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If you’re tired of battling mess and endless cleaning, you’re not alone. Check out these 20 items you might want to rethink for a tidier, easier-to-maintain home—because sometimes, less really is more.
Some of these items I’m going to mention may already be in your home, and you might not have a choice to change them. But if you do have the option, then these are some of the items I would probably avoid, especially if you hate cleaning.
Here are 20 items to never, ever, ever have in your home if you hate cleaning.
20 Things to Never Have in Your Home (if you hate cleaning)
Keep reading below or watch the video:
1. A square sink
We’ve had this in the previous house we lived in, and we have it in the one we currently live right now.
Whenever you have a sink that’s a square or a rectangle shape, anything that has very sharp corners inside, that’s going to be so, so hard to clean. I tell you from my own experience, that’s exactly where all the food bits get stuck, and it just gets so gross and grimy in time.
What I use to clean it is one of those sonic scrubbers because it can really get in the corners. But it would have been so much easier to clean had it been just a smooth surface with no sharp corners.
2. Dark floors
I think dark floors can look so stylish, and I actually love the way they look. Downstairs in the hallway and in the kitchen, we have flooring that is a dark gray, and I love it. It looks so beautiful.
The only problem with it is that you can see every little speck of dirt or crumbs from the kids or anything like that. You can instantly see them on the floor. And while this can be a good thing because then you’re aware that it’s dirty and you can clean it up, I feel like you have to be constantly on top of it to make sure that it’s actually clean and it doesn’t look like it’s a disaster all the time.
3. Wool rugs
When I was looking for a rug for our living room, I read many reviews just to see what people were saying on the topic. I knew what look I wanted for our space and I knew I liked that kind of wool and pebbly or bubbly looking rug. But the one thing I found in the reviews is that if it’s a wool one or a certain type of fabric, it will shed a lot. And if you have hardwood floors combined with that kind of rug, it’s just not going to be fun. You’re going to have to hoover all day long to make sure you don’t have shedding all over your floors.
4. Shaggy rugs
We used to have these rugs back in Romania in the flat we lived in, and they were really lovely. I loved the way they looked. They were like really long shaggy rugs. We had them in the living room and in our bedrooms, and I think they were really nice and cozy.
But once we had kids, I realized a shaggy rug is actually not very practical. Lots of little toys can get into the shaggy parts, along with lots of crumbs and dirt. It’s so hard to get those out and clean it. Just a simple hoover will not really work on that, so it’s definitely not a practical thing, especially in a house with kids or pets.
5. Sofas with covers that don’t come off
One thing I found once I had kids is that a sofa can get really messy. We always have our meals at the table, not necessarily in the living room. Yet the kids will have snacks or little treats on the sofa, and sometimes they will eat their dinners there. It’s just something that is going to happen with kids around. And they spill things.
So having a sofa cover that actually comes off is so, so handy.
Our sofa is about 4 years old. It’s an Ikea Vimle one, and it has served us really well. I actually get asked about it if it’s hard to keep clean, as it’s a light gray color. But I actually find cleaning it really easy. I do spot clean when I need to with the Dr. Beckmann carpet cleaner. And when I want to do a deep clean, I just take all the covers off and put them in the washing machine. When they’re dry, I pop them back on, and the sofa looks pretty much like new.
So if you have a choice, try to go for a sofa with removable covers because that’s going to make everything so much easier to clean.
6. Textile dining chairs
I like my dining chairs to be pretty simple and easy to clean, in one of those fabrics that’s not going to absorb food. So if the kids spill water, milk, drinks, or food, if they drop the tomato pasta on their chair (these things are bound to happen), it’s going to be easy to clean.
Also, with kids around, there are always little fingerprints on the top of the dining chairs, and it’s just so much easier if the chairs are not textile. When they’re textile, the covers usually don’t come off, and it’s just going to be impossible to keep them clean.
7. Rugs under the dining table
That’s something you definitely do not want to have, especially if you have kids. Food gets dropped on the floor, and if there is a rug there to catch it all, it’s just going to get messy and be one extra thing to clean.
It’s much easier to clean the space under the table if it’s simply hardwood or tile floor or something like that.
I learned this the hard way when my first baby was a toddler. I thought a rug under our dining table looked lovely and cozy under our feet, so we did have one in our kitchen. But then, once we started weaning him, we actually took the rug away because it was impossible to keep clean. There was always food on it, and keeping it clean was just an extra hassle we didn’t really need.
8. Glass tables
I know, they look so lovely, don’t they? But keeping a glass table clean is going to be so hard to do, especially if you have little ones. It’s always going to have fingerprints and smudges and food, and it will be a constant game of wiping and trying to keep it clean. So glass tables are something I try to avoid, at least for our family so far.
9. French doors
You know those doors that have the little window panes? Those are going to be so much harder to clean and wipe compared to just one big glass or one big surface in general. If you hate wiping glass, having those little ones is going to make door cleaning so much harder. So, it might be best to avoid that if cleaning is not your thing.
10. Blinds
We used to have more blinds in the house we previously lived in. We had them in all the bedrooms, in the living room, and in the kitchen. And let me tell you, it was a constant game of dusting and cleaning them, which can be so hard, going slat by slat to clean all of those blinds.
In our current house, we actually have shades that roll down in all of the bedrooms. In the living room, we don’t have anything because our garden provides the privacy we need. We only have blinds in the kitchen, and it’s still much easier to clean the house because I don’t have to do all the blinds in all of the rooms. Fewer blinds (or none!) is such a game changer.
11. A gas hob
A gas hob is generally harder to clean than an induction one because of all of the little components it has on top, making it more intricate and time-consuming to clean. In contrast, an induction hob typically has just one flat surface. That’s what we have now in our kitchen, and it is such a dream to clean—one plain surface, that’s it. Such a small thing but it can make a big difference to your cleaning routine.
12. Small tiles
Whether in your kitchen or bathroom, these can be a challenge. The smaller the tile, the more grout there is around it, making it much harder to clean as it involves a lot more scrubbing. Larger tiles, on the other hand, have less grout, so they’re much easier to wipe over and keep clean in general.
13. Porous backsplash or bathroom tiles, particularly ceramic tiles
These tiles, especially if they are highly porous, can absorb dust and grime, making them much harder to clean. From personal experience, I’ve found that dust gets trapped more easily on these surfaces, especially if they’re flat. It’s much easier to clean a tile if its surface is not porous. It doesn’t have to be shiny; it can be matte, but a non-porous surface is significantly easier to wipe clean.
14. Floor-standing toilets
These types of toilets, which go all the way to the floor, are much harder to clean compared to wall-mounted toilets that “float” above the floor. With nothing on the floor beneath a wall-mounted toilet, it’s much easier to keep the area clean.
15. Glass display cabinets
Some people love using these to display items like Legos or other cherished possessions. This is fine as long as you have the time and energy to dust and keep them clean. Otherwise, they can become a hassle, especially if you hate cleaning.
A glass display cabiner is something that’s going to require time for dusting all the items inside. The glass on them will also need to be wiped quite often, and the whole process can just take a lot more of your time.
16. Display shelves with lots of trinkets on
Display shelves can be beautiful and can add a bit of character to any room, making it look more cozy. However, they do require a lot more time to dust. You need to dust the flat surface of the shelf and all the objects on it.
I know everyone’s lifestyle is different and some might have more time to dedicate to cleaning, while others might have less. For me, in the busy season of life I’m in, I try to have minimal surfaces and shelves and not too much on display so that I don’t have to spend so much time cleaning them.
17. Intricate lighting
You know those really intricate lighting fixtures that look beautiful? Unfortunately, they need a lot of dusting. The more little details and bits they have on them, the more dusting they will need, and the more time it will require of you to clean. It will just be a more time and energy consuming job in general.
18. Items on counters
If you have a lot of items out, it’s going to take a lot longer to clean your counters.
The kitchen is the one area in our homes that we actually have to clean pretty much every day, otherwise, it just gets so messy. We cook in there, we eat in there, and so the less stuff we have out on the counters, the easier our job is to keep the kitchen clean.
19. Excess furniture
I know a lot of us feel like we need so much storage space for all of our items. I used to feel the same way. But after I decluttered my home, I realized that we didn’t really need that much furniture because I no longer had that many items. It was a freeing feeling.
The less furniture you have—and I’m not saying you need to get rid of all your furniture, by the way—the less furniture you have to store items you don’t truly need. This means less cleaning you’ll have to do, less dusting on surfaces, fewer items to keep organized, and fewer items on the surface to dust all the time. It’s just going to give you back so much of your time.
20. Carpet in your living area
If you can, avoiding carpet floors in the downstairs living area is going to help with cleaning. Having hardwood floors in a high traffic area is much easier to keep clean.
If you need help decluttering, I actually have a freebie for you: my decluttering checklist. Because I know from personal experience that decluttering your home can make your home easier and quicker to clean and keep clean.
