tidy

Tips To A Tidy Apartment

Lifestyle
8 years ago
3 minutes

These days, in between work and picking children up from school, many of us struggle to keep our homes organised.

Whether you’re living in one bedroom apartment or a penthouse, it is always hard to control mess in your apartment, especially if it isn’t even yours.

Dedicate Time

Dedicate one day to get the house sorted for the coming week. A Sunday often works best to cook, vacuum, mop, clean, change the sheets, replace the towels, get all washing done and disinfect benches and surfaces before the mess begins to build up again. Unless you live by yourself, this should be a team effort, so get everyone helping one way or another.

Declutter

Avoiding clutter in a small space is hard. When you move home you should always allocate things that won’t make it to the new home - either by recycling, throwing out, selling or donating to charity. 

If you have realised that you have hoarded too much, it is never to late to sell, bin or give to charity. 

Don’t be spontaneous in your purchasing

Are you one of those people that continually buy things you don’t need and can’t actually fit in your apartment? There is a trick to it, before you buy, make yourself earn it - make a rule that you cannot buy anything until you’ve thought about it for 4-5 days. Most purchases made are spur of the moment buys, where the purchaser doesn’t truly think about what they are purchasing.

Keep your belongings to a minimum so that your space remains clutter free and in shipshape. This will not only save you space, but money, time and stress.

Storage is key - invest in it

Don’t leave things lying around the house, waiting for you to pick them up. Always have baskets handy in any room. In the living room, have a basket to put newspapers, pens and papers in when you're finished with them, so they aren't scattered across the room. 

In your bedroom, have a basket handy for all your dirty clothes, so instead of being thrown on the floor, they can be put in one place until you're ready for washing day.

Clean as you go

If cleaning all on the Sunday doesn’t sit well, the there is no point making a mess and leaving it there to rot until you can be bothered to do it later. Do your dishes after every meal and wipe down the benches and table, before you slouch onto that couch for the night. The longer you put off cleaning up the dishes and kitchen, the more likely you won’t want to do it, and the dirtier your apartment will become.

Shoes off

Now, this one isn’t for everyone, but there is no denying its effectiveness. Get into a routine of taking your shoes off when you walk in the door to avoid dragging in the dirt from outside onto your beautiful clean carpet. Some find it awkward to ask guests to take their shoes off, others do not - so only do this if it suits you.

Hang it 

When you first walk in the door, all you want to do is chuck everything down and collapse on the couch. Put hooks near the door to hang your keys, jackets and bags on, so that the doorway is spacious and tidy. Forcing yourself to do something will eventually turn into a habit, and you’ll eventually find yourself doing it every time you come home.