TEN IMPACTFUL DAILY HABITS FOR KEEPING AN ORGANISED HOME
By Courtney Adamo
1. MAKE BEDS EVERY MORNING
Encourage your kids to make theirs too. We really believe the whole house feels more organised and calm when the beds are made. Knowing the beds are made and our bedroom is tidy makes us feel less stressed when the rest of the house gets messy. To make things easier, we don’t use top sheets (flat sheets) on any of our beds. Above the fitted sheet you’ll find just a simple duvet with a linen cover. This is a habit picked up from living in Europe and, in addition to being cosier, it makes the bed much easier to make (even our littlest kids can do it!).
2. VACUUM THE HOUSE BEFORE BEGINNING WORK
See it as a ten-minute morning meditation. Take a deep breath, gather your thoughts and before you know it your house will feel fresh. (It also forces you to pick anything up off the floor that’s been scattered around – so your house is not only clean, but tidy too!)
3. KEEP COUNTERS CLEAR
Don’t allow your kitchen counters or dining table to be the landing space for all the things that come into the house every day. It can be so easy to let a small stack of papers become a large pile of stuff. When you come home, put your keys into a basket or hang them on the hook where they belong –don’t just leave them on the table. If you use your dining table as your desk (like we sometimes do) put away all the work stuff (cables, notepad, pens, computer mouse, etc.) at the end of each working day.
4. HANG UP COATS, TOTES AND BACKPACKS ON ARRIVAL
We have hooks outside on our covered deck for coats and backpacks. This helps to keep a lot of the clutter from ever coming inside. We also encourage the kids to take their lunchboxes out of their backpacks and bring them into the kitchen. The same rule applies to adults – resist the urge to throw your coat over the dining chair and take a few extra seconds to hang it up.
5. BE THE GATEKEEPER OF YOUR HOME
Take charge of what enters your home. By being selective about the items you allow into your home, you can prevent clutter from accumulating. This means evaluating every purchase, gift and freebie before it crosses your threshold. Ask yourself if each item is truly necessary, useful or brings you joy. By being mindful of your home’s contents, you create a more harmonious and orderly living space, reducing stress and making it easier to keep your home tidy.
If stuff does creep in (which inevitably it seems to do when you have kids!), be mindful and consider donating or discarding. We are always so surprised by what sorts of little knick-knacks, random toys or beeswax sculptures come home in kid pockets on a weekly basis. While we might not stop the kids in their tracks before entering the house with these things, we do try to discard or donate them before they end up in desk drawers or baskets. The same goes for party favours, hotel toiletries or other freebies we might be given.
6. DEAL WITH THE PAPER
Open mail daily. Recycle anything that’s unnecessary, and place anything that requires your attention into a dedicated bin, tray or file. Same goes for all the papers the kids bring home. Don’t let piles of paper take over your dining table!
7. PUT THINGS AWAY STRAIGHT AWAY
It really doesn’t take much more time to put your shoes in the basket instead of flinging them onto the floor, put the mail into a bin instead of leaving it on the counter, or put the tote bag away after you’ve come home from the market. These small actions have a big impact on the look and feel of your home. When you make a habit of putting things away in their assigned place, it becomes second nature as you move throughout your day and your home stays organised as a result.
8. WASH ONE LOAD OF LAUNDRY A DAY
Depending on the size of your family, washing can easily be a daily job.
We like to run the washing machine during the day while the sun is out and our solar panels are providing the energy. Then we’ll hang the laundry on a rack outside in the sunshine and pull things off the line by the evening. Doing this daily prevents the laundry hampers from becoming too full and the job from being too overwhelming. (All clean clothes go into a large basket and the kids have to come and get their own clothes out to fold and put away.)
9. DO A NIGHTLY REGROUP
Take five to ten minutes each night before you go to bed to reorganise the house so that you wake up with a tidy house and a fresh slate. Every night after the kids go to sleep, we wipe down counters, fluff the cushions on the sofa, throw the toys back in their baskets, put the toothbrushes back into the cup in the bathroom cupboard, light a candle or burn some palo santo incense. It’s a simple ritual, but it allows us to feel calm before we go to sleep and happy to wake up to an organised house.
10. PUT YOUR CLOTHES AWAY AT BEDTIME
Hang up what you’ll wear again and put anything dirty in the hamper. If you’re prone to leaving clothes in a pile on the floor, hooks on the backs of bedroom doors are really useful.
This is an edited extract from The Family Home by Courtney & Michael Adamo published by Hardie Grant Books.
MUSE PAPER
ISSUE 08