Having an Organized home or space can seem daunting until you take the first step. Like anything in life, starting out, the unknown can be daunting but once the first step has been taken. usually, everything falls into place. So today I am going to be sharing some 6 tips for having an organized home. These are things I have learned through experience and in the process of running my home.
Roles
What do I mean by roles? Everyone in the home should have primary tasks assigned to them. In my home we are all a team, so for this machine to run efficiently everyone has to pull their weight. For example, I do the majority of the cooking in our home, because I am better at it, my husband is better at doing laundry and vacuuming so that is his task. My oldest his responsible for picking up after himself, unloading the dishwasher all with adult supervision of course. You can read on how we got him started on chores here.
Place
Each item has a place or a home. All team members are responsible for returning all used items back into their place. Sounds very simple right, but things fall apart at the seams when this simple step is ignored. Yes, they might be days when things fall through the crack. How I try it prevent chaos from taking over is doing walkthrough after dinner and making sure toys are in bins, dishes are in the dishwasher, clothes are in laundry baskets etc. On days I fail to do it, then it is rectified the next day.
Cleaning Routine
Prior to the pandemic, I had a cleaning lady who came to deep clean the house once a month. I will say one of the best things I ever did for my sanity. If you are reading this and you are in a place financially where you can outsource some household chores please do it. Your mental health will thank you. Back to cleaning, the Kitchen, living room, and dining are cleaned daily because those are high traffic areas. Restrooms are cleaned weekly or biweekly. Having a system in place that suits your family dynamics is important in staying organized. So it is important to tailor your schedule to suit your home.
Declutter
This is an important step. You don’t want your home to become or look like a storage facility. Which at that point, it no longer serves as a home. My rule of thumb is if it has not been used in a year. It should be donated to others who it may better serve. Decluttering also helps you take a thorough inventory of what you have and do not have.
Reach
During the organization process, items that are used on a daily basis should be kept within reach. Such items should be stored in areas that are easily accessible. While items used on a monthly or seasonal basis can be stored farther away. An example is when arranging your closet, clothes that belong in the current season should be hung in the front of the closet. I talked a little about it here. Another example is having spoons and knives in the top drawer in the kitchen, while kitchen gadgets are stored in the bottom cabinets.
Reassess
If after going through all these steps, your home is still cluttered and disorganized. I will encourage you to take a step back and reassess to see what is not working or what you may have missed. Then take steps to rectify it. The goal here is to have a home that runs efficiently. Which is essential in reducing some of the stressors associated with being an adult, parent, and spouse.