Wednesday, January 9, 2013

New Year, Get Organized!

So it's the beginning of another new year. It seems like we always start off the year with our typical resolutions. We vow to exercise more often, eat healthier foods, or pick up a new hobby. As soon that clock strikes midnight on New Years, we are absolutely dedicated to achieving our new goals...until February comes along. I don't know about you, but I find it relatively difficult to keep the same drive towards a goal for an entire 365 days, or longer. Sometimes when the new year comes around, it may be more beneficial to create small goals that we can accomplish quickly, without feeling completely burned out. I believe one of the best tasks to put at the top of that list is re-organizing your home. It may sound like a daunting task at first, but use some of these quick and easy tips to help. Sometimes just doing a little can do A LOT!

The Kitchen:
The kitchen is typically the "heart" of the home. A lot of time is spent in this space, therefore, it can quickly become overly cluttered. Use some of these quick tips to clear some of that clutter out of the kitchen!
1. De-clutter your utensil drawer. Digging through a pile of spoons and spatulas can be extremely frustrating. Check out your local home or hardware store to find a compartmentalized organizer to keep everything visible and easy to locate.
2. Stop buying so many plastic containers! Although their ultimate purpose is great, having too many can result in a crowded, unorganized cabinet or drawer. It becomes frustrating to find the correct lid, or to maintain a neat stack of containers. Invest in a simpler form of Tupperware  such as the GladWare's interlocking lids, where each container fits inside one another, leaving much more space for organization.
3. Clean out your pantry and refrigerator. This one is pretty self-explanatory, but is often put off because it requires too much time. It may take a while to sort through everything, but in the end, you will end up with much more space to store food, and avoid any smelly expired food down the road.

The Bathroom: 
Bathrooms can sometimes be the hardest to organize, because it's often difficult to find a place for everything. However, by organizing your bathroom, it typically makes it much easier to maintain cleanliness.
1. Organize your medicine cabinet or drawers. Take out all of the items you do not need, or will not use and throw them away. Sometimes it may actually be easier to use the medicine cabinet for everyday grooming items, since it is easily accessible. Take out items that are alike and store them in linen containers underneath your sink. By leaving only the necessary items in the cabinet and creating "active storage," you will ultimately minimize time spent in the bathroom, and less time searching for items in different places.
2.Give your makeup some space! Drawers and counter space can quickly become cluttered with cosmetic bags or stray makeup items. Avoid this by purchasing an expandable cosmetic organizer that easily fits into one of your drawers.
3. Pick up some apothecary jars! If you have the luxury of a large counter space in your bathroom, buy a few small and stylish apothecary jars to store little things such as cotton swabs, Q-tips, or bath salts. This makes it quick and easy to find when you're in a hurry!

The Laundry Room: 
The laundry is room is notorious for being unorganized, but you can change that!
1. Organized your cleaning supplies. Gather all of the cleaning supplies, detergents, or soaps that you have lying around your laundry room and store them in a carry-all caddy. This way you will always know where to find them, and they will be stored out of the way.
2. Get some hampers! To cut down on laundry time, invest in three different laundry hampers, for whites, darks, and colors. When the hamper is full, you know it's time to wash them. This not only cuts down on the number of cycles you have to run, but it also helps de-clutter the number of random hampers lying around in the laundry room.

Hope you found these tips helpful! Get Organized this year!