It’s the New Year and all those New Year Resolutions are already ticking by each day. Was one of your resolutions to get more organized? If so, we hope the tips below will help you cut through the clutter that seems to sneak up on us each year.
How many emails do you have in our inbox that need to be deleted or put into certain folders? And the daily junk email that you need to unsubscribe too? There are several services that can help us with this task! For mac users, there is a wonderful service called, https://www.unroll.me/. It’s pretty straight forward, enter your email and password and unroll does the rest! Another power email service is Mailstrom, this application allows you to set up how you would like to receive emails, helps protect from spam, allows you to unsubscribe from emails, and protects your privacy. These are just 2 services and there are likely quite a few more so pick the one that works best for you and regain control of your email.
Closets
Most closets this time of year look like something exploded in them. First things first, it’s time we get rid of all that stuff you don’t wear. Most people give their unused clothes to Goodwill, but there is also a chance to make money by reselling what you don’t wear on sites such as eBay or consignment stores. Start by turning all your hangers backwards. After you wear something, turn the hanger back to normal. After a few months, anything on the hanger still turned backwards are clothes you don’t wear anymore. These are the items you’ll now look into giving away or selling.
As the winter months wind down we will need to start getting out clothes for spring and putting our winter clothes back into storage. Plastic bins come in very handy with this. You can purchase them at your local Lowe’s, Home depot, Target and Walmart. Keep an eye out for sales. The great thing about plastic bins is they are low cost and they come in all shapes and sizes so can easily fit under the bed, in the garage or in empty closets or cabinets. These work great for kids toys as well!
Cabinets / Drawers
We all have that one drawer in the house that is such a mess we are scared to open it for fear of what’s going to fly out at our face. It’s the drawer that’s such a mess we don’t even know what belongs in it or what it’s for. Use drawer tray organizers, small tupperware type containers, small glass jars or similar to help organize the small items. For the bigger items such as the pencils and pens, use an sand bucket, ceramic vase or other container to keep them contained and also look decent if left out. Zip locks can also come in handy for random items including things like batteries, which can then be placed in the freezer.
Toys
If you have a child they probably have toys and if your kids are like typical kids, their toys are probably everywhere except where they belong. “If I step on one more Lego…” Sound familiar? We love toys keeping our kids busy, but we don’t love the mess they often leave behind. Organizer stores have a wide range of tiny to large containers that can help organize small toys and pieces. Racks can also help with stacking and organizing bins so they are easy to reach and store. To help kids remember where their toys belong, it’s helpful if you take a picture of what goes into what bin and tape it on the end or top, this way kids have an easy reference for where their things belong.
Misc Items
If you’re short on storage space in your office, living room or powder room, consider some baskets or decorative boxes. You can usually find some at reasonable prices and with fun designs at stores such as Michael’s, Ross and others. This makes it easier to organize your items (including throw blankets or pillows, toilet paper, office items and more) while keeping things looking tidy and organized.
We wish you a clutter-free New Year. If we can help by cleaning your home, give us a shout today or request an estimate.