Home Cleaning and Organizing Tips #1

I am on Day 3 of my spring cleaning schedule. So far, I have organized the pantry, under the kitchen and bath sinks and bedroom. As I mentioned in my previous post, I couldn’t get around to my son’s things (read ‘multitude of toys’). Nothing major, but I love to cross things off my list!

By the way, this is what my dream pantry would look like.Image courtesy: Woman’s Day

My current pantry is nothing like this, but I do have some valuable tips.

Here is my two cents worth on organizing around the house.

1. Repeat after me. ‘A place for everything and everything in it’s place.’ This motto took some getting used to, and now, life is much simpler.
2. Arrange items (in the pantry, shelves, etc) according to type and/or frequency of use.
   • Since we currently live in a rented place, I have not invested in fancy storage bins or containers. Instead I reuse glass and plastic food jars in the pantry as much as possible. I group similar items like baking supplies, flours, lentils, canned food, cereals, snacks, etc.
   • I use the same principle to organize under the sinks. Dish-washing supplies in one box and other cleaners in another. I reuse Boy’s old diaper boxes here.
   • There is a tall boy dresser in our bedroom. It holds a lot of things, among them, my husband’s multitude of electronic accessories – game CDs, computer accessories, cables and more cables. Here too, I group them according to function and frequency of use.
   • I use a wooden tray to hold my frequently used toiletries and makeup supplies on top of the dresser. Easy to find stuff and easy to clean up.
3. Take everything out and organize from scratch. This way, you know exactly what you have and get a better idea of how you want your space to be.
4. Use microfiber to dust surfaces. Not paper towels, not old rags. Good quality microfiber picks up dust and is reusable. They are excellent to dust blinds and clean windows without leaving streaks too.
5. Feel free to switch things up.
   • An impulsive thing I did today was re-organize the bedroom furniture. I moved the bed to a completely different spot. Moving furniture around instantly updates the look of a room. It is like new decor and all you use are your muscles!

I am linking this up at the Clean It Link Party over at Design, Dining and Diapers, at Housewife How-To’s, and the Clean House link Party at I Heart Organizing.