Does your home often look like a tornado blew through it? When juggling a job, errands, hobbies and social activities, it can be hard to find the time to tidy, and even more challenging to keep it neat. However, there are many benefits to keeping your home organised that make the effort worthwhile – and, with these tricks, you’ll find it straightforward to maintain the show-home look.
The benefits of an ordered home
There are many surprising benefits of an ordered home, for your lifestyle and beyond.
Practically, having a place for everything – and storing your items accordingly – makes your possessions easy to find which can be a lifesaver when you’re in a hurry. Maintaining a tidy environment also minimises the chance of trips and falls or physical illness linked to poor hygiene, and encourages healthy habits.
There are mental health benefits to a tidy home, too. Mess has been shown to contribute to depression which leads to a lack of motivation and pride, creating an unending cycle. It can also make us feel ashamed and stop us from socialising when having a friend over for coffee is just what we need to effectively de-stress. In contrast, living in a neat environment inspires calm and lowers cortisol levels.
How to organise your property
- Declutter
Before you do anything else, declutter. Getting rid of anything you no longer need is cathartic and will make the organisation process feel more manageable.
Approach this task room by room to make it feel more manageable, and focus on container spaces such as cupboards and drawers where mess can quickly build up. Prioritise your essential possessions and consider when you last used items if you’re struggling to decide if you should keep them.
- Invest in smart storage solutions
Once you’ve streamlined your belongings, invest in smart storage solutions like fitted furniture that make the best use of your space and compartmentalise your possessions for easy access. For example, you could upgrade alcoves and understairs cupboards with fitted shelving, rails and drawers that make organisation effortless while keeping your overall home design attractive.
Complement these solutions with standard storage like baskets and boxes, designating each for a particular type of item. For example, you could keep a shoe box by the door and get a basket to store soft items that are hard to stack like children’s toys. Hooks can also help to create additional storage space, for bulky items like coats or frequently used kitchen utensils like mugs.
- Stay consistent
The key to keeping your home organised is to stay consistent. Putting something back in the wrong place – or not putting it away at all – once or twice might not seem all the important, but this can soon spiral out of control. Equally, if you follow your new strategies, you’ll find it easy to maintain an ordered environment without effort.
