Less means more. The fewer items you have, the easier it is to manage them. So, get rid of unnecessary things right away: give them to those in need, share things out among your friends, but if you find it difficult to part with anything, pack and put them in your garage, attic or self-storage.
- Don’t keep things on top – hide them in wardrobes, cupboards, drawers. Give up knick-knacks. The fewer objects in sight, the greater the sense of order and inner peace.
- Think about organising space. Ask a specialist for help to make the most of your usable space. Especially in the kitchen – the arrangement of worktops; the position of the fridge and sink is of great importance.
- Invest in simple, easy-to-clean furniture – without protrusions, patterns and edges where dust easily accumulates.
- Form good habits:
- put things back in place
- make the bed immediately after getting up
- clean up while preparing a meal
- wash up while waiting for the water to boil for tea
- Share cleaning with your family. Determine that each household member is responsible for one room (kitchen, bathroom, living room) or for a given cleaning chore (vacuuming, washing, cleaning windows, etc.)
- Have space in every room for things that cannot be categorised (drawer, cabinet, box). But only one space.
- Give everything its place, where it will always be found – e.g. key hooks in the hall, along with a shelf or box for phones and chargers.
- Organise things in cupboards and drawers. At the back, place those things you rarely use, at the front, things that are in constant use.
- Invest in “maintenance-free” items: non-creasing fabrics, surfaces, and easy-to-clean items.
- To avoid hanging clothes on furniture (chair backs, bed edges, wardrobe doors, etc.) invest in hooks for the back of the door, or specially designed standing hangers
- Use old things by giving them new functions: e.g. make a dresser from an old trunk; from a pallet a frame under a mattress or a sofa, from a newspaper rack; from a bicycle a flower bed; from a mat a dog bed.