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By Stacy DeBroffÂ
If you’re like most moms, you’re probably overwhelmed by the amount of “stuff” you have piling up in your house. By instituting some simple rules for both yourself and your family, you can get (and keep!) your home more organized.
~ Don’t wait for a big block of time to tackle clutter; it must be dealt
with daily, a little at a time. As a bonus, getting rid of more clutter
translates into less time spent in dusting and vacuuming.
~ Before you buy any household item, consider the time it will take to
maintain it, the space it will take up in your house, and where will you
store it.
~Make it a general policy to try to throw out one old thing for every new
purchase that enters your home.
~ Hire a babysitter to come in for two hours while you reorganize. You’ll
have a time limit, and since you’re paying someone, you’re likely to use the
time well.
~ Assign everything in your house a home, so that your family knows where to
find what they need, and more importantly, they know where to put it away.
~ It also dramatically cuts down on the clutter of items left out “for now”
or “until I find a place for it.”
~ It gets rid of junk drawers and saves hours of time across a year
searching for misplaced things.
~ If you have stairs, never go up or down them empty-handed. Always grab
stuff with you that belongs to upstairs rooms and quickly put it away.
~ Baskets work wonders – create them for incoming mail, bills, and
receipts.
~ Hang hooks by the door for your keys and purse.
~ Keep frequently used items in places where you can reach them without
stooping or struggling
~ Designate one place in your house for storing library books, and end a
house-wide hunt when it’s time to read or return them.
~ When you undress, take a minute to hang your clothes or put them in the
hamper. You add steps to the process if you leave them on a chair, your bed,
or the floor for later.
~ Put everything back where it belongs the moment you stop using it—whether
magazines to a basket or rack, bills and finances to your finance basket,
and wrapping paper and ribbons to your gift wrapping center.