Spending hours a week cleaning or having someone come in to do it for you is not the only solution for getting your home to have a better appearance. Did you just get done cleaning, and it doesn’t even look like it? The biggest issue may not be that your home isn’t clean. Maybe it is simply that things are not organized and put away properly. With that thought in mind, take another look around. Yes, there are newspapers and magazines laying about. Yes, there are shoes in the middle of the living room floor. Yes, all of the mail from last week is still scattered on the kitchen table. Yes, the kids backpacks are laying about too, one in the living room and two beside the dining room table. Just think what your house would look like now if all those things were put away or stacked neatly.
It can’t hurt to put a little time into getting more organized to see if that can help.. Get a paper and pen so you can start making some notes. Take another look around the house and be very critical this time. Make note of all the things that you feel shouldn’t be where they are. Over the next few days, get the list out a few more times and see if all the same things are still laying about or if there are more things you should add to the list. Now, work from that list to begin making changes.
Inside the coat closet or by the coat rack, hang another row of hooks that the kids can put their backpacks on. Make sure you have a throw rug where everyone needs to put their shoes or make sure they have space in their bedroom closets for them. Make a place on one table to stack all of the magazines and newspapers, or get a wicker basket to put them in or get a magazine rack for them and use it!. Make sure you are conscious about what mail is junk and can be discarded right away, and do so. Get a mail rack or basket of some sort for the mail that you do need to keep. Make sure that everyone understands that there are new rules now about putting things away. Making them stick to the new rules may be the hardest part of all of this, but it will be well worth it in the end!. It may take a little time, but soon everyone will be putting things away where they now belong without even giving it a thought.
Any room looks cleaner with things organized and put away. So, getting things organized will not only give your home a better appearance, but it will feel cleaner and the family may actually be saving some time. It is time saving when things that are needed daily are always in the same place and you don’t have to go wandering about looking for them. Happy organizing!
