Cut the Clutter
Page 5
▪ Laundry (washing machine, tumble dryer,
▪ Outdoor clothing (coats, hats, gloves, scarves, folding space, stain pre-treatment, bleach,
umbrellas, and galoshes in a closet near the door)
detergent, fabric softener, laundry sorter)
▪ Cleaning and caretaking (mops, broom, and
▪ Arts and crafts (workspace, lighting, storage vacuum, cleaning tote with tools, cleaning products
for paints, paper, glue, and embellishments)
for refills, replacement light bulbs, cleaning cloths
▪ Mending (sewing machine, iron and ironing
and sponges, specialty cleaners)
board, sewing tools, fabrics and supplies)
▪ Paper handling (desk, telephone, computer,
▪ Planning and scheduling (desk area, computer, file box or file drawer, pens, paper, and checkbook) planner or electronic organizer, office supplies,
▪ Correspondence basket (stationery, selection coupon organizer)
of greeting cards, pens, envelopes and stamps)
▪ Wrap and mail center (mailing boxes, postal
▪ Recycling center (bins for recycled materials, scale, gift wrap, ribbon and gift cards, scissors,
bags and twine for packaging, scissors)
tape, pens and marking pen)
bathroom center ▲see pages 186–187 play center ▲ see pages 206–207
paper center ▲ see pages 220–221
Less is
Browsing the kitchenware aisle in any
department store, it’s easy to stray into a
cluttered mindset—and from there, a cluttered
kitchen. Trendy single-use gadgets or designer
pan sets are a sure road to a clogged kitchen—
mor
and they won’t make you a better cook.
When establishing centers in the kitchen,
e
think “less is more” and limit each center to the
bare-bones tools necessary to do the job. Pluck
the three most-used saucepans and a good
skillet from the big-box gift of matched pots
and pans. Hone down the knife collection to the
four or five knives you use most often. Focus on
the favorite baking pans that see the inside of
the oven on a regular basis.
Paring the contents of kitchen centers
to essential tools makes the most of scarce
kitchen real estate and simplifies food
preparation—allowing the cook to focus
on the food.
44
SKILLS FOR A WELL-RUN HOME
First principles:
organizing
basics
As we get organized room-by-room around the house, keep these basic principles in mind. Whether it’s crammed closets or cluttered counters, these central organization strategies will help keep order on the home front.
Hot, warm, or cold?
Label, label, label
It’s a simple but powerful premise: items that are used the In the middle of a sort-and-toss-it session, an organizer’s design most should be easiest to reach. Think of organized spaces seems obvious, but over time, that data can be lost. Facing a as having storage locations that are hot, warm and cold, and linen closet, our mental outline of “I’ll stack the children’s sheets store tools and supplies according to how often they’re used.
here, the beach towels over here, and the winter blankets down here ...” lasts only until the first late-night rummage for clean
▪ Hot zones, like the fronts of drawers, shelves at eye level, sheets jumbles the tidy piles.
and storage space on a counter, are home to the most used Solution? Labels, labels, and still more labels. Picture labels items. These are areas your hand can reach with little or no for children. Computer-printed labels. Labels by the sheet, or effort, such as the tool caddy next to the stove. This is where created one-by-one by electronic label-makers. Repeat after to store your favorite spoons, whisks, and ladles for easy me: “There is no such thing as too many labels.”
access to these cooking best friends.
Labels make any organizing scheme crystal-clear. They
▪ Warm zones are a bit harder to reach—like the space at show everyone, not just the organizer, where things belong.
the back of the drawer or the shelf near the top of the cabinet.
Babysitters or house guests will always know where to find You’ll need to stretch or bend, or open doors wider to reach a the towels—and where to replace them—when the linen
warm zone. Send items you need infrequently, such as once a closet shelves are labeled.
week or once a month, to the warm climes. Peelers, large pots, When moving, labels on boxes help to get the contents to and baking dishes can all happily live here. You’ll know where the right place in the new house. For seasonal storage, labels they are when you need them, but they won’t impede your prevent the need to open-and-dig for the holiday lights. On work the rest of the time.
the electrical panel, labels can show exactly which switch to
▪ Cold zones (otherwise known as Outer Siberia) are those throw to shut down the leaking hot water heater.
storage places that must have been designed by a chiropractor to encourage business. They’re dark. They’re obscure. They’re Harder to get out than to put away
hard to reach without a step stool or assuming a posture on Professional child-wranglers, such as day-care operators, know your hands and knees. The back recesses of the bottom shelf, a simple secret: to keep things neat, make it harder to get or the cabinet above the refrigerator that can only be reached something out than to put it away. It’s just human nature.
with a ladder, are cold-zone territories. Here’s where you put When we want something, we want it, and we’ll work hard those items that you use least, such as gelatin molds, seasonal to get it, too. But when it comes to putting it back.… Take baking pans, and serving platters for big parties. Think of it this advantage of human nature and make things harder to get way: the cold will keep them fresh!
out than to put away.
ORGANIZING YOUR HOME
45
▶ Children’s toys and cards can be easily and quickly thrown into a sturdy basket at the end of the day. If you stick a photo label on the front of the basket, your child will begin to get into the habit of putting away his or her toys.
“Repeat after me:
‘There is no such thing
as too many labels.’”
Go vertical
For books, files, or papers, vertical storage beats horizontal storage every time. What is horizontal storage? It’s a pile.
A stack. One thin, rectangular object stored on top of another.
A stack of books on a coffee table. Files in a tray on a desk.
Magazines stacked next to a table, on the floor. To reach one book, one file, one magazine, you must move them all—and chances are, you won’t take time to move them all back.
Vertical storage, like that offered by hanging files or bookcases or tabletop file boxes, makes it easy to find the file or letter you need. Simply flip through the hanging files, peeping at the papers within. In a vertical magazine file, it’s easy to find the issue you want—and you won’t disturb the rest of the magazines when you pull it from the storage box.
Our child’s book flip-file illustrates the principle perfectly.
Finding the right book is a matter of flipping through the covers; replacing it doesn’t require moving the other books. Similarly, sewing enthusiasts know that hanging fabric lengths from clothes hangers makes it much simpler to find the fabric they’re looking for—and with no need to disturb other lengths folded in a pile.
In geometry, there’s no preference, but when organizing, take the vertical over the horizontal any day!
▶ Hanging file folders allow quick search-and-replace options for stored p
aperwork. Documents can be filed in alphabetical order, or simply by subject. Whichever way you decide to do it, label each section in the pop-up plastic sleeve so that you can quickly retrieve the file you need.
46
SKILLS FOR A WELL-RUN HOME
Saving money on
organizing
products
Don’t be fooled into thinking that buying specialty organizers is the only way to solve a clutter problem. Useful as these products can be, they’ll become clutter themselves if you haven’t done the heavy organizational lifting first. Shop sensibly and save money with these tips for choosing organizing products.
Organize, measure, buy
Climb the walls Hooks, pegs, and hangers provide bonus Take a common problem: magazine storage. Faced with a storage in tight places. Pegs near an entryway allow children bookcase filled with favorites, it’s tempting to say, “Oh, I must to hang coats and hats when they enter the house. The dog’s do something about those stacks of magazines,” grab the car leash and the car keys will never go missing if they have keys and head to the store. Once there, buying a set of 12
designated hooks near the back door. Narrow molding shelves plastic magazine holders (in the same color as the family room intended for displaying picture frames are ideal to hold diaper drapes) appears to be the right solution.
and skin-care products near baby’s changing table.
Home you go—only to find that the holders are too big for the bookcase, and that the whole collection will require On the shelf Wall-mounted shelf units are hard-working eight more containers to hold the entire stack. Wallet drained members of the get-organized team. Over-the-door shelving and energy depleted, you drop the whole project, leaving the provides an instant pantry when stocked with canned goods.
new holders to swell the population of household clutter.
A shelf above the washing machine stores laundry products so Smart organizers understand how the process works: they they are accessible to adults but safe from children and pets.
organize first, measure next, and buy—if they buy—last. First, For maximum storage power, combine plastic containers they assess and sort the magazines, keeping only 20 percent: or wicker baskets with shelves. Color-coded containers help those periodicals to which they refer often.
children keep their play spaces tidy. Low, flat wicker baskets After recycling the rejected 80 percent, our organizer plans make it easy to see and access toiletries in the bathroom.
and measures available storage areas. Only then does she shop for organizational products—and she does so with a list that Divide and conquer Drawers are great friends. There’s only enables her to buy exactly what she needs.
one problem: open and close a drawer ten times, and you’re apt Put organizers to work for you by following these tips for to find a scrambled mess thereafter. Fix the problem with drawer making the most of the storage products available.
dividers. Use short, straight lengths of cardboard or plastic to create divided areas or go for commercial drawer dividers: some Corral and contain Cartons, boxes, baskets, and containers offer different-sized trays that interlock to create custom dividers.
are the organizer’s foot soldiers in the war against chaos. Use them to sort and store magazine collections, children’s toys,
▶ Reuse and repurpose found items to get the benefit of and arts-and-crafts materials. Open containers are ideal for commercial organizing products without the hefty price tag.
often-used items, making them available but keeping them Recycle product packaging, cardboard and containers, or visit yard from spreading over living areas.
sales for low-cost—and sustainable—organizing alternatives.
cleaning your home
Skills for a well-run home
Cleaning house. It’s a dirty job, but
somebody has to do it. Chances are, dirt and
disorder have taken over your home. Do you
have the cleaning skills you need to keep a
sparkling house?
Setting the right standard for “clean
enough” brings a sensible reality check to the
job of keeping a clean house. Learning to clean
efficiently speeds house-cleaning chores and
saves energy. Tapping family teamwork
provides extra manpower (and woman- and
child-power) to get the job done fast, while
training younger family members in cleaning
skills. Choosing the right cleaning products and
tools—and using them effectively—matches
the method to the mess, cuts costs, and helps
preserve the environment. Scheduling cleaning
chores helps deal with dirt and grime early,
before it becomes entrenched and stubborn.
In this section, we’ll learn the basic cleaning skills that keep a household healthy and
happy. Got your apron and your cleaning tote?
Ready, set ... clean!
50
SKILLS FOR A WELL-RUN HOME
Setting standards for
the “clean-enough” home
How clean is your house? It’s a matter of choice: yours. While it may sound like heresy to the “cleanies” among us, the happiest families establish a standard for household cleanliness that suits their family composition, cleaning style, and personal preferences.
Set the right standard—for you
Reach for family agreement on the issue of a cleaning Some families—such as those with crawling babies or immuno-standard. If most household members fall on the “relaxed”
compromised elders—will need to reach for a very high standard side of the equation, there’ll be cleaning trouble if one of cleaning. Others, such as a clan of healthy young adults, can member pushes for higher standards.
live quite happily in a home with a more-relaxed cleaning Negotiate a common-sense compromise. Food preparation style. While nobody advocates ignoring cleaning to the point areas require a high level of sanitation, but a teen’s bedroom of health and safety problems, a realistic view of your family’s poses fewer health and safety concerns. Better to pick cleaning cleaning standard prevents frustration—and helps get the battles carefully, with an eye to general well being, than fight work done faster.
it out over every speck of dust.
▲ Clean smart by setting a realistic
▲ Be realistic about where to insist on a
▲ More relaxed cleaning standards are
cleaning standard for your home. Schedule higher cleaning standard. Children’s rooms and appropriate in less-used areas. Go easier on
chores to keep a clean house every day.
kitchen areas demand a higher level of clean.
the chores in guest bedrooms or utility areas.
CLEANING YOUR HOME
51
Cleaning
Where does your family fall on the cleaning
3 Getting to the seat of the problem, how
spectrum? Try this quiz: it will help you assess the often do you scrub the toilet?
sweet spot of “clean-enough” for your home. There
A As often as I use it, of course. Who wants to are no right or wrong answers.
park themselves on anything less than sparkling?
B Hit or miss—a couple of times a week, more 1 When dinner is over, what’s the state
often if the fellows in the house forget to aim.
quiz
of the kitchen?
C Only when something snarls at me when I lift A Pristine, of course. I load the dishwasher as I the lid ... say, every few weeks?
cook, and dinner dishes are done promptly. I can’t
relax if the kitchen doesn’t sparkle when I turn out 4 For sweetest dreams, how often do you
the lights. Who wants to come back to a dirty
change the sheets?
kitchen in the morning?
A Once a w
eek—or twice a week in warm
B I let the dinner dishes soak until next day.
weather. I love the feel of crisp, fresh linens.
Who wants to ruin a good meal by spending time
B When I remember, or the smell gets to me.
with their hands in hot water afterward?
Say, every couple of weeks or so?
C What’s the difference? The counters are still C Only when I have a new boyfriend, if you know covered with dirty dishes; I just washed the ones
what I mean. Why waste good laundry powder and
we needed before the meal.
water if I’m going to be too sleepy to notice?
2 How’s your relationship with the
5 Are you a duster or a dabbler? How
vacuum cleaner?
often do you remove dust from the home?
A Who needs a man when I have my high-speed
A Daily, of course; it’s a ritual. Some of my finest vacuum cleaner? Even the cat has learned to stand
ideas come to me while I stroke the furniture with
still for the daily vacuuming.
my dust cloth.
B Love-hate. I show it the carpet every week or B Once a week or so—or whenever the household so, or when friends are on the way over—but I do
joker writes “Dust Me” on the dining-room table
wish it would learn to lower its voice.
with his finger.
C What vacuum cleaner? I’m still hoping a
C I’m a fan of the blow-it method. If I pick cleaning reality show will stop by and dig us out.
something up and it’s covered with dust, I blow it
Public exposure would be a small price to pay!
off. Great household hint, huh?
If you answered mostly A,
Mostly B answers show you’re a
More than three C answers?
congratulations! You are a Clean
Moderate Mopper, with a house that
You’re a Dirt Dodger. Too often, you’re
Extreme, and happy to be so. Your
is clean enough to be healthy, dirty
discouraged about life on the home
house shines, and any dust mote so
enough to be a home. Most of the time,