Life gets cluttered, we get it. As we move through life, our homes will inevitably accumulate more stuff, be it in the form of bills, clothing, household accessories or even food. But as we retreat to our homes to unwind from the daily stresses of life, it should come as no surprise that your home should be a stress- and clutter-free zone. If you’ve been meaning to get organised but are unsure where to start, we show you how.
Set up a launch pad
Not sure what a launch pad in a home is? It’s basically the area in the house where you – or your guests – will transition from the outside coming in, and it’s where items like shoes, coats, bags and keys will be dropped off before the user moves further into the home. It’s important that your launch pad should have a specific way to store all the items different family members have. For example, wall hooks would be good for coats and bags, a shoe rack for daily wearables and a tray for keys, letters and wallets.
Labels are your best friend
Think labels are limited to just being on file folders or office stationery? Think again. There are plenty of places around the house where labels will come in handy in preventing endless amounts of clutter building up, from kitchen drawers to bathroom cabinets, storage containers to toy boxes. By labelling different areas and things, you’ll help to maintain order as people will know where to find what they want without having to rummage through other storage areas, keeping your home clean and organised as a result.
Image credit: IKEA
Identify the problem areas
You know that area in a room where no matter how hard you try to keep it clean, it somehow always seems to attract and accumulate the most clutter? These places are what we call the “clutter-attraction areas”. To counter this issue, set up “clutter bags” near these areas and make it a point to place these items into the bag until you have the time to sort it out. In addition, you can also keep organised spaces sacred by changing the dynamics of the space instead. For example, once you’ve cleared a side table of bills and letters, place a vase of flowers on the table instead of leaving it empty. Having the flower vase there will deter you from piling up unwanted items on the space.
Control your cords
Whether it’s the wires from your household appliances or the charging cables for your electronic devices, cords that are untidy and disorganised are one of the main reasons our homes look messy. As such, keep them neat and tidy with a cord organiser. For loose cords that are not in use, keep them organised by rolling them up and tucking them into an empty toilet paper roll to keep it tangle free.
Image credit: IKEA
Organise for 5 minutes daily
While you may try very hard to make time, there will never truly be a day where you’ll be able to fully dedicate yourself to cleaning up and organising your whole apartment. But that shouldn’t be the case too, for organising should be something that you incorporate into your daily routine. For 5 minutes a day, simply put in order small sections of your home – i.e. sorting out your mail, making your bed, arranging the shoe cabinet etc. And as you slowly start to build up the good habit, keeping your home organised will become second nature to you.
