Are you constantly tidying your home only for it to be in disarray in a matter of days, perhaps even hours later? Then you aren't alone. One in four Americans have a problem with clutter in their homes, and it's not surprising given that the average household contains as many as 300,000 items. Whether you are preparing your home for showing or you just want to get it tidy and better organized, there are some simple ways you can arrange every room in your home to finally take charge of all that clutter.
Declutter As Much As Possible
The first step to getting your home organized for good is to conquer the amassed clutter in your home. The key is to be ruthless, which means that if you haven't used it recently or won't use it very soon: throw it away, recycle it, sell it or donate it. If it's stained, worn out, broken, or missing parts, you don't need it anymore, so get rid of it. The more stuff you get rid of, the less cluttered your home will feel. Once you've had a big purge in every room, you'll be left with a blank slate where you'll only want to put back the necessary items. Just make sure you stick to a one-in-one-out rule, so you don't end up back where you started.
Find A Place For Everything
Ensure every item in your home has a place. You can use trays, baskets, and hooks to help if necessary. If something doesn't have a home, don't let it stay in your house. Labels are helpful to ensure that an item is put back in the correct place every time. And that's the key to getting home organized for good - always put things back where they go. It may take a little time to get used to but creating strict organizational systems that everyone in the household knows about means there's no excuse for anything to be left lying around or put back in the wrong place.
Take Three Minutes Each Day
You can have the best organizational system in the world, but it won't make much difference if you don't maintain it. Therefore, aim to create a plan or some possessions in your home that enables you to tidy any room in three minutes. While everyone in the household should get into the habit of putting things away properly, allocate specific times to do a swoop or items that need a home. After dinner is finished, get all the family to pitch in with the clean-up. Before you sit down to watch TV, do a quick walk around and ensure everything is put away.
Re-organizing your home may seem a daunting task. But by decluttering unwanted, unused, and broken items, creating practical and labeled storage solutions, and taking the time to put things away each day will help you to finally gain control of your home and get it organized for good.