The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Kalyn at Creative Savings.
It’s hard enough to actually organize your home, but when it comes to maintaining it? That’s simply going too far. Okay, not really, but it’s definitely a struggle!
The reality is, that swoon-worthy Pinterest project you completed last weekend is only half the work. The key to organization is in actually keeping it that way.
Although it might be easier said than done at first, establishing a few daily and monthly habits will help maintain your pretty organized space without it being dubbed a chore. Just a little effort can go a long way, and we can continue making our homes the haven we love, and enjoy clutter-free living all year round!
1. Remind Yourself of the Past
It never feels good to look at your home and see disorganization and chaos everywhere, but it feels even worse to let it get that way after you took all that time to organize and clean it up. Sometimes, just the thought of what my home once was is enough to get me off the couch and actively organizing again.
The thing is, organizing is a process and a journey, and just like our to-do lists, is never really finished. But that’s not an excuse to let our home fill up with clutter. It should instead, motivate us to keep moving forward, knowing that we’ve already made so much progress!
2. Create an Evening Pick-Up Routine
One of my monthly habits for the year was creating a 15-minute evening pick-up routine, and wow, did I need this one! My home would become surprisingly messy in just a few days, and I only have a husband and a bunny — no kids!
Even though I did my pickup routine right before bed, it can really done whenever it works best for you. The point is to start a timer and then see how many items you can pick up during that designated time. You will be surprised at how clean your home feels in just 15 minutes a day….and how much happier you’ll be too.
3. Establish Seasonal Routines
Just as daily routines are important, seasonal routines are needed as well. These are for things that you might not get to on a weekly basis — deep cleaning, checking appliances, and making sure drawers, cabinets, and closets are in order and in good shape.
There are a ton of free printables available for download if you search “seasonal cleaning routines” on Pinterest, and even if you don’t follow them exactly, the point is to use each season as a reminder to maintain items around your home that you don’t normally get to. Plus, it’s much easier to do this quarterly than wait a whole year {or three!} before tackling your bedroom closet again.
4. Put Items Away Now, not Later
This is a rule that I’m still trying to get used to, and it seems so simple — When you get things out, you need to put them away immediately after you’re done using them! But how many of us really follow this? I know I don’t, and if I’m being honest, it’s just a result of pure laziness.
But once you realize this task literally takes seconds to do, it doesn’t seem so bad anymore. Plus, it makes a huge difference in keeping clutter from getting out of control. The same can be said for little spills down the side of your counters or in the fridge. Take a few seconds to wipe them up right away, rather than wait for a seasonal deep cleaning session to get rid of the grime.
5. Motivate Yourself to Keep Going
A big part of keeping and maintaining an organized home is to stay motivated, and I do this by reading blogs like Organizing Junkie to get me in the organizing mood. You should also start an Organizing Pinterest board {if you haven’t already} to keep track of ideas. I know I’m always more inclined to organize a junk drawer or start an organizing project after browsing a few inspirational pins!
The key is to let those pins and blogs motivate you into action, not depress you into inaction. Because you CAN create an organized and efficient space for yourself, just like your favorite bloggers do. But like most anything, it takes hard work and consistent practice.
6. Reevaluate and Reorganize, If Needed
Organizing systems are always changing, and it’s okay to admit that something didn’t work, and move on to something else. You will have different seasons of busyness, and something that you instilled 3 years ago might not have the same impact as it does today.
Don’t get discouraged, instead, let it motivate you to try something completely new. And who knows? You might just discover the key to an efficient household that runs even smoother than before.
Take a good look around your house right now, and see what items have crept out of place and are not as efficiently organized as you would like them to be. Then tackle just one of these steps today that will improve it.
Baby steps are still progress, and ultimately lead to bigger and better habits down the road. Besides, once you get started, you might just be surprised at how easy it really is to keep an organized home looking just as good as the day you started your first project!
What are your secrets to an organized home?
Kalyn Brooke is a full-time writer and blogger at CreativeSavingsBlog.com, where she gives a fresh perspective on frugal living, and the kick-in-the-pants you need to create a budget from scratch. She lives in beautiful Southwest Florida with her news-photographer husband and the most adorable bunny you’ve ever seen. She loves making to-do lists, reading good books, eating chocolate peanut butter ice cream, and pursuing big dreams….all carefully planned out, of course.
SimpleighOrganized says
These are really great tips! I especially love the one about putting things back when you are done with them. In my house, it’s the most difficult rule to follow!
Annie says
Thanks for the timely information. Your tips motivated me to get going and clean a little bit.
Nikki @ Growing Up Mom says
Thank you Kayln, these are awesome. I am not a natural organizer, so this is helpful, and think of just taking 15 minutes out of the day (I find this the “magic number”, it’s not too much, yet not too little), really makes it easier to get it done without feeling like it’s taking over. I am anything but a neat-freak, and this is very helpful. I was never really made to clean up as a kid which kind of hurt me more in the long run, so I am also working with my girls on cleaning up after themselves too. This helps them lean to take care of their things (and the house), while also making less clutter for me to pick up too. I do have a quick evening plan of wiping down my surfaces like the tables and counters with some cleaning wipes, and sweeping every night and I have that pretty much down, I just need to find a way to work this in there too!