Do you try to become more organized only to find that no one in your family follows suit? Same here. Or maybe you try to become more organized only to find you don’t even keep up with your systems yourself. Most homes have hotspots around the house for clutter. For me and my family its one part of the kitchen counter, our mudroom, and the laundry room. I have systems in place, but they are easy to skip over. When I don’t stay on top of them, clutter can overtake. My kids have some bad habits that I’m trying to break. And to be honest, my husband and I have some bad habits, too. Breaking these four habits can help you become more organized around your home.
Tossing Items Into a Closet
Whether it’s a linen closet or a bedroom closet, the habit of tossing items away can lead to a ton of clutter. In my household, closets are one of our biggest places of clutter. My oldest daughter changes clothes approximately 15 times a day, so her closet is often cluttered. She tosses real clothes and dress up clothes, and all of the hangers end up on the floor. I can be equally as disorganized with my own closet. I often spend my time putting away everyone else’s things. No matter where in your home your closets are located, keeping them unorganized is a habit to break.
Solution
Instead of tossing these items into the dark depths of the closets, create a system. You can always refer back to my linen closet organization and use those tips in any other closet. Use bins, baskets, or boxes with labels so nothing will be missed. Add shelving units if needed to help everything have a place. For items that don’t belong together, such as cleaning supplies and winter coats, find appropriate homes for these items in different areas of the home if you have the space. Everything gets its own bin. If everything has its own place, it is just as easy to place items in a box or bin as it is to toss. Everything is accessible, and breaking the habit of tossing is easier.
Throwing Mail on the Counter
One of the most common causes of kitchen clutter is stacking piles of mail and paper on the counter. Not only can this cause clutter and stress, but it also takes up valuable counter space. I have this mail sorter on my cabinet. It’s gold and marble and matches my aesthetic perfectly. However, it is inefficient. The cluttered mail is always visible. I usually go through mail and paperwork on Fridays; if I skip a week, the mail organizer just looks messy. I also have a bad habit of placing things next to the organizer. Why do we do things like this? Becoming more organized really is as simple as putting a system in place and actually following it.
Solution
First things first: throw away the junk before you even sit down. I have a trash can and a recycle bin in the garage next to the door. When I’m being efficient (and when I’m the one to bring the mail in), junk mail does not even enter the house. It goes straight into the garage trash. If the junk does get brought in, don’t let it go in the tray or basket. Throw it away before you do anything else. This is an easy habit and helps tremendously.
Next, start with an organization system for your mail. Place a stylish, yet discrete tray or basket in your entryway or on your kitchen counter where you can place your mail until you are ready to read it. My advice is to find something that looks neat and organized, even if the contents are not. A tray or basket will allow you to toss your mail in and tidy your counter space without the eyesore of the mail sticking out. Pick one or two days a week to go through your tray or basket. Coordinating the clean out days with the day you pay bills or go over accounts is the most efficient.
Leaving Shoes Around the House
If you have a family full of children, it’s common to find their shoes strewn across the house. From a pile of sneakers in the entryway, to a pair of slides on the living room floor, I am constantly asking people to move their shoes. This is unwanted clutter and, not to mention, drags dirt and grime throughout your home.
Solution
Put a shoe rack in your entryway, mudroom, or garage to keep shoes organized. This will also reduce the amount of dirt tracked throughout your home. We have a mudroom with a bench. Under the bench each member of the family has their own area for shoes. This really is as simple as taking your shoes off when you come in the door and placing them neatly in your area. If you have a closet by your door, consider adding shelving to the bottom to create your own shoe rack. Consider putting shoe racks in every bedroom as well to store shoes for different seasons. This is probably something that seems silly if it is not an issue in your home. But if it is an issue, it can create so much clutter.
Piling Dirty (and Clean) Clothes on a Chair
Whether you get home from a tough workout or you are tackling multiple home chores at once, clothes often don’t find their way to their home. Clean clothes may get folded, but never put away. Dirty clothes may end up piling up on the bathroom floor or in a corner of the bedroom. Either way, this causes clutter.
Solution
Invest in a few hampers and place them in convenient locations throughout your home. We keep our hampers in our closets because that is what is convenient for us. Dirty laundry is not something that is an issue in our home, and for some reason is a habit both of our girls have formed easily. Even our two-year-old knows to put her clothes in the hamper after she is changed. One tip that I find helpful is to use hampers that do not have lids. Taking the initiative to remove the lid seems harder to children than being able to toss clothing into an open hamper.
For clean laundry, get in the habit of putting it away immediately. This is probably my biggest downfall when it comes to organization. I have systems, I just don’t always stick to them. Folding and hanging laundry straight out of the dryer is the best habit to form. This does not allow your clean laundry to pile up, and your dryer is always free for the next load! To help form this habit, run your laundry loads when you have the time to fold right away. If that is not an option due to working hours, set a time to fold and put away the laundry. Involve the other members of the family as much as possible. If your kids are putting their own clothes away, you’re free to do other work!
These tips may seem simple, and maybe even a little silly. But these four habits can be the catalyst to a more organized home. Start small, and you’ll see results soon enough. As I always say, “a place for everything, and everything in its place!”
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