The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Kristin at The Gold Project.
I have learned that sometimes it is virtually impossible to get everything done in one day. After working all day, cooking supper, and getting ready for the upcoming day, it is hard to get everything organized and put away before going to bed. So, I realized that focusing on certain areas to declutter in my home daily made a huge difference. Decluttering these areas before bed helped my mood tremendously the next morning and I felt less overwhelmed than normal.
1. Kitchen Counters
I do not know about you, but my kitchen counters are the #1 catch-all area in my home. Every home I have lived in, actually. It seems like we all walk in the door from a day at work and school and immediately throw everything on and around the kitchen counters; mail, school work, lunch boxes, keys, etc. It is a constant battle and one that I have to fight daily.
2. Kitchen Table
Number two on my catch-all list would be the kitchen table. I have no idea what it is about my kitchen table that appears to attract everything that passes by it, but it does.
3. Bathroom Counter
The bathroom counter is probably one of my most used areas in my home, so it is subject to a lot of clutter. From getting ready in the morning to going to bed at night, my bathroom counter is subject to a lot of use. This is an area that usually requires a nice disinfecting wipe as well.
4. Living Room Floor
This may be an area that doesn’t apply to everyone, but it is definitely one that applies to my household. My little ones love to drag out any and all toys that they have in their possession and place them on the living room floor. They may not be playing with all of them at once, but they feel the need to have them all out. And, how dare I try to attempt to put any of them up before they are finished.
So, before going to bed, we (kids included) spend about 10 minutes making sure the living room floor is picked up and clear. Why is this so important to us? We must walk through our living room in order to get to any exits in our house. So, if we have to make a mad dash out of the house in the middle of the night, for a fire for instance, then we do not want to have to play obstacle course before getting out of the door. Plus, if it is dark, we can’t see the small figurines that may be waiting for us to step on them.
And, let me add that this HAS affected my family, but it wasn’t completely our fault. My 2-year-old son was walking through the house and it was dark. Well, my cat had a round ball lying in the middle of the floor and no one knew it was there. To make a long story short, my son stepped on the small ball, went face first into the hardwood floor, and split his lip open in two spots. Needless to say, a trip to the ER happened immediately afterwards.
So, to prevent issues like this from happening again, we try to keep the living room floor picked up.
5. Kitchen Sink
Let me be honest, I am not a fan of handwashing dishes. Very rarely will you see me washing dishes by hand. So, from time-to-time, dishes may get slightly piled up in my sink waiting for their turn in the dishwasher.
I try to make sure to run the dishwasher when needed and keep all of the dirty dishes out of the sink and in the dishwasher daily.
So, what areas of your house do you feel are the most important to straighten up before bedtime?
My name is Kristin and I am a middle school career education teacher by day and a mommy/wife/blogger by night. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have two loving children. We recently made a life-changing move to Arkansas, so our new house is always under construction. I get excitement out of finding new creative, functional, and cute ways to organize things! I also enjoy writing and documenting life as it happens. So, I put these loves together and created The Gold Project. With the help of my husband, I am attempting to turn our house into a home. So, check out this special place of mine and take this journey with me!
Sabrina | Frugal Italian Family says
The most important areas for me are the kitchen and the living room before I go to bed. The bathroom before I go to work in the morning 🙂
Nancy says
All great ideas! We only use our living room for company so that is one less space to worry about on a daily basis.
Ria says
My nightstand! Inevitably there is a coffee cup I forgot to take to the kitchen. (I am blessed to have an early rising huband who brings me my first cup!),a book that needs to be put away along with hand lotions, etc.
Jen says
Where did you find that kitchen sink organizer? I’ve been looking for something like that to keep my dishwand upright! 🙂
Kristin @ The Gold Project says
https://www.spectrumdiversified.com/Sink-Organization-Ashley-Sponge-Brush-Cradle
I hope this helps. 🙂
Cindy Carter says
The only thing I don’t daily do on that list is the kitchen table. But I do make it look neat.