Your home is like no other. You and your family are unique in the way you live your lives in your home.
You’re creative, open minded, you or someone in your family might have ADHD/ADD, or you live according to your own personal principles. I bet you’d roll your eyes at yet ANOTHER set of strict rules to follow to get the “Perfect House.”
I often write about rules. (See links below ;o)
Rules to keep your house Tidy or to stay organised, rules to follow to help you declutter. But actually? They’re principles, or guidelines. You can transform your home by moulding the general principles I talk about to suit you.
You can make any guideline, principle or rule fit your financial circumstances, family dynamics and physical environment.
The things you do to get what you want (a Tidy Home that’s easier to manage) will be completely unique to you. And that is really important.
It’s essential that the changes you make, to your environment or habits, work for YOU. You’re probably reading this because you’d like to learn something that will help you to change your home for the better.
Try these general guidelines to help you get that lovely Tidy, easy home you’re longing for –
The less stuff you have the better.
If you don’t have the time. Don’t have the patience. Don’t have the energy to fiddle and tidy and organise and sort… get rid of most of it.
The less time you have, the less patience or willingness to invest your energy in managing the stuff in your home – the less stuff you should have. Pretty simple really.
If you love sorting and organising and moving things around the next three concepts will still help.
Put similar things together.
Knowing where all the same things are, is a huge time and energy saver. Bunch stuff together, in which ever space makes the most sense to you and your family.
What you consider to be “the same stuff” might be unique to you. Try it, who cares if it doesn’t look like a Pinterest home or even your friends home.
If it makes it easier for you to grab what you need when you need it, it’s perfect.
Use containers to keep stuff organised.
Generally, containing things is better than loose piles. A basket for shoes is Tidy, a growing pile on a bedroom floor isn’t.
Containers can be as big as a closet or as small as an egg cup (for earring backs). Divide stuff up into smaller containers if it’s too much for one container or it makes it easier find the things you need.
You might find that you already have all the containers you need. Especially if you’ve already decluttered.
Decide where things should be.
It can really help you to stay Tidy if you define spaces for a single purpose in your home. From whole rooms to half a drawer. But it has to make sense for you and your family.
Keep things where you use them. Make sure it’s easy to get to the things you use the most. And make sure it’s easy to put them back too.
Nothing is set in concrete, just try it. You might need to change it if it’s not working for you.
Put things back as soon as you can.
If the spot where you keep your things is easy to get to, it’s going to be easier to put those things back.
Open baskets, open shelves, shallow drawers and containers you can see into are much easier to use than deep cupboards full of piles of stuff or stacked boxes. You can toss things in and fetch them out quick as a wink.
The habit of putting things back where they belong is crucial to keeping your home tidy.
You and your family are unique. How you live in your home might be totally different from anyone you know. And that’s just fine.
Liz.
The Tidy Lady
Declutter Coach & Tidyness Expert
