When you have committed to having pet sitters or housesitters to stay in your home to care for your pets and property when you are away, it is good to declutter your home as a way to prepare for housesitters. The main rooms that get busy with home traffic should be cleaned and tidied, and the guest bedroom especially should be cleared to ensure that your guests have space to live in the room and somewhere to put their clothes while they are staying.

Here are some top tips for ways to declutter your home as you prepare for housesitters.

Prepare for housesitters

Clean and simple: Ways to declutter your house

Declutter your main rooms  to prepare for housesitters. Consider what food to leave for house sitter and the space in the kitchen for them to store their own foods.

Whether you are an OCD neat freak, or a messy slob, most people can appreciate a squeaky clean house. Returning home to a spotless kitchen and an organized living room is a refreshing experience that is often underestimated. When you clear the clutter, you’ll find that it can affect your mood and state of mind.

People who live in clean and tidy spaces tend to exhibit a calmer demeanour and generally have more tolerance than others who do not.  While few would disagree, frustration occurs when you are the one bearing the burden of maintaining a clean and mess-free living space. This is compounded if you are a working parent who has no end of duties, as well as other family members who depend on you. 

Below, you will find some simple tricks that will come in handy when you want to declutter your house and keep it clean.

Find trusted professional cleaners

With the busy lives we lead, finding the time to finish chores around the house seems to be getting harder each day. If you’re always on the run and don’t have a spare moment to clear up the mess in your house, make life easier. Seek help from a professional cleaning agency.

No matter where you live, you can find the help you need. Ensure your brief to the cleaners manages to highlight the importance of your busy family rooms like the kitchen, living room and bathrooms. 

Whether you’re living in London, England, or in Geelong, Australia, you can find suppliers like Maid 2 Match who can help you with the cleaning and decluttering of your home. Many even pledge to go back for a second visit or even offer a complete refund if you are unsatisfied with their services. You can find professional cleaning services that offer the same privileges and really make your life that much easier.

Don’t forget to look for attractive features like instant and simple online booking with a variety of payment methods to choose from. Find a service provider that is dependable enough to deliver, whenever you need them. It is a sure way they can help you prepare for housesitters ahead of your trip.

Don’t let it pile up

Even if you have professional cleaners that you absolutely trust, you will need to maintain your house in between their visits. 

When you’re away from home you can ask housesitters to build the cleaning into their daily and weekly routines.

However, if while you are at home you put off clearing up, things are bound to pile up. So it’s important that you don’t let this happen. A very good rule is to not allow things to get worse by putting off chores like dusting or washing the dishes. Avoid being dragged into thinking that “it doesn’t look that bad.” Before you know it, it will.

Learn to do things promptly. Wash the dishes right after dinner and put dirty clothes in the hamper once you take them off. This will make home life much easier for you and your cleaner.  All this by keeping things under control since the cleaner’s last visit. 

Prepare for housesitters – Get rid of items that serve no purpose

All of those old gift boxes and empty pot plants around your home need to go. From coins to restaurant menus, and old keys, you name it! Get in the habit of recycling or repurposing such items immediately and get your kids to do the same. Sometimes such a simple move is all you need to keep your house in order. 

Make your bed once you wake up

If you do just one thing before you leave the house in the morning, try to make your bed. A made bed will somehow instantly make your room look organised. It will also set the tone to starting your day in an organised manner. Teach your kids to do the same to get them used to the mess-free environment and the tidy view of their rooms.  It sounds ambitious, but it’s definitely worth a shot.

As you prepare for housesitters make a daily checklist

This does not have to be an elaborate or complicated schedule. A simple checklist to break down all your home chores is a great idea. It can also help to prepare a work schedule for your housesitters while they are staying in your home. For example, vacuum carpets once a week, keep laundry for Saturdays, and dusting for Sundays and so on.

Encourage family members to get on board by hanging up the list somewhere in the family room or the kitchen. This way you won’t be overwhelmed with doing everything by yourself. What is more, your kids can compete in finishing their chores in exchange for treats.  Getting them to help clean and declutter their rooms is an excellent start.

Keeping your house clutter-free is not that hard. Once you find a system that works for your household, it will be smooth-sailing from there. Even with help, assign a cleaning schedule for them to follow, so you do not waste time briefing them every time they come over. Incorporate the above tips in your cleaning routine and you will see first hand how much cleaner your house has become. 

Find and prepare for housesitters

Do you have a property available for house sitting? Or would you like to try housesitting? We can place sitters all around the world.

Make sure you prepare for housesitters and brief them before they arrive to ensure the best result possible. Good communication and preparation on both sides leads to greater trust and a better result all round.

Choosing a house sitting website

Your selection of one or two housesitting websites is important both as homeowner and house sitter. Whether you like a free housesitting website or a paid for site, it is worth taking a moment to consider the benefits and challenges of both.

Some people are happy with the house sitter as a free non paying guest in their home. Yet they want the security of knowing the sitter has been checked for their safety. Prepare for housesitters with housesitting websites like HouseSit Match.com will check the ID of the sitter before they are allowed to apply for housesits.

In addition most sitters have a background check so criminal record checks have been shared with the site management. This keeps the website, the network and all involved as safe as can be.

Benefits of paying housesitting websites

• Sitters are checked for safety before they can apply for sits advertised
• The checks display on the sitter profiles
• There is usually a small annual fee which is cheaper than the per visit cost of a professional house and pet sitter
• There are funds to pay professionals to run the website
• The security systems are managed by paid specialists and security is of paramount importance
• Both parties pay to be members, homeowners and housesitters for equity in the housesitting arrangement

Prepare for housesitters with the free websites

Other people want a real bargain and don’t want to pay for the housesitting website service either. Yes it might seem like a real bargain, but take some precautionary steps. There is a lot to be said for taking time out to prepare for housesitters and vet these people who are coming into hour home. Do they have background checks already? Do you even know who they are for sure?

Benefits of free house sitting websites

• There is usually a small annual fee which is cheaper than the per visit cost of a professional house and pet sitter
• Homeowners do not pay to be members of this type of site
• Housesitters usually pay a small annual fee to have access to the housesitting assignment advertisements.

A final word on how to prepare for housesitters

There is an old adage ‘If you’re not paying for it, you are the product‘. This is largely true. Always ask yourself how is the other party benefitting? If they appear to get nothing from the arrangement then you maybe the star turn on offer! Prepare for housesitters by finding people you can work with on a reputable housesitting platform. Prepare a house sitter binder or book of the house.

At Housesitmatch we call this the Easy Sit Guidelines to help brief the sitters, it is a house sitter instructions template.

Join HouseSitMatch.com and find a way to exchange your services for mutual benefit. Join HouseSitMatch today

Further reading about housesitting and trusted house sitters

At Housesitmatch.com we like to share useful blogs and practical advice about trusted house sitters, housesitting and pet sitting. We hope you find this small selection of our blogs on house sitters and house sitting in London useful.

Preparing a home for a house or pet sitter