7 Tips for a Tidy Home
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If you’re here, you probably take great pride in having a nice looking home. Maybe you love the way your space looks now, or maybe you’re curious how to make things just a little bit better. I love to find simple ways to enhance the overall look of my home and a clean, tidy space is certain to make a home look better instantly. These are my seven tips for a tidy home:
- Straighten up cords. Nothing disrupts a well-decorated space more than twisted cords hanging down the wall or draped across the surface of a media console. Seeing cords everywhere just makes a space feel messy but tearing into a wall to hide all these cords is time consuming and costly. When this isn’t an option, consider a cable concealer. I used to loathe the look of the cords from the TV hanging down and snaking across the mantle above our fireplace. Now, I use these paintable cord concealers and I barely even notice the cords are there - they are an absolute game changer. For lamp cords or phone chargers, try fastening the cord to the side of an end table, flattening the cord out so it is flush with the surface. Plants can also be a cost effective option to help conceal cords.
- Find a catchall drawer/cabinet. We are all familiar with that pile of mail, keys, phone chargers, headphones, etc. that stack up somewhere in the kitchen or by the door. Some might use letter holders or key racks to try to organize these items. I find that these tend to become just another way of moving the clutter around and can leave the space still looking messy. I recommend having a catchall drawer/cabinet by the door that can hold these types of everyday essentials. In our current home, we have a small kitchen with limited storage, but we have prioritized how we organize everything to allow for a cabinet to be used for these types of everyday essentials mentioned above. Using a cabinet for these items keeps our already limited counter space free from additional clutter.
- Clean surfaces. Whether it’s water marks on the mirror, a ring on the table from a drinking glass, dirt and grim on the back door, or dusty baseboards and trim, taking some time to give these areas a little extra attention will help your space look tidier. If you’re limited on time, try taking just 10-minutes a couple times a week to do some quick cleaning to keep the work from building up. For me, I try to take 10-minutes in the morning before I leave for work and pick things up or dust off surfaces. Dusting is huge in our home because we have a large dog that sheds constantly. On a sunny day, you can really see dog fur sprinkled about the furniture. If this sounds familiar, and you're looking for a quick and effective way to tackle fur in your home, try this duster. I have been loving this because it traps everything in and allows me to move quickly. Taking these 10-minutes to tidy things up helps my day get started right and when I come home, I feel more productive because the house is already clean.
>> Find out more about my decorating tips for dog lovers <<
- Have a place for everything. This tip builds off tip #2, but this one specifically focuses on things that might be causing some extra clutter in heavy traffic areas. Things like coats, bags, and shoes tend to crowd entrances. Or maybe for you it’s that case of water and dog food stacked by the back door because they don't fit in the pantry. Whatever it is, these things can make a space feel disorganized. If you are wanting to enhance the look of your home and keep things tidier, consider finding a designated spot for everything in your home. This may seem like a dauting task for those with small spaces like us, but having a system in place for where shoes, coats, and work bags go helps things stay tidy. In our current home, we don’t have a mudroom, so my husband and I (okay, so mostly just me) try to make a habit of putting coats, shoes, and bags straight into the hall closet when we walk in the door so they don’t crowd the door.
- Consider using a tray. We all tend to acquire things. I am notorious for leaving my jewelry laying on the shelf in the bathroom. My husband leaves his pocket change on the table. It is easier to focus on getting the larger things like coats, shoes, and bags, put away because they tend to be obvious and right in our way, but these small things add up and contribute to clutter in your space. Whether it’s jewelry, change, or multiple tv remotes, consider using a tray to keep these things more contained and give a little bit of design to the space.
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- Straighten up your furniture. Using the furniture in our homes is something we do every day so it's understandable why things would get moved around. Whether it's the armchair in the living room that gets shifted when you push in the recliner, an end table that someone bumped into, or the chairs around the dining table, taking time to straighten up furniture keeps a space looking tidy. It shows intentionality when these pieces are put back in their correct location and will instantly enhance the look of your space.
- Evaluate the need for that small storage cabinet. Simply put, furniture takes up space, and the more you have, the less space you have in a room. Crowded and cluttered spaces are difficult to keep clean and tidy. As you look around your space, consider the number of small furniture pieces you have. The most obvious ones that come to mind are small storage cabinets. Storage is a big deal in a home and when you find yourself with lots of stuff and nowhere to put it all, it can feel overwhelming. Using a small storage cabinet may seem like a compromising solution to this frustrating problem, but before you purchase another cabinet, consider whether you need to first get rid of a few things to eliminate the need for additional storage altogether.
Want to learn more about how to enhance your space? Check out my 5 tips for better decorating or find out my tips for elevating your space.
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