January 2019 – Prestige Preschool Academy
Happy New Year! Let’s be honest, we all have that one junk drawer in our home that absolutely drives us crazy! Or that one closet that has become the catch-all for wrapping paper and clothes that need to be donated to charity. I can say I have both of those areas that catch my attention every day, but I seem overwhelmed by how to begin to declutter that I ignore the messy elephant in the room. So, with the New Year upon us it is finally time to have a Decluttered Year!
Let’s get rid of the clutter and have a less frazzled
atmosphere to enjoy the calm. In my quest to have an organized and clutter-free
home, I looked to the internet for tips and tricks. Seems as though there are a
lot of others out there who are in the same boat as I am who are looking for
help with this situation because there are a ton of articles and videos about
ways to declutter. I picked out the top 5 tips that spoke to my messiness and
bad habits, and thought I’d share with you here.
-Find a spot in each room that has the
traffic pattern where items are dropped off when entering the room. By having a
basket or tray readily available to catch those pesky little items, they will
be less likely to be tossed in other places in that room. Spend 5 minutes at
the end of your day to put those items in their proper place.
-Only allow items that are necessary to be displayed
on the counter. All kitchen appliances don’t need to be on the counter. Put
those in a cupboard or pantry and bring them out as needed.
-Place a paper tray on the counter at the
area where you tend to pile papers. By doing so, you will have a tray full of
papers that you can then take to your place of filing.
-Keep a basket labeled with DONATE in your
laundry room. When you come across items that your kiddo has outgrown or no
longer needs, place it in the basket. If the laundry room is close to your
garage, then you’re more than halfway there to placing the basket in your car.
-Dedicate a day to pull out everything from
your clothes drawer and closet. This is the perfect opportunity to look through
items you no longer use or want. Place those items in the charity basket
located in your laundry room. Once you have looked through your items, now it’s
time to put them back, but this time fold and place them in a way that you can
visually see what it is.
-Pre-purchase bins or baskets to help with
small or loose items that can contain possible re-clutter (that is a word, isn’t
it?).
-Oh boy, this is a big one! Start with decluttering
their room and / or playroom first. Be sure to have that charity basket nearby because
I can guarantee that it will get filled with toys that they’ve out-grown or
they no longer play with. Dare I say, let’s rid our house of all those toys
that come in kids’ meals?!?
-Once you’ve decluttered and used that
handy-dandy charity basket, now put back items that are necessary. Have a clear
purpose and perspective of what you want and need the room to look like. Keep every
day items out on a shelf or in a basket, all other items should be in a closet
or drawer.
-Teach your kiddo how to keep their area clean
and decluttered. Use a chore chart if needed.
So, this doesn’t seem too hard to do. Right?
Well, I am on my way to using these top 5 tips to help with my decluttering for
the New Year. How about you?
