The golden rules to achieve it
The golden rules to get it
Less is more
The essential key to making order easier for you to clean is putting yourself in Marie Kondo mode.
- What to do? Opt for the essential furniture, minimalist decorations and leave the floors and surfaces very clear.
- What do you get? When you clean, you don't waste time putting away decorative objects and other “put” (everything you accumulate and ask yourself: “where do I put it?”).
Don't pile up
Another rule of thumb is to stand up to the corners where paperwork, clothes you take off and OHNIS (Unidentified Household Objects) accumulate and entrench.
- What to do? Storing a shirt or putting it in the laundry bag when you take it off costs the same as leaving it lying on a chair.
Everything in its place
To avoid accumulating or leaving things in the middle, it is essential that you have a place assigned for everything. Thus, you do not fall into the temptation to leave everything in any corner.
- What to do? Say yes to boxes, organizers to organize your closet and drawers, as well as other items that help to store and classify things.
Blessed constancy
Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today. It costs much less to order a little each day, than to leave everything until the last minute and end up having to do a cleaning and ordering marathon at the end of the week.
- What to do? By picking up and storing your shoes every day, for example, you prevent them from piling up as dirt collects around them.
Group, save and … you will win!
Group, save and … you will win!
To facilitate cleaning tasks, group things and store them in the same container, so you will move them faster. You can use:
- Baskets
- Organizers
- Boxes
- Trays
- Cabinets
- Trunks
- Maxi bags
- Suitcases
Make a plan to clean less
Make a plan to clean less
Just as you dust from top to bottom to avoid dirtying what you have already cleaned (one of the most common cleaning mistakes is doing it the other way around), do not improvise when ordering.
- Get organized and think of a logical route that helps you optimize time and effort as much as possible (this is what we do, for example, to do the weekly cleaning in less than 45 minutes).
- The most efficient way is to sort by categories and not by rooms. For example, put all the clothes that you have accumulated in various corners of the house in place. This way you avoid that, when you have already ordered the wardrobe, you suddenly come across a forgotten garment in the hall, the living room or the bathroom, and you have to reorder what you have already ordered.
Black spots where clutter reigns and difficult to clean
- The shelves. They are a magnet for the accumulation of "pongos" and dust. You can avoid this by changing them for display cases and limiting the decorative objects.
- Play areas. Thrown toys can make cleaning up an obstacle course. Remedy with boxes or trunks to store them.
- The hall. You leave the keys, the correspondence, the jacket, the shoes … Fix it by putting trays, filing cabinets, hangers, shoe racks …
How to stand up to clutter
How to stand up to clutter
- Hall without obstacles. Don't let the decorations, the photos, the magazines accumulate … Set a limit by setting a maximum number of each (for example, five). Opt for furniture pieces that are closed and movable so that everything is not in sight and exposed to dirt. Also, you will easily move it when cleaning.
- Be careful with the chairs … The ones in the entrance or the bedroom are usually the preferred ones to accumulate clothes, bags and various accessories. Avoid it with hangers, hooks, gallants at night …
- Hide dirty clothes. If you don't have a specific place for it, it will end up lying anywhere. Put a bucket or basket in your laundry room, sink, or bedroom. And if you don't have space, you can use a maxi bag and hang it behind a door.
- Free kitchen and bathroom. To facilitate cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, clear the surfaces, use drawers with compartments, boxes with organizers, spice racks …, and put everything in place after use.
Better safe than … clean
Better safe than … clean
- Versatile pieces. To facilitate the task of storing and moving (and thus cleaning faster), bet on furniture and pieces that allow you to group everything that is scattered and move it when you clean, such as baskets, magazine racks, containers, trolleys …
- More storage. When planning the space, think about how to use it to store as many things as possible: under the sofa and the bed, at the top of the closet … The clearer it is, the less dirt is entrenched and the easier it is cleaned.
Magical allies
Magical allies
- Sofas with storage. A chaise longue with hidden storage space helps you remove cushions, plaids and other textiles out of the way.
- Folding canteens. You can also store bed linen in the storage space of a fold-down trundle bed.
- Furniture with wheels. Something as simple as opting for trolleys, as well as poufs or drawers with wheels, makes cleaning much easier.
- Gallants and shoemakers. Use them to place the clothes that you take off or the ones that you will put on, and avoid leaving footwear in the hall, at the foot of the bed …
Accessories that help
Accessories that help
Currently, there are many gadgets that help you keep everything in order and, thus, facilitate cleaning.
- Controls under control. Use tabletop control organizers, or fabric ones that hang on the arm of the sofa, to group them together and get them out of the way.
- Cable collectors. There are cable organizers or boxes to hide them so they are not a mess and do not get in the way of dusting, sweeping or scrubbing.
- Utensil bars. They keep at hand and in order (but out of the way) everything you use in the kitchen, the bathroom, the study, the play area …
How to keep the work zone at bay
How to keep the work zone at bay
One of the places where clutter is usually installed, making cleaning difficult is the space dedicated to work or study.
- Once a week. Sort the papers that you have accumulated, keep the essentials in well-labeled folders or filing cabinets and throw away what you don't need.
- Use the box trick. Put everything you use to work in a box and take out the necessary daily. After a week, everything that you have not used you have to store in another place or dispose of it permanently.
