Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time to shape up AND ship out. I’m referring to that all time ultimate goal of getting your entire house clean and organized. Shape up your home to look clean and organized, have everything accessible, and have a plan in place that helps you to keep it that way. Ship out anything that you haven’t used in a while and get rid of the clutter. It’s got to be done sooner or later, and here at the beginning of the year is the perfect time to get yourself on a schedule or orderly cleanliness.
The first step is to get rid of everything that you can. Be charitable and part with whatever you don’t really need. It’s so much easier to stay organized when you only own what you use all the time. It also frees up space so that you actually have somewhere to put the things that you do need to keep. When everything has a place to go, cleaning up is a snap. It becomes a lot easier to maintain a clean house when you are organized.
Piling up mail and clutter as soon as you come in from work is a really common bad habit that makes it hard to keep your house clean. Make sure that you have plenty of storage around the entryways of your house. Create a special bin for mail by the door that you usually come in. This way, you can quickly get the mail out of sight and not get it mixed up with everything else that hits your desk top or kitchen counter. Keep a small trash can or shredder near this area so that you can easily sift through junk mail and only keep what you really need in your mail bin.
Make sure that you have hooks and small shelves for other things that you’ll be carrying when you enter the house. A small shelf makes a great place for you to stash your cell phone, wallet, keys and spare change as soon as you come in. Keep your phone charger here, too, and you’ll be ready to leave the house at a moment’s notice. Storage for shoes and hangers for coats can keep you from adding to the clutter heaps that you normally make when you get home from work. Use wooden hangers to keep this area looking nice and neat.
Laundry is another thing that can easily pile up on you. Try to make a habit of doing your laundry at a certain time. You can wash one small load on your way out every morning. Dry it when you get home, then fold it and put it away before bed. You might only need to do a load on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you make a habit of doing certain chores at certain times, then it’ll rarely pile up on you.
Certain things don’t need to be done every day, but they do need to be done. Make a cleaning calendar that schedules you for things like cleaning out the microwave or oven, dusting, steam cleaning carpets, or cleaning the ceiling fan blades and light fixtures. Get your house to an organized state and then work on keeping that way.
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