With more and more family members working and studying from home, keeping the house de-cluttered and organized is the need of the hour.
Many, many years ago the general scenario of an Indian household comprised of – men going to office, children going to school and the lady of the house having the entire day at her disposal (along with a maid to help) to clean up the house in their absence. Then came the era of double income families with both the partners stepping out shoulder-to-shoulder to earn their livelihood; and zero into the present times when the wily virus has majorly restricted both work and study to the four walls of a house.
More people in the house translates into clutter and untidiness with each person bringing in his/her individual mess. Then again with everyone busy in their sphere of activity, this unattended clutter simply keeps on multiplying. So how can one fix this problem and make one’s home sweet home more organized? A famous saying “Life truly begins when you put your house in order – Marie Kondo.”
Gharpedia through this blog brings for you some basic de-clutter and home organizing tips to follow.
Decluttering and Home Organizing Tips
Let’s start with understanding the difference between decluttering and organizing – while the former entails disposing of things; the latter comprises of arranging what’s left. So in essence decluttering frees up space while organizing facilitates finding things.
So let’s get going with home decluttering tips.
Decluttering is a perennial process so the golden rule to abide by is to never get more than you need or have space for:(अपरिग्रह)
- Ruthlessly Dispose of Things that you don’t use often. So if something doesn’t better your life then it has to go out irrespective of however difficult it is for you to do so; it could be that pair of jeans which have stopped fitting you or that book which the whole world is going gaga about but which you are not enjoying beyond page 6!
- Designate a Temporary Spot to hold all the clutter until you decide how you want to dispose of it – say give it to the waste collector; donate it to a charitable institution; or even gift it to your friends, siblings or neighbours.
- Don’t Succumb to the Miserly Temptation of accumulating your clutter until you get the ‘right price’ for it! Now aren’t we familiar with this one? Until the ‘pastiwala’ gives us one rupee per kilo more than what he paid to our neighbour for our English newspaper we refuse to part with the huge bundle and let it pile up for the next two months until he gives in or we get some other ‘pastiwala’!
- Keep things of Daily Use at easy-to-access places and abstain from stacking other stuff on it. Remember we are basically a lazy race so the harder it becomes to bring out an item the less used it remains and the more will other clutter be dumped around it!
- Strive to Place at One Spot the things you use together say for instance you are fond of baking then keep the tools, supplies and baking ingredients in one cupboard. Basically organize your home boils down to elevated utility and efficiency.
- Store Similar Things Together– Shoes in the shoe rack; books in the shelf; furnishings in a cupboard et al. Not only will it look more organized but another positive downside to this is that at a single glance you’ll be able to vet your collection and remove stuff that you don’t need!
- Try to Place Bulky Items on Lower Shelves – Not only will it ease your physical labour but human tendency is such that it doesn’t wish to over-exert itself so instead of striving to keep the heavy food processor on the top shelf post using it; you’ll prefer to let it rest on your kitchen counter adding to the clutter!
- Hold off on Buying Containers as they restrict you to specific locations and sizes. Then what happens is that when a particular box doesn’t fit where you’d hoped it would, it becomes redundant and adds to your clutter. So buy them only after you have de-cluttered your space and are into the organizing mode. And instead of opting for fangled stuff like – wire containers, baskets, etc. – which looks great in magazines and brochures; opt for straight-sided clear containers with tight-fitting lids as not only do they maximize your space but also offer protection to your stuff from pests and dust.
- A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place – We just can’t stop repeating this Biblical rule of decluttering. Each and every item should have a fixed space in your home and if otherwise then it means that item is superfluous!
- Do you keep the same item at different places and then waste precious time searching for it in your home? Well, there’s a tip for you the next time you hunt for it pay close attention to where you look for it first – that’s the perfect spot for it as your brain expects it to be there; so in case you’ve put it somewhere else then move it to its perfect spot. Say for example you have the habit of placing the mouth freshener container at various places – in the kitchen cabinet; on the bedroom table; on the dining table; or in the showcase in your living room. So the next time you search for it pay attention to where you look for it first – if your scavenger hunt automatically commences at the dining table then that’s precisely where you should be keeping the mouth freshener! And hey a piece of friendly counsel don’t bind yourself by someone else’s idea of ‘where things should go’… remember it’s YOUR home so make it work for you.
- Last but definitely not the least – Be open to re-organizing. Change is the very essence of life, isn’t it! Moreover, the home organizing system you had in place can become irrelevant with the changing times.
Useful Rules of Decluttering that Every Organized House Follows
Ever wondered why some houses look so neat and meticulous? Well, let’s be honest there’s no rocket science involved in keeping the house organized all members of the family simply need to adhere to some basic rules of decluttering. Here are basic home decluttering ideas:
01. Set aside 20 minutes daily to tackle clutter.
02. Instead of saving all your small tasks (the ones which take up less than a minute) for ‘when I have time’ do them immediately say washing your cup of coffee; dumping the carton in the bin after opening it, etc.
03. Try multi-tasking say running the washing machine while getting ready for work.
04. Prior to leaving a room cast a glance to see if there’s anything which needs to be picked up and taken to the room you are going to?
05. To nip in the bud paper clutter from your home ensure that you immediately skim through and action whatever is delivered.
06. Use your smartphone smartly! Instead of hoarding that wedding invite for ages, simply click a pic of it and save it in your phone gallery and shred the invite…but hey don’t forget to delete the pic from your cell once you’re done with the wedding…we don’t want to replace clutter in the home with clutter in the phone, do we?
07. Use every minute wisely…while the pressure cooker is on the gas burner you can clean the kitchen countertop, can’t you?
08. Now this home organizing idea is something grandma has been harping upon … Do get into the habit of making your bed as soon as you wake up.
09. A clean bathroom is a mandate for an organised house so while brushing your teeth, do remember to swipe the bathroom countertop or put away the paraphernalia like the floss, hair bands et al.
10. Dedicate a drop zone at the entrance and make it compulsory for every member to deposit their knick-knacks (shoes, bags, coats, keys, wallets, sunglasses etc.) there.
11. Cleaning your refrigerator on a weekly basis is most frequent task of DIY home organizing hack.
12. Every night go through all the rooms with a basket and pick up all the clutter … you can then put it away on the weekend. The benefit? Waking up to a tidy and organized house!
13. Dedicate a clean-out schedule for concealed storage zones (pantry, drawers, wardrobes, shoe racks et al) on a monthly basis.
14. Involve all members of the family in the ‘DIY Home Organization’ Project!
So here’s hoping the above decluttering your home tips will enough to get your ‘home decluttering and organizing project’ going.
We hope you loved to read these home organizing ideas and will definitely apply in your home. Do share declutter your home checklist with us in given below comment box!
In case, if you are looking for similar other blogs, then you may refer the following articles:
15+ Tips to Declutter a Non-Modular Kitchen
Tackle Your Basement – How one weekend will get you organized!
Author Bio
Huta Raval – An English Literature and Journalism Topper, Huta Raval has graduated from the L D Arts College, Ahmedabad. Post serving for 23 years in the NBFC and Public Library Sectors her desire for ‘writing the unwritten’ brought her to the creative field of content writing. Her clientele comprises of NGOs, Blogging Platforms, Newspapers, Academic Institutions, et al.