My biggest homemaker hint - do something every day. I have a big old house, way too much space for difficult child and me. An old house is actually harder to keep clean. But I do at least one or two things every day. It's not so overwhelming as leaving it all for one day a week.....
This is so very true. Our house is rambling and old as well, and doing things as we go means that things are less likely to get on top of us.
A few things I've learned to do:
clean the sink and mirror right after I finish brushing my teeth
squeegee and rinse down the bath at the end of my shower
give the toilet a quick scrub whenever I think of it
tackle the dishes as I'm cooking. By the time everything is ready, the dishwasher is loaded and running, the non-dishwasher items are washed, etc. Then put away and reload the dishwasher after the meal
Make the Monster Tots tidy up one toy before they take out another one. We still have toy explosions, but they're smaller this way.