Can cleaning and laundry be stylish?

April 16, 2020

It’s the middle of April, we’ve been staying at home for over a month and I have been diligently keeping up with the April Spring Cleaning Challenge that I posted at the beginning of the month. This has been greatly aided by the fact that I’m doing it with three friends and we send each other daily updates on what we’re doing. Of course there is also plenty of funny comments and banter which is what makes it so much fun.

Apart from the cleaning challenge and our current big family cleaning day on Saturday mornings, I deal with laundry, dishes and basic tidying up on a daily basis. This is true now and was the case before the Corona Crisis. I bet that’s true for you as well.

I say this often and I’m feeling it more than ever: the products you use all the time have such an impact on your mood and how you feel in your home. This is certainly true for cleaning products and laundry items. The less you like doing something, the more it helps to have a beautiful item to do it with.

So to answer the question above – Can cleaning and laundry be stylish? – yes it can!!! And I encourage you to make it so.

With this in mind, I thought I would share some great products I have found that might brighten your mood while you’re doing the usual house chores. I am also a major advocate of investing in beautiful, sustainable or long-life products rather than cheap throw-away plastics.

Natural Brushes

Doing the spring cleaning challenge has made me realize there are a lot of spots in my home that need dusting, like tops of shelves and inside radiators. I happen to love well-made wooden brushes and think they are a great investment. They remind me of grand homes and give you all the old-world, refined feels.

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The two brushes on the left are from a company called Buerstenwelt, selling natural brushes for every conceivable use. Number One can bend to 90 degrees and cleans the tops of high shelves. Brilliant! The brush on the right is a radiator cleaner from an old French brush company called Andrée Jardin.

Designer Brushes and Brooms

Aren’t these pieces so much more handsome than their brightly-colored supermarket counterparts? Looking at Number 4 reminds me of one important tip for your kitchen: if your washing up liquid is kept on your kitchen counter, be sure to put it in a nice bottle.

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Pretty Containers

I’ve recently discovered the lovely British shop Garden Trading. They ship to Germany with a hefty shipping fee (starting at 15 GBP), nonetheless I love to find beautiful products and companies in Europe that easily ship internationally.

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Glass Jars and Toolkits

Especially in the laundry room it’s so nice to put your cleaning products and useful items into nice containers, such as glass jars. I have a collection of the little bottles from Dr. Beckmanns to clean various stains. and I think they would be so nicely collected in a toolbox like the one below.

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Laundry Room Essentials

I may not have the laundry room of my dreams (keep scrolling to see what that might look like) but there’s no reason why my basic essentials can’t be pleasing to the eye. These products, along with nearly everything I’ve listed in this post, will last for many years so you might as well invest in something nice.

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Lovely Cleaning Products and Bottles

Beautiful laundry and cleaning products are such luxuries. Here’s my little tip: buy a beautiful product like the ironing water or scented vinegar below and long after the product is gone you can continue to use the bottle with your own natural mixture. Or use plain bottles like the ones below on the left for a sleek and minimalist look.