Managing a home and family is hard work! Whether it’s just you and your spouse or a whole troop of kids, there are plenty of ways to keep your house and family organized. Read on for some awesome, easy organization tips.
Make the Daily Chore List Fun
There are some things that just have to get done, like dusting, cleaning up the kitchen, and vacuuming. But you don’t have to do everything on your own. Enlist the help of the kids by making the chore list fun and engaging. This way, they’ll be much more enthusiastic to get chores done.
For example, you can create a board with each child’s name on it and assign fun stickers for every chore. Every time they get their chore done, they can move their sticker to the “done” section. This is fun, interactive, and a good way to show them the importance of prioritization and getting things crossed off the to-do list!
Go Paperless
One of the main forms of clutter in our homes is usually paperwork and with a large family, things like warranties, medical records, registrations, and more can add up. I’ve gone almost 75% paperless here at our home. Important receipts and paperwork are all scanned and saved to our cloud storage. I have one account for business paperwork and another account for family photos, bills, and household items. It makes being able to find what I need in a snap a breeze because it is all organized into folders for the person or home item it pertains to. Here are three ways to go paperless:
- Google the paperwork – Often times, things like instruction manuals, instruction sheets, and car owner’s manuals can be found online, eliminating the need for you to continue to stuff papers in various filing cabinets (or just in the desk drawer!). Try to find these things online to keep yourself more organized.
- Use an App – Apps like Evernote make it easy to document random information, like a recipe you want to try or a reminder that you jotted down on a piece of paper. Rather than keeping physical copies, you can take photos, make notes, and more and organize these folders for easy reference in the future. I love this app!
- Create a Naming System – You can store countless things on your phone and laptop, as long as you remember how to find them! Use easy naming conventions like DATE-TOPIC to remember what you saved, and store everything in organized folders. This digital organization will help free up space in your home.
Call on a Friend
Getting a second opinion on your organization needs is very helpful because you get a second set of eyes on solutions you may have overlooked. For example, cleaning out your closet is always a major endeavor. You’re not sure what you want to keep, if you’re really going to wear that dress again, and how you can better organize your favorite pieces. By calling on a friend, they can tell you exactly what to keep and what can go with an unbiased opinion. This is one of the reasons why professional organizers are so popular.
Invest in Storage
The best thing you can do to organize your home is to invest in some handy and useful storage options. There are many choices, from underbed storage to wall storage, and these choices will depend on your unique needs.
Before you invest in storage options, though, do a deep dive into what can be thrown away, donated, or sold. By reducing the amount of stuff you have, you can clear up space and store all the essentials more easily.
Also, instead of storing your artificial tree in the old beat up box it came in, investing in Christmas tree bags for storage is an excellent way to stay organized. The bag will keep stink bugs out of the tree, making setting it up much more enjoyable.
Keep a Family Calendar
Once you have some good options to keep your home organized, find ways to keep your family organized, as well! A big calendar in the kitchen can help your loved ones because you can put important dates like events, after school activities, vacation dates, and more.
Keeping your home and family organized will help you all feel more comfortable and in charge!
