Find clothes more easily in an organized closet.
An organized house makes a lot of things easier. Finding an important paper, rotating canned goods, paying bills on time and cleaning the house are all simplified when you don't have to hunt through or work around piles of clutter in the process. Look around the house to identify the problem areas and work on devising an organizational plan for them, whether it involves an intricate filing system or a major cleaning project. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Create a household notebook, a binder that contains calendars, shopping lists, school schedules, important phone numbers and other information essential for keeping the family organized. Keep the binder in a central location where everyone in the family can reference it as needed. Once the information is transferred to the notebook, throw away unnecessary papers and reference materials.
2. Control paper clutter with a filing system. Create a file for each category of paper, such as bills, receipts, tax information, deeds and warranties, ongoing projects, school papers and insurance forms. Keep sensitive and important documents, such as birth certificates and Social Security cards, in a fireproof safe or a safety deposit box. Sort mail and incoming paperwork as soon as you receive it to avoid extra clutter.
3. Sort closets and cabinets, placing the contents into piles to be thrown out, donated, sold or kept. Determine whether you're keeping each item for sentimental reasons or if you actually need it. Allow yourself a set number of boxes to store things that are special to you, such as photographs and heirlooms, and get rid of the rest. Place the items you use regularly back into the closet or cabinet in an orderly fashion, by color, size, type or function. If there is wasted space, consider adding an organizing system, available at many home stores, to provide extra shelf space, storage bins or other space-saving devices.
4. Hold a garage sale to purge unneeded household items, or list them online on classified ad or auction sites. These items might include furniture, books, clothing, housewares and toys. Items that don't sell can go to charity. Contact local charities and thrift stores to see if they accept donations. Make sure to get a receipt, as some donations can be claimed as tax deductions.
5. Maintain your organized house by reining in clutter before it can start building up again. Before making purchases, decide where the item will go, and whether you need to get rid of something else to accommodate it. Open mail by the garbage can, immediately tossing anything that isn't needed and filing the rest. Once you have created a place for everything, it is easier to maintain an organized home.
Tags: filing system, organized house