Easy Habits for a Tidy, Clean and Organized Home
You can have a tidy, clean and organized home if you add some easy habits to your day to day and seasonal routine. It’s a lot of small decisions and actions that make a big impact.
Start Moving Toward a Clean & Organized Home by Decluttering.
Yes, you have to declutter your home. The simple act of reducing the number of items in a space will make it look cleaner. Too much stuff leads to overcrowding and stress.
You can’t organize clutter.
Here are some easy tips for decluttering to create a tidy home:
Donate or Sell.
When you or your family outgrows something, donate or sell it instead of finding room to store it. This applies to shoes and clothing, but it also applies to bigger things like cribs, board games, sports equipment and hobby supplies.
If Something Doesn’t Have A Home, Find It One Or Let It Go.
If something is important to you, you will find a place to keep it. Storage space is valuable and limited so decide what is worth keeping.
Designated Spot for Donations.
Have a designated spot for everyone in the family to put donations AND let your kids or teens use it. (Obviously if it’s an expensive item you can’t afford to just give away, you can have that conversation.) Allow your kids the power to decide what they are ready to let go of and learn that skill.
Deadline For Selling.
Set a firm deadline for anything you want to sell and commit to getting rid of it if it still in your home on that deadline. You can’t wait forever.
Take Donations Away On A Regular Basis
You’ve made the decision already to let it go so it’s good to get it out before you change your mind. You can schedule this in your planner or on your phone. To make it easy to remember, consider donating at the end of the month, the beginning of a new season or a month before any major gifting occasion, like birthdays or Christmas.
Say No To Hand-Me-Downs And Other People’s Decluttered Items.
I get it, you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but the people who care about you need to respect your boundaries. Offer to drop off their cast-offs at the donation centre.
Donate Or Sell Gifts That You Will Not Use Or Simply Do Not Want.
This includes that pair of matching coffee mugs from the Secret Santa exchange at work or the bath salts gifted to you by a well-meaning friend who didn’t realize you hate scented things. It won’t help your home stay clean and tidy if you make storage space for unwanted things.
Use One In, One Out Rule.
Do not keep the item you are replacing. It’s a replacement, not an extra one.
Remove Clothing that Needs Repaired.
When decluttering your clothing, recognize nothing gets fixed by staying in your closet. Put it where you put clothing to be mended or put it where you’ll remember to take it to the tailor. If it’s still there in a week, you aren’t going to fix it and need to get rid of it.
Remove Sentimental Clothing You Don’t Wear From Your Closet.
If you only keep it because it’s sentimental, remove it and put it in your memory bin or other storage. Your closet is for the clothing you wear, not your keepsakes. Your closet should be functional.
Donate Unused Storage.
Don’t be afraid to get rid of storage containers or home organization solutions that did not work for you. This is a very simple habit to follow when creating a tidy home. When you’ve decluttered and have less stuff, you may not need those anymore. This is why it is so important to do the decluttering first.
After Decluttering Your Home, Keep It Clean & Tidy With These Daily Habits.
A lot of these are small changes that can be powerful in your journey to a tidy, organized home.
Make Your Bed In The Morning.
Yes, I know this is a controversial one, but it’s a quick step to make your whole bedroom look tidier. (Check out this motivational commencement speech that starts off by illustrating the importance of making your bed each morning) It gives you a sense of accomplishment early in the day, gives you momentum to keep going and a welcome spot to come back to at the end of the day!
Prioritize The Things You Need To Do.
Take care of the most important things first. Lists are really a helpful habit here to keep you on track and your home tidy. If you run out of time, then hopefully you’ve finished the most important things on your list first. Some days you won’t get everything on the list done and that’s okay. Keep trying.
Put Away Things When You Are Finished with Them.
Don’t put it down, put it away. Further to this, cleaning as you go can help keep your room tidy. Putting away the spice jars while you are cooking is one less thing to do later. A common phrase my mother always said to me when I was making something in the kitchen was “clean as you go”. At first, getting things back to the correct room or space might be a good starting point, but over time, make it easy to put things away in their proper spot.
Use A Timer When You Are Cleaning Or Tidying.
Some of the tasks we procrastinate doing take a lot less time than we think. When we know how quick it is, it’s harder to put the task off.
Spend 10 to 15 Minutes At Night To Reset Your Home.
You can deal with things you set down “temporarily” in those hot spots that accumulate and set up for the next morning. Right before supper or right before bed works well. If you have kids, twice a day might work even better. This gets easier the more consistent you are. A quick survey and tidy of the busy spots in your home will help you wake up the next morning in a better, calmer head space and will give you a better start to your day.
Sort Paperwork Immediately.
One paper becomes five and then ten before you know it! Toss the junk mail in the recycling bin and file those receipts you need to keep. Invest in a paper shredder. We all seem to bring some form of paper into the home, so dealing with it right away will be an easy habit when you are creating a tidy home.
Switch To Paperless Billing.
Whether it’s your phone bill, your electricity bill or your bank statement, switch this to an electronic form to reduce the flow of paper. If you receive government cheques, look into changing to direct deposit. You can also reduce unwanted mail by contacting the postal service to opt out of unaddressed mail.
Delegate Some Cleaning And Tidying.
You are not the only one who should be creating habits for making your home clean and tidy! Everyone in the family should be helping out. Kids can empty the dishwasher and pick up toys. Teens can take out the garbage and vacuum. The adults can divide chores as well.
Schedule Regular Times For Specific Tasks.
This can be as simple as washing bedding every Friday or vacuuming every Saturday morning. This helps to ensure no task is left too long and it’s easier to clean up a small mess than a bigger one.
Clear Off the Kitchen Table And Empty The Kitchen Sinks Every Night.
This makes your kitchen look cleaner. It’s a real boost in the morning to not wake up to a sink of dishes waiting for you or a mess on the table to deal with at the start of the day.
Fold The Laundry And Put It Away.
It doesn’t take as long as you think. You can fold in front of the TV or listening to a podcast. Get it done so you aren’t staring at that nagging task. (This also prevents the forgotten load of laundry in the washer and saves you the time and trouble of rewashing that load.)
Make Space By Removing Things.
This includes big pieces of furniture if you don’t need it. If you only use all the chairs when you host a big meal, remove the excess chairs. If you only use a roasting pan for big holidays, store the pan outside your kitchen. Maybe it’s time to downsize your kitchen table if that massive one no longer fits this season of your life.
Stop The Influx Of New Things.
Yes, you can have new things but be mindful about what you bring into your home and how it can derail your goal of a clean and organized home. Free-with-purchase, event swag and impulse buys can undo the decluttering you’ve done.
Habit Stacking.
James Clear talks about this in his book Atomic Habits. If you want to create a new habit, match it with something you are already doing. After you get dressed (habit 1), make your bed (habit 2) before you leave the bedroom.
Remove Your Footwear At The Door.
This applies to you, your family and your guests. If no one wears shoes in the home, less dirt and other things are tracked into your home and that’s a good step toward cleaner floors.
Keep Your Flat Surfaces In Your Home Clear Or With Minimal Items.
This is a good step toward preventing drop zones where clutter accumulates. For visual organizers, you can use baskets or trays to keep things contained. You don’t have to be a minimalist, but try this with one room if you don’t believe it.
Clean Out Your Fridge Weekly To Prevent Overcrowding And Waste.
You can stop leftovers from getting pushed to the back of the fridge where they become a fuzzy science experiment. It also keeps you aware of what you have and what you are running low on. (I can’t be the only one whose kids don’t always say when something is running out.) It’s easier to meal plan and makes grocery shopping simpler.
Never Leave A Room Empty-Handed.
This is a small trick but can make a difference. When you leave the room, have a quick look for anything that doesn’t belong there and take it with you. Yes, this game is easy with small kids, but equally playable with teens.
Do Some Cleaning Every Day.
On a low energy day, work on digital decluttering whether it’s cleaning out your email and unsubscribing from mailing lists or deleting unused apps and duplicate photos on your cell phone. It’s important to take care of our digital home as well as our physical one.
Seasonal Habits to Stay Tidy, Clean & Organized In Your Decluttered Home.
The change of seasons and especially big holidays can get in the way of routines that have been working so well. There are a few things you can do to make these times easier.
Store Out of Season Items Separate From What You Are Using Now.
Keep in mind what you are using now and what you need accessible. The capsule wardrobe is a great example of this. Christmas decorations and heavy blankets don’t need to be easily accessible in June.
Donate Decorations.
When putting out seasonal decorations, donate the ones you don’t like and aren’t using. Similarly donate the ones you’ve used and won’t use again (graduation decorations or specific birthday party theme.)
Don’t Double Up Decoration.
When you decorate for holidays or other special occasions, pack away your everyday décor and replace it with your seasonal items. By not layering the seasonal decorations over top, you can keep the space less cluttered and your focus in on one place. Put the everyday mugs into the Christmas storage totes and replace them with your Christmas ones for that season.
Rotate Storage Shelves So The Current Season Is Easiest To Reach.
This helps prevent overcrowding. You or your family may put things on the closest shelf because it’s easy. For example, in your garage, you might want the fertilizer or pruners for your garden on an easy to reach shelf in the summer, but in December, it’s far more helpful to use shelf for sand or salt for your icy sidewalk.
Remove Your Window Screens In The Winter.
This lets in more light into your home. Open the curtains or blinds during the brightest hours of the day. More light makes a space look more open and inviting.
Schedule Deep Cleaning.
Create a longer-term schedule for bigger cleaning jobs that don’t fit into your weekly routine. Add these to your planner or phone. This may include jobs like cleaning the outside of your windows, steam-cleaning rugs or defrosting your freezer. If you leave these too long, they become a bigger job.
Having a tidy, clean and organized home is not about being perfect. It’s about living in a space where you are comfortable and can relaxed without extra stress from cleaning tasks demanding to be done. With some small habits, you can reduce the need for big marathon cleaning sessions. You got this!
