Cleanliness is next to godliness, but so is tidiness. Having a clean and organised home is the basis for a healthy and productive lifestyle, especially in these hectic times. But, how exactly can you make a home neat and organised?
We have collected several tips and tricks you can use to maximise every inch of space in your house or apartment, so give them a try the next time you think of reorganising your living space.
Buy an ottoman
Ottomans are a really great way to de-clutter your home and keep extra stuff lying around stored away. Besides, they can be used as extra stools when visitors roll around, making their use two-fold and a great little investment.
Sort your magazines, throw out the rest
Every home has a number of magazines that have been read and re-read, or never picked up. All of them, however, are collecting dust and cluttering your living space. Pick through them, find the ones that you want to keep, put them in a less than the conspicuous spot and throw out the rest. Alternatively, if you’ve got a lot of magazines with recipes, cut out the recipes that interest you, and throw the rest out.
Group similar items
Whether it’s books, cleaning products, toiletries, toys or beauty products, keep each type of item together with its “peers”. Grouping items in types allows you to reach them faster and eliminates the frustration of having to search for stuff around the house.
The more drawers, the better
Having lots of drawers can make your life a lot easier when tidying up your home. Consider buying coffee tables with storage drawers, nightstands and cabinets. All these extra drawers can be used to store smaller items that get easily lost or just lying around, waiting for somebody to trip on them.
Throw out junk mail immediately
Good God, is there anything more annoying than junk mail? Leaflets, pamphlets, magazines, all that extra paper that’s lying around the house, just covering any and all working surfaces – get rid of them all as soon as they get in. When sorting out your mail, make sure you throw out any junk mail that arrives and don’t take those things inside under any circumstances, as you’ll just end up ignoring them and they’ll discretely, but surely, pile up.
Organise your inbox
Just like your Gmail is organised, you should organise your physical mail. Divide the incoming mail into bills, invitations, letters from friends, junk mail, etc., naturally, according to the type of mail you usually receive. Have a small box for each type, best placed next to your front door, so you can sort the mail immediately as you pick it up from the mailbox
Manage your cables
Living spaces are home to metres and metres of cables, from your TV to your lamps, computers, routers, electronics and everything in between. Consider tying up cables with zip ties into larger clumps, especially if they’re connected to a group of devices. Alternatively, if you’ve got cables stretching on the floors, the simplest solution would be using a cable cover mat that will keep the cables covered and safe from damage, while also preventing you from tripping on them.
Organising your board games
If you’re big on board games, a good way to store them is using a letter tray. Most people just stuff the board games in the attic, or together with books, or put them on top of shelves. There’ they just gather dust, and you have to blow a thick blanked off every time you want to play, or just end up being in the way when you want to store a newly-acquired book, or just grab one from the self. Keeping your board games in a letter tray effectively eliminates all these problems.
Organise a charger drawer
Everyone has a phone and/or a laptop, and every phone and laptop requires a charger. If you’re not using those chargers right away, it’s best to assign a drawer for the exact purpose of storing these ungodly cables. It’s also a good idea to use drawer dividers to make sure all those chargers don’t get tangled and an even bigger mess if they had just been left lying around.
Hang your pots, pans and knives
Hanging your pots, pans, mugs, knives and other kitchen utensils is an excellent way of freeing up space in your shelves and drawers. Invest in hooks and racks for this purpose, and, for knives, you can get some useful magnet strips that will keep them firmly in place.
Get Risers
Cabinet risers are another neat way for managing the room in your kitchen cabinets. If you’ve got a lot of plates, mugs and glasses, you’ll find risers a great method of keeping them nicely tucked away while allowing great accessibility.
Purchase Containers
Containers have a great value all around. Flour, sugar, spices, cereal, spices, cooking ingredients – all these can be easily and neatly stored in plastic or ceramic containers. Just don’t forget to label them, though, or you just might get your stuff mixed up.
Go Vertical
You’re sure to have hanging rods in your home, but, have you considered placing them higher. Putting rods just a few inches higher than where they currently are might just free up some room below for, perhaps, another rod, a cabinet, shoe storage or any other thing you need in your bedroom.
Utilise Honeycomb Organisers for Your Socks
Honeycomb organisers are an often-overlooked little addition to your sock drawers. Sock drawers can get messy and confusing, but these practical organisers can make storing away your socks much easier and less confusing.
Use Compression Bags
Compression bags are one of the most awesome inventions when it comes to storage and organisation. If you’ve got a lot of seasonal clothes, putting them in compression bags can free up so much space and save you a lot of trouble figuring out where to put your summer/fall/winter/spring clothes once the opposite season rolls around. Not only that, but these bags are a great way of storing old clothes, sheets and the like that you’re not planning of getting rid of yet, as it will keep them safe from mites and other pests that can damage them.
Use the space under your bed wisely
The space under your bed is not just a place for monsters – it can be a neat storage place too. Invest in some under the bed storage, and you’ll have found a great place where to keep your extra sheets and pillows.
Invest in Hanging Shoe Storage
A great way to store away bulky clothing like sweaters and hoodies (and shoes, of course), is to invest in some hanging shore storage. These nifty items free up an impressively good amount on space, as they can be hung from racks and walls.
Under-the-Sink-Drawers
The space under the sinks in both the kitchen and bathroom is always underutilised. Adding a few shelves here can reduce cluttering, and add more space for storing cleaning or beauty products, toiletries, kitchen/bathroom utensils and everything in between.
Conclusion
And, with that, we’ll wrap up our little guide on tips and tricks you can use to organise, tidy and beautify your home. As we said, an organised home is a gateway to a productive and stress-free lifestyle, and you and your family will certainly benefit from all the effort you put into your home looking clean and neat. Your living space is not only a place you’re habituating in – it’s also a personal statement, and we’re sure you’ll want that statement to reflect positively on you.
