(Guest Post: Amanda Jacobs)
Most households have too much clutter and not enough time. Following are some simple and effective strategies to help guide you through the de-cluttering and organizing process. We could all use more time and less worry when it comes to the home. Read on to discover how to make a good first impression on visitors and how to save yourself the stress of a messy entrance.
Let's start at the beginning, the front door.
To avoid a constant pile of jackets and gloves and other things to trip over and be frustrated by, make sure there is a convenient place to hang and store these items.
If you are lucky enough to have a closet by the front door you need to start off by making sure that there is enough room for everyone to hang their jackets. This will probably mean removing the odds and ends stored inside and finding them another home. This closet needs to be dedicated to items you use every day. If you do not have a closet, you need to make ample room to hang jackets. This can be done very easily and cheaply by buying coat hooks and hanging them on the wall, or you can get fancy and buy a coat rack. Either way the goal is to have a place to hang coats that is convenient enough that everyone will use it.
As for hats and mitts, each household member should have their own basket or space. Once again, if you have a closet, put dividers on the shelf, if not you can arrange baskets or containers on the floor or hang a shelf to hold them. Make sure that each one has a prominent name tag so there is no question of whose stuff goes where.
Shoes and boots are the next thing. Unless you are blessed with a large foyer and tons of room, you need to find a way to compact the amount of space required. The all-time simplest way is to buy a shoe rack. Make sure it is sturdy enough to handle the demands of your family, and it could also be a fun project to make one yourself if you have the skills to do so. (Or a handy family member or friend that will help you)
The last item to deal with at the front entrance is keys. The keys that are used every day for the house and car and office, need a space right inside the door. The farther you have to walk with those keys in your hand, the bigger your chance of putting them down somewhere and then having to waste time looking for them later. A simple grouping or cup hooks or a key rack will solve this problem entirely.
The goal for the front entrance is to ensure that there is place for every item close enough and uncluttered enough to make it simple to put things where they belong. It does not take long to develop a routine of putting things away and the satisfaction of an organized entrance will last for a long time.
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For more information on my journey through organizing and a few resources |
