Declutter, Organize, Tidy Up. Our tips and tasks!

Welcome back! This week we are talking about the important topic of home organization. Now that the school year is ending and kiddos of all ages will likely be home a bit more, enlist their help and make organizing projects a source of pride for the whole family. People either love organizing tasks or hate them, and organizing a home is often a source of stress. It doesn't have to be though!

We have often talked about how crucial a decluttered, organized home is when selling, but what about when you're just living day-to-day in your house? Once you've moved and unpacked, how do you keep things tidy?

There are some easy strategies to work on every day that will help you and your family enjoy a tidier, more organized space. It will help you relax, be more efficient with chores and daily tasks, and it might even make the kids excited to tackle their own messes.

So, here are a few of our favorite tips for getting (and keeping!) your home organized.

• Make the beds each day. It is amazing what a difference a neat bed makes in a room. It's easy, quick, and provides instant neatness in a bedroom. Plus, this is an easy task for the kids to do each morning before school.
• Invest in laundry baskets. These are so necessary for collecting dirty clothes and unloading cleaning clothes that need to be folded & put away. In our experience, if there is no basket, most people will simply toss clothes on the floor, so make these catch-alls easy to access.

• Edit your closet. Tossing out unused a couple times each year is a great way to keep your closet as neat as possible. Invest in plenty of hangers so you can see everything, and arrange your clothes by color, season or purpose. This should help prevent rummaging through clothes each morning before work or school.
• Containers are your friend. Everything should have its place, even if it is just in a plastic bin. If you don't have anywhere to put toys, craft items, seasonal goods, etc., they will end up on the floor or in a junk drawer. There are many ways to outline how you want your family's items stored (labels?  categories?), but just make sure you have places to store them. Check out Target or The Container Store for affordable options. Try making a game out of clean-up time with your kids!

• File your papers. This is a big problem for a lot of people. Does anyone else seem to have a build-up of paper even in this age of paperless everything? Many households abide by the rule of keeping documents and bills for 5 years "just in case", but that really adds bulk to your kitchen or office. Invest in a filing cabinet or binders and store those papers by year. It does take some extra time to file them away, but your counters and drawers will thank you!

• Do a little each day. For many, it is difficult to find time and energy to tackle these tasks each day. We promise it will get easier and as you work on organizing the rooms in your home, you'll find that it becomes a habit to keep things neat, and your home will start to remain that way.

What other strategies do you use to keep your house organized? Share with us!