Messes are an inevitable part of everyday life, but there are a few tricks and tips that Seriously Organized People use to help them maintain their spotless abodes. Before you dismiss tidiness as a fantasy reserved for Instagram Home Tours or Air BNB Hosts, think again. An organized home looks good, of course, but it's not just for the camera; it's for YOU.
Studies consistently confirm that organized homes can lower stress levels and promote peace of mind for their occupants (especially when they don’t have to tear around searching for the car keys)! But where to start? Once the clutter builds up and has gotten away from you, it can seem overwhelming.
HERE’S WHAT TO DO:
THE HOME EDIT: Start by eliminating all the extra stuff you've accumulated. Be honest: Do you need five types of shampoo + conditioner in the shower? Are you really going to read those vintage People Magazines? Do the kids care if you keep every old art project they did at school? Spoiler alert: You don’t, you won’t, and they don’t. TOP TIP: If you can’t bear to throw out the kid’s old art projects, make a photo collection and store them in a Dropbox file you can share with them!
Taking stock of everything you buy, keep and store regularly will help eliminate clutter, enabling you to maintain a cleaner, more organized space.
GET TO HOME BASE. Establish a “home” for everything. This is the most crucial part of keeping your tidy on. Scissors, batteries, remotes, and wrapping paper all need a practical place to live. Once you've created a place for everything in your house, it should be easy for everyone to find and put it back once they've finished using it. TOP TIP: Don’t overthink it. Just think about the first place you’d look for whatever you need to store and put it there (i.e., sunglasses in a top dresser drawer or a bowl for your keys near the front door, etc.). No storing things in the sofa cushions; that's not a practical place!
DEEP CLEAN AND CARRY ON: Once you’ve culled the excess clutter and established a practical place to store everything, you’re ready to give your place a proper deep clean. Start with the closets, cupboards, and over-stuffed spaces where you used to hide your extra stuff. Vacuum, dust, and give everything a good spray and wipe down.
TOP TIP: If this is where you get stuck, invest in a professional deep clean to motivate you to maintain it.
DECORATIVE STORAGE: This is the fun part! You can find decorative organizers for almost anything from sunglasses to Christmas ornaments now. I buy those clear, plastic bins from IKEA to hold everything from my son’s skateboard parts to ski clothes in the garage.
TOP TIP: A printed-out sign or label maker makes it easier to identify quickly. Inside the house, I prefer more decorative storage. For example, I have open shelving in my Laundry, so I invested in large canvas tubs to organize our sheets and keep them free from dust. Look for fabric, wooden, or metal bins at The Container Store, specialty stores, or even Amazon. There are plenty of options to suit any budget. TOP TIP: Measure the stuff you want to store in them and the space to keep them to ensure they fit. Then, measure it all again, just to be safe.
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU’VE ENTERED THE MAINTENANCE PHASE
READY, SET, MAINTAIN. I live by the ABC Method (Always Be Cleaning). It’s not as tedious as it sounds. ABC just means that you clean as you go. Doing that is much faster and nicer to live with than throwing things everywhere and then confronting the inevitable mess.
For example, I (almost) never walk past a mess without stopping to clean it up. I make my bed every morning and spend the first + last 20 minutes of each day doing a little tidy-up. Clothes get re-hung right after being worn. I do a load of laundry, water plants, or vacuum the living room. If something needs to be put in the right place, I return it to Home Base—that sort of thing.
ABC is a low-effort, high-yield way of keeping the clutter to a minimum. After a little while, you will do it automatically. Making a habit of putting things back keeps mess from building up and feeling overwhelming and will keep clutter to a minimum.
MAKE IT EASY. There are some shortcuts you can take to make ABC more efficient. I'm a massive fan of a coat rack or hooks in a bedroom for hanging gently worn clothing before being worn again. Fabric refreshers that clean (rather than just fragrance) allow you to wear those same clothes a few more times, saving you time and money.
TOP TIP: Having several Laundry Baskets instead of one allows you to quickly fold clothing fresh from the dryer into a basket and stay there until you have time to iron. Under-sink organizers are a lifesaver when you need to find bug spray or a watering can in a jiffy.
TOP TIP: Having bathroom and glass cleaner handy in each bathroom makes it easier to do quick touch ups, so you can go weeks without having to do a deep clean. Smart.
The takeaway is that just a little bit of effort yields a lot of dividends for creating a calm, clean and organized home.
Get out in front of it and stay there!
Xx, mlk
