Do you feel like you are constantly cleaning, picking up, tidying up, and putting away, yet your home never feels as clean, tidy and organized as you'd like? Fewer things are more frustrating to me than cleaning and organizing all day and feeling like I have nothing to show for it when I get in bed at night. To help prevent you from feeling the same frustrations, here are a few of my favorite tips...
1. Limit laundry to one day a week. This may sound absurd, but stick with me. I had heard of people doing all their laundry on one day, but I never could find the sense in it. Then one night a few months ago I went in the laundry room to put a load that had just been washed into the dryer. However, I had forgotten that I already had another load in the dryer, so that pile went into my bedroom where I would fold it in the morning. I then realized that at all times I had at least one load of clothes in the dryer and yet another that needed to be folded. The laundry was constant. It was coming out of my ears. I was sick of going to bed every night with clothes on my chair that needed to be folded and put away. Even if I got to those, there was yet another load in the dryer. That's when I decided enough was enough. The status quo was not working, and I was sick of looking at piles of clean and dirty clothes all the time. I decided that I would pick one day a week to do every piece of laundry that was dirty, and that it would all be put away before I got in bed for the night. Then I wouldn't touch it for another week. I can't tell you how nice it has been to go for 6 days every week and not even have to think about washing, drying, folding, and putting away our clothes. I don't think I'll ever go back to my 4, 5, or 6 day a week laundry routine. This has definitely simplified my life!
2. Shoes, shoes, shoes. Do you have a pile of shoes that sits on the floor of your closet? If you don't, I bet you have a kid who does. Confession: I LOVE shoes. I'm pretty sure it's genetic, and it's entirely out of my control. Anyway, I noticed that keeping my shoes organized in my closet can be a bit of a challenge, unless you call a pile of shoes in the corner organized. Desperate for a solution, I went to the store and bought a cart full of rubbermaid shoe boxes. They are about $1 a piece and totally worth the investment. Then I put a white sheet on the floor for my background, and took a picture of each pair of shoes. Then I taped a picture into each box, with the picture of my shoes facing out, and put the corresponding pair of shoes in the box. Now my shoes are organized and protected, and I find that I'm wearing more of a variety of footwear because I have the pictures right in front of me and I can always find the mate.
3. "Put your home to bed before you go to bed." This is some of the best advice my mom has given me. I wish I would follow it more often, because I'm always happy when I do. I'm not a morning person to begin with, but nothing makes me grumpier than waking up in the morning and walking into the kitchen to find a sink full of dishes. I don't like dishes any more than I like mornings, and the combination of the two makes me want to hide my head under the covers. But with two little kids who are both little roosters, I don't have that option. I'm always glad when I do the dishes and other straightening up before I go to bed, because it's always easier to start a new day with my home clean and organized, versus chaotic and messy. And, I'm always surprised at how relatively little effort it takes to "put my house to bed", but the outcome is definitely worth it!
I hope you find some of these ideas useful. If you have any ideas you'd like to share, please email me at emily@simplifysupper.com
