Let's be honest here – while most of us would love our homes to look like something out of a magazine, this is unlikely to happen without a miracle. So, here are a few ideas to help keep the house looking at least presentable. 1. Get a large wicker hamper or wooden blanket box and put it by the front door for shoes and boots. Kids are great at scattering shoes around the house like dandelions. By having a large hamper by the front door, you have a fighting chance of corralling those shoes into the one place.
2. Another idea is a bookcase by the front door for shoes, umbrellas, sunscreen, hats, handbags, schoolbags etc. Each person can have their own shelf – makes it easier to find everything you need on the way out the door. You can add in some labelled tubs (our Jumbo Labels are great for this) to help keep things looking tidy.
3. Have a 10-minute essential tidy routine. Work out the drop-dead essential tidying needed to make your lounge room, kitchen and dining room looking vaguely presentable. It could be as simple as all dishes in the dishwasher, bench-tops wiped, books & mags into a pile, rubbish picked up, scatter cushions put in order, remote controls into one place etc. Do your 10-minute tidy up every night before bed so you feel a bit more in control in the morning.
4. Clutter often comes from having too much "stuff". We have a rule in our house: Something in – Something out. So, before big clutter creators like Christmas and birthdays, we clear out the things we no longer need, and either donate them to charity or hold a garage sale.
5. Life's too short to do a big Spring Clean once a year, so Spring Clean in 5 minute lots throughout the year. Set your timer for 5 minutes once a day and just Spring Clean one thing. It could be the cupboard under the sink, one shelf in a pantry, or one drawer in your wardrobe. When the timer goes off, go do something you want to do.
6. Piles of clean laundry scattered around always are a problem. Give each person their own coloured laundry basket or labelled laundry basket (use either our Jumbo Labels or any of our nametag labels) and fold directly into the baskets on washdays. If you have space, have a separate ironing cupboard or wardrobe, and hang up the clothes to be ironed, rather than leaving them in a pile (also makes ironing and finding missing clothes easier).
7. And the biggest tip – remember you don't have to do it all on your own. Start your kids helping you with age appropriate cleaning from when they are little. As they grow through school, give them more responsibility for different tasks. By the time your kids hit High School they are quite capable of ironing their own school uniforms, making their own lunches and helping by cooking at least one meal a week. The trick is to set a good example for them and teach them that shared looking after a home is core part of life.