games stay together.  Everything in its place.  :)