How to Keep Your Home Clean and Organised During a Renovation

Renovating your home is one of those things that sounds brilliant on paper—new finishes, better layouts, and the satisfaction of finally fixing what’s been annoying you for years.

The reality, however, often includes dust drifting everywhere, tools multiplying overnight, and a vague sense that your home is slipping out of control.

Still, living through a renovation doesn’t mean you have to abandon all order. With a few clever systems in place, you can keep your home reasonably clean, mostly organised, and far more liveable than you might expect. Let’s dive in.

Declutter Before Renovation

Before anything gets ripped out, painted over, or drilled into, take a look at what’s already in the space. If you don’t, you’ll spend the entire project moving the same piles of things from room to room, slowly losing patience with every box.

Start with the areas being renovated. Empty the cupboards, shelves, and surfaces completely. This will give you a clear picture of how much you’re actually dealing with and stop things from creeping back in halfway through the job.

Now, be honest with yourself. If something hasn’t been used in years and you wouldn’t notice if it disappeared tomorrow, it doesn’t need to survive the renovation.

This way, there will be fewer items to protect, fewer surfaces to clean, and far less risk of something getting damaged or lost.

Plus, the tradespeople will be able to move freely, the materials will have a logical storage space, and you won’t be constantly searching for things buried under unrelated clutter.

And yes, it can feel oddly satisfying to start a big project knowing you’ve already removed some unnecessary baggage—physical and otherwise.

Create a Cleaning Schedule

Without a plan, mess builds up quietly until one day, you notice you’re rinsing plaster dust out of a mug you just washed.

However, your cleaning schedule doesn’t need to be strict or time-consuming. Here’s a routine that’s easy to follow:

• Daily. Focus on the areas you’re actually using. Wipe down your worktops and any surfaces where dust settles quickly. Keep the walkways clear by vacuuming or sweeping. Also, don’t forget to empty the bins regularly.

• Weekly. This is where you reset the space. Mop the floors, wipe down the doors and handles, and check any areas you assumed were sealed off. Dust has a habit of sneaking in anyway, and dealing with it weekly will stop it from becoming overwhelming.

• Post-renovation. Once work is finished, a professional apartment cleaning service can remove fine dust from surfaces, vents, and hard-to-reach areas, helping the space feel finished and safe to use sooner.

In any case, if you’ve got tradespeople coming in and out, try to work your cleaning around their schedule. Tying your reset to natural breaks in the work will help the house feel liveable again, even if only briefly.

Organise Your Tools and Materials

When tools get left where you last used them and materials end up stacked wherever there’s room, clutter builds quickly and slows everything down.

Before work ramps up, decide where the tools and materials will be stored. Keep frequently used tools close to the work area so you don’t have to walk back and forth all day. Boxes, crates, or basic shelving are usually all you need.

Also, store items in a way that matches how you actually work and keep similar tools together.

If you’re sharing the space with other people, clarity matters. Everyone should know where the tools belong and where materials can be found; otherwise, they’ll waste time searching, re-buying items, or stepping over random things.

Organisation also reduces risk. Loose tools, offcuts, and trailing leads are easy to trip over, especially in a home that’s still being lived in.

Designate a ‘Clean Zone’

One of the simplest ways to stay sane during a renovation is to keep at least one area completely separate from the mess. This is your clean zone.

Bedrooms, spare rooms, or even a section of the living area can work. The rules are straightforward: no tools, no materials, and no temporary storage ‘just for now.’

This space should stay as dust-free and organised as possible. It’s where you can sit down at the end of the day, answer emails, eat dinner without checking your plate for debris, and generally feel like you have things under control.

Mentally, this will make a big difference. When everything feels chaotic, having one calm, predictable area will remind you that the renovation is temporary, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

Just make sure everyone in the household is on board. A clean zone only works if it’s respected, not treated as an overflow area when things get busy.

Use Protective Covers

Protective covers are one of those things that feel optional until the moment you wish you’d used them.

So, cover floors with dust sheets or protective film, especially along the walkways and in the areas that connect to the work zone.

As for your furniture, it should either be moved out completely or wrapped properly. A single sheet half-heartedly draped over the couch won’t cut it.

Also, cover the bannisters, wrap fitted units, and seal doorways with plastic sheeting if you want to keep dust from drifting into rooms you’re still using.

You’ll also need to check those covers regularly. Tape loosens, sheets slip, and gaps appear when you’re not looking. If you don’t adjust them as the work progresses, they’ll stop doing their job.

Even though it can seem like overkill, spending five minutes every few days to check them beats trying to clean fine dust out of upholstery or wood grain once it’s settled in for good.

Conclusion

Renovations are disruptive by nature, but they don’t have to completely take over your home.

With some planning and a few firm boundaries, you can keep things clean, organised, and calm enough to get through it comfortably. And when the dust finally settles, you won’t just be left with new walls or fittings; you’ll get a clean, functional space that’s ready to be lived in.