16 Design Tips to Make Your Home Easier to Clean

Hate house chores and cleaning up? Us too. The solution? Get it right from the beginning. These 16 design tips will make your home a lot easier during clean-up days. Plus, a clean home is winning half the battle against pests!

Kitchen

1. Get glossy cabinets: Shiny surfaces aren’t just a match-made for contemporary homes; they are a lot easier to clean than matte surfaces because the former is so much smoother. Wipe them down with a damp microfiber cloth and some soap.

2. Sleek and flat cabinet fronts: No fancy insets, detailing or moulding. Think easier-to-clean flat surfaces for your cabinets. Plus, they cost a lot cheaper too!

Design: Mesh Werk Studio

3. Don’t opt for tiles for your backsplash: Removing hard-to-remove grease and water stains from the grout lines? No, thank you. We recommend a back-painted glass backsplash to make cleaning up in the kitchen a lot less tedious.

4. Plan a space for trash: Make sure your garbage disposal bin is easy to reach and easy to remove. Clear your trash regularly to avoid lingering pests. Keep it out of sight too – you don’t want any contamination between your produce and waste. We recommend placing your trash can on a pull-out shelf.

5. Integrated or under-mount sinks: Rather than top-mount or drop-in sinks, the integrated or under-mount sinks don’t leave a raised gap, providing you a seamless wiping journey from countertop to sink.

Design: The Design Abode

Living Room

6. Leather sofa over fabric sofa: It’s easier to wipe spills off a leather sofa rather than a fabric one. Leather sofas only require the occasional wipe down with a soft cloth, while fabric sofas need regular vacuuming to reduce the chance of a dust mite or bed bug infestation.

Design: Versaform

7. Get stain-resistant or make it washable: If you insist on a fabric sofa, make sure the covers are made from stain-resistant material. Also ensure that the covers can be removed and washed.

8. Choose the right flooring material: Flooring in a living room is a high-traffic surface, one that is subjected to plenty of footprint and activity. You will want a material that is easy to clean and maintain. We recommend going for vinyl, which has a smooth surface that makes it easy for mopping and unlike tiles, don’t have grout lines.

Design: Form & Space

Bathroom

9. Decide against an enclosed glass shower stall: This just means you will have extra glass surfaces to clean. Rather, opt for a shower curtain if you want to keep the shower are separate; the curtain can simply be thrown into your washer whenever it needs to be cleaned.

Design: Erstudio

10. Large-format tiles for your flooring and walls: Tiles are great for a wet environment like the bathroom. But the grout lines can be a pain to upkeep. Using larger format ones will mean you have fewer dirty grout lines to deal with.

11. Consider wall-mounted fixtures: A wall-mounted faucet, toilet and sink not only look gorgeous, they will also make it easier to scrub down the sides of the fixtures and prevent gunk-built-up over time.

Design: Collective Designs

12. Sloped floors: A slightly sloped bathroom floor, especially in your shower area, will prevent standing water and mould from growing.

13. Proper ventilation is necessary: Prevent mould from growing in your bathroom by make sure your bathroom is properly ventilated. If mould is left untreated, it can often lead to mould mites which feed on mould. These mites can cause allergic reactions to some people. Some other pests also love moisture and humid environments like the cockroach, so a well-ventilated bathroom will keep these pests at bay.

Bedroom

14. Opt for a built-in, floor-to-ceiling wardrobe: Freestanding wardrobes are beautiful, but they do mean that you will have an extra surface to clean e.g. the top of the cupboards.

Design: Urban Habitat Design

15. No gap underneath the bed: Consider getting a platform bed or a bed that comes with underneath storage. This will ensure that you don’t have an underneath bed space to clean.

Design: Eightytwo

16. Avoid decorating with carpets or rugs: These soft furnishings are oh-so-comfortable, but they require regular vacuuming as they are the perfect habitat for dust mites and bed bugs.