A New Year is not too far away, and in a year where many of us spent more time at home than usual, it’s probably time to give your home a once over to start fresh in 2022.
Here are 7 Tricks on Reorganizing Your Home Space for a Cleaner New Year to help you get started. There is a tip for each room of the house, plus a few extra tricks.
Entryway designated drop station
When entering the home, most of us unload our hands and pockets that are filled with keys, coins, mail, wallets, purses, phones, headphones; you name it. Without a designated home for these objects, they usually clutter up bench space and tabletops, changing locations daily to give you a frustrating search the next time you need them.
Creating a designated drop station in your entryway helps you keep all these valuable belongings in place, making them easy to find and out of the way. A snug table with drawers, baskets, or trays is an excellent way to keep things streamlined and well organised.
Extra entryway trick
Placing a bench, stool or chair in the entryway encourages inhabitants and guests to sit, remove and store shoes neatly rather than kicking them off in a disorderly way.
Kitchen utensil/container cleanout
Utensils and containers are the main culprits for disorganised kitchen spaces. Unlike dinner sets that can be passed on when replaced, or a mixture of coffee mugs that add character to the kitchen cupboards, utensils and containers accumulate when added and upgraded.
Add the random array of shapes and sizes, and they quickly become a nuisance when reorganising cupboards and drawers. And let’s not start on the lid and base container mix’n’match saga. So give your kitchen a cleanout, donate or remove items that have served their purpose and need to move on.
Living room one-in-one-out principle
Your living room is a space where a lot of time is spent relaxing, and the last thing you want is for it to be overly busy and disorganized. The trap is we buy things when our homes are a little empty to add character, but they seem to stay in place for eternity, even when the house is full.
As a rule of thumb, if you add to a living room mantle or shelf, check if something can be rehomed or donated with the one-in-one-out principle. Likewise, if your coffee needs help to find space on your coffee table, then it’s time to move on some candles, magazines and coasters.
Extra living room trick
Kids will make a mess in your living room, and that is ok. But you can curtail it by giving them a space and baskets to call their own. Let kids choose some toys to keep in an attractive basket rather than a trail of destruction from the bedroom to the living room. This limits the number of items and gives clear instructions where things stay when not used.
Pantry organization to your lifestyle and habits
When reorganizing your pantry, be realistic about your lifestyle and habits. If you are an organization freak, labelled clear jars and containers are an absolute dream in a systematic display. However, if that seems like a chore too far, simply use labelled bins or shelving where you can store products in their original packaging, keeping things neat and accessible.
Whether you prefer breakfast, dinner, snacks or maybe tins, bags, jars, there is no right or wrong way to organise your pantry but make a system that works. If you buy in bulk, have a high shelf for your backup supplies rather than placing bulky bags and boxes with everyday items. There is nothing worse than having a 5kg bag of sugar and rice taking up vital shelf space.
Laundry love
As laundries are usually hidden away from visitors, they are often neglected and a disorganised mess. It’s hard to know where to begin with the endless range of cleaning products and clunky chore equipment filling shelves and cupboards, not to mention the dirty clothes and shoes covering benchtops and floors.
Don’t overthink it, just give the laundry some love. Hang the mop and broom, store away the vacuum, keep cleaning products contained in storage trays and give everything a permanent designated home. Use baskets for keeping dirty clothes hidden and off the floors.
Extra laundry trick
Something that often gets missed is a laundry bin. It is such a simple thing to have on hand to dispose of pocket filling, filter fluff, vacuum content, empty containers, all of the many things that need to be thrown away during laundry duties.
Bedroom simple and serious rule
It’s a simple rule, but a serious one. If you haven’t worn an item of clothing in the last 12 months, it needs to go. You can donate your clothes to a local charity, gift them to a friend or put them in storage if it holds sentimental value. But leaving clothes to clog up valuable bedroom space is not the answer, so check out your clothes in your Hollywood mirror and make the tough decisions.
If you want to go a step further, you can reorganise your closet with uniformed hangers and dedicated drawers, baskets, and shelves. It makes putting away clothes and choosing outfits a lot easier, plus creates a nice and neat bedroom space to start and finish your day.
Kids bedroom decluttering
Understandably, as soon as it’s mentioned to keep a kid’s room organised, many parents will roll their eyes. It is almost the toughest job in the house! But we must have good intentions and a new approach for the New Year. Start with decluttering.
As kids grow so quickly, reorganising the closet should be done twice a year with anything too small donated to charity, passed on to friends or stored if you plan to add to the family. The same can be said about toys. All toys that are not used or have been outgrown can be donated. And those that didn’t survive the rigours of playtime need to be thrown out or recycled.
Extra kids bedroom trick
Group toys by colour, size or theme, dedicate spaces for play, sleep and storage, store small loose items in baskets and containers and frequently used objects should be easily accessible. At the same time, clothes should be easy to look through and put away to help kids be self-sufficient.
Get motivated and freshen up your home for a big 2022
Whether you are a new homeowner with an FHA loan or are more than settled in a well-lived dwelling, these 7 Tricks on Reorganizing Your Home Space for a Cleaner New Year will serve you well. So get motivated and freshen up your home for a big 2022.
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