HouseChores
A house chore list, room by room
Every job that keeps a home running, grouped by where it happens and how often it comes round. Read it, print it, or copy the parts that match your house — it is yours to use.
You are not meant to do all of this. No household does every item at every rhythm. The point of seeing the whole list once is that the work stops being invisible — and stops living in one person's memory.
Kitchen
The busiest room in most houses, and the one where a skipped day shows fastest.
Daily every day
- Wash up, or load and run the dishwasher
- Wipe down counters, hob and the table
- Put food away and deal with leftovers
- Sweep or spot-clean the floor
- Empty food scraps or compost
Weekly once a week
- Mop the floor
- Scrub the sink and taps
- Wipe cabinet fronts, handles and appliance exteriors
- Clear the fridge of anything past its day
- Take out recycling
Monthly once a month
- Clean inside the microwave and oven
- Wipe down fridge shelves and drawers
- Descale the kettle or coffee machine
- Run a cleaning cycle in the dishwasher
- Wipe the bin inside and out
Seasonal a few times a year
- Empty, wipe and restock the pantry — check dates
- Defrost the freezer
- Clean extractor filters
- Sort the drawer of things that do not belong anywhere
Bathrooms
Daily every day
- Wipe the basin and taps
- Squeegee or wipe the shower after use
- Hang towels to dry, not on the floor
- Put away what got left out
Weekly once a week
- Clean the toilet, inside and out — including the base
- Scrub the shower, bath and screen
- Clean the mirror
- Mop the floor
- Empty the bin and put out fresh towels
Monthly once a month
- Wash bath mats
- Descale the showerhead and taps
- Wipe cabinet fronts and clear the surfaces properly
- Restock paper, soap and anything running low
Seasonal a few times a year
- Scrub grout and reseal where needed
- Clear out expired medicine and old toiletries
- Clean the extractor fan cover
Bedrooms
Daily every day
- Make the bed
- Clothes into the wardrobe or the wash basket — not the chair
- Clear cups, plates and glasses back to the kitchen
Weekly once a week
- Change the sheets
- Vacuum, including under the bed
- Dust surfaces, lamps and headboard
- Empty the bin
Monthly once a month
- Wash pillow protectors and mattress cover
- Wipe skirting boards and door frames
- Clear the surfaces that quietly became storage
Seasonal a few times a year
- Rotate or flip the mattress
- Swap the wardrobe over for the season
- Wash duvets and pillows
- Set aside what no longer fits or gets worn
Living areas
Daily every day
- Straighten cushions and fold throws
- Clear cups, plates and wrappers
- Shoes, bags and coats back where they live
Weekly once a week
- Vacuum, including under the sofa cushions
- Dust shelves, screens and surfaces
- Wipe remotes, handles and light switches
- Water the plants
- Deal with the pile of post
Monthly once a month
- Wipe skirting boards and door frames
- Clean glass doors and interior windows
- Vacuum upholstery and under the furniture
- Dust light fittings and the tops of things
Seasonal a few times a year
- Wash or air curtains
- Clean windows inside and out
- Rotate rugs and deep-clean carpets
- Sort books, games and the cable drawer
Laundry & linen
Laundry is the chore most often counted as one job when it is really four: wash, move, fold, put away. The last one is where it stalls.
As it comes ongoing
- Run a load
- Move the wash to the dryer or the line before it sours
- Fold and put away the same day
- Deal with anything that needs treating before it sets
Weekly once a week
- Sheets and towels
- Iron what genuinely needs it
- Wipe the machine door and seal
- Clear the lint filter
Monthly once a month
- Run a cleaning cycle in the washing machine
- Wash bath mats and small rugs
- Restock detergent before it runs out, not after
Entry, outdoors & car
Weekly once a week
- Bins out to the curb — and back in
- Sweep the porch, steps or entry
- Tidy shoes, coats and the drop zone by the door
- Clear rubbish out of the car
Monthly once a month
- Wipe the front door, handles and letterbox
- Clear cobwebs from the porch and corners
- Tidy one shelf of the garage or shed
- Check tyre pressure and washer fluid
Seasonal a few times a year
- Clear the gutters
- Garden waste, pruning and leaves
- Wash windows from outside
- Wash the car properly, inside and out
- Check weather stripping before the cold arrives
The invisible list
Most chore lists stop at the visible jobs. But a house also runs on work nobody can see being done — and it is usually carried by one person, who gets no credit for it because it never appears on a list.
Weekly once a week
- Work out what everyone is eating this week
- Build the shopping list and do the shop
- Check the calendar for what is coming — who needs to be where
- Notice what is running low before it runs out
Monthly once a month
- Bills, renewals and anything with a date on it
- Test the smoke alarms
- Change or check filters
- Book the appointments everyone keeps meaning to book
Seasonal a few times a year
- Service what needs servicing before it fails
- Insurance, subscriptions and the annual admin
- Plan around holidays, school terms and time away
This section is the reason HouseChores exists. Wiping a counter is easy to see and easy to hand over. Remembering that the recycling goes out tonight, that the filter is due, and that nobody has bought milk is a different kind of work — and writing it down where the whole household can see it is what stops it being invisible.
How to use a list like this
A long list can read as an accusation. It is not one. A few things that make it usable:
- Start with one room. Pick the room that bothers you most, get its rhythm working, then add another.
- Cut anything that does not apply. No garden, no gutters. A list you have edited is a list you will use.
- Match the job to the person, not the calendar. People have different amounts of time, energy and reach in a given week, and a list that ignores that gets abandoned by whoever it overloads.
- Put it where everybody looks. A list in one person's head is that person's job. A list on the fridge, the wall tablet or a shared screen belongs to the household.
- Expect to miss things. The measure of a working system is that a missed week is visible and recoverable, not that nothing is ever missed.
HouseChores is a free, shared board for exactly this: the household's chores on one screen, distributed by what each person can reasonably carry. No ads, no trackers, nothing sold on. HouseChores Plus — for handing over the remembering — is coming.