Today I would like to share my observations regarding the cleanliness of the house, the causes of the disorder and measures to prevent and eliminate it.
If you have your own secrets in this regard, be sure to share them in the comments.
We get helpers and shift some of the work to them
Ideally, of course, a housekeeper (or such a homely cat from the title picture) would solve most of these problems, but alas, they are not always available.
Therefore, we purchase a washing machine, dishwasher, multicooker and vacuum cleaner.
The washing machine will take care of dirty laundry, and if it also has a drying function, then you will not have to spend efforts on hanging it – removing things and they will not take up additional space on the ropes above your head or on the balcony.
At first, the dishwasher did not take root for me – I took the simplest one and regretted it. The fact is that if a family consists of 2 people, it is impractical to launch it because of a couple of plates, and if you save up dishes, then it is not washed to the end. Over time, I figured to put a quick wash (15 minutes without drying) in front of the main one – and lo and behold! The dishes are now clean and shiny. I strongly advise you to buy, this will save you not only on water, but also gain yourself time to relax. Moreover, the plate / mug is immediately put into the dishwasher, bypassing the sink, and this maintains the visible cleanliness in the kitchen.
As for the vacuum cleaner, I have a hand-held wireless Xiaomi G9, it is constantly in the corner, so I eliminate any rubbish right away. A robot vacuum cleaner (in my opinion) is not suitable for everyone.
Getting rid of unnecessary
What does this refer to?
Old gadgets and household appliances (for example, you bought a new phone – you need to sell the old one right away (on Avito). Such things quickly become obsolete, and the batteries stop working without recharging. And if today you can give something for them, then tomorrow there will be just send it to the landfill)
We get rid of unsuccessful perfume, care products and things that we don’t like at all (we are often given unnecessary hygiene items – soap, shaving foam and the like, which we do not use. Or we buy toothpaste, and it is frankly “not very good”. Usually it is postponed until better times, because throwing out an almost full tube is a pity. Better do it right away, or, for the very thrifty, start a separate box of “bad purchases or gifts” and do not let it overflow.
The same applies to tea, food – those purchases that have an expiration date. Throw it away! This is ballast, which will eventually expire and remain unclaimed.
I hope you do not keep ancient sets, down pillows, carpets, obsolete taps and other junk with you? Get rid of this relic of the past sooner.
We correctly distribute things around the apartment
It’s actually not as scary to have a lot of things as not to have a place to store them.
It is convenient to immediately purchase built-in wardrobes with many compartments, or have a pantry where you should attend to the installation of shelves. Less popular options are to make mezzanines in the hallway or on the balcony.
Seasonal items, shoes, blankets and items that are rarely brought to light can be packed into storage bags and placed in similar places. Even a regular closet will do – you can put bags down or place them on top.
Each item should have its own place, and many items with the same functions should be placed in organizers. For example, hand tools and consumables for them – in special bags or plastic cases with compartments, underwear and socks – in fabric organizers on the shelves of the chest of drawers, trifles – in plastic mini-containers with partitions, etc.
Also in Ikea there is a huge selection of containers, of all sizes, with and without lids. They fit perfectly on the shelves in the pantry (you can label them, or buy colored ones for different categories of things – you don’t have to push everything in order to find what you need) and are suitable for other needs.
We equip the hallway
Everything is simple here – we start a rug at the entrance, a shoe rack, a shoe tray (dirty / wet shoes, an umbrella go there), a shelf for keys and small items, a small wardrobe for outerwear (or open hooks and a shelf for scarves and hats).
When the season changes, we unload irrelevant outerwear from the hangers and hang the necessary ones.
We put things in order in the toilet, bathroom
The hordes of jars, huddled on the edge of the shell and periodically performing somersaults on the floor, look sloppy, compared to them, but take their rightful place on the shelves.
Toothbrushes, toilet paper, hair dryer, razor, mop in special holders, liquid soap – in an automatic dispenser, and ordinary soap – in soap dishes, where excess water is drained (or you can at least use grandmother’s option – put a dish sponge there ), laundry is in the basket, and detergents are in special containers.
If you have free access under the bathroom, it makes sense to have trays there, in which you can compactly place stocks of personal hygiene items, soap, toothpastes, powder, dishwasher tablets and the like, which is often in demand in the bathroom (if water gets on floor they will not get wet).
If with a place in a dignity. the site is very tight, and there are a lot of items, you can use the rack above the toilet (washing machine) – they are spacious, cheap, easy to assemble and look good.
Stickers under the rim of the toilet or colored tablets in the cistern can help a little to reduce the frequency of cleaning the toilet.
The kitchen is the most vulnerable place to clutter
No other room in the apartment is cleaned as often as the kitchen.
If there is a dishwasher, then half of the work is eliminated, but you still have to constantly wipe the table, and almost every day – the stove.
In order not to waste time on this, they came up with protective overlays for the plates so as not to wipe them off the table – you can eat on a tray. As for me, this is overkill, but there is demand, people are using it.
What really matters is the backsplash on the wall where the sink is (and behind the stove if it doesn’t have a hinged lid). Otherwise, the wall will quickly lose whitewash / wallpaper due to splashes and drops of grease. The most inexpensive and simple option is plastic aprons, they can be put on glue and at the same time they look good (minus – they can wear off a little over time).
A few more tips to “unload” the work surfaces and put things in order in the kitchen: at the sink, we fasten the bar, hang on it a support for mugs and hooks for kitchen utensils; we put the microwave on the brackets, jars with spices – on special holders, as well as knives, cutlery and dishes, if necessary, put additional shelves in the cabinet, place flower pots on hanging holders, magnetic shelves on the refrigerator, towel holders can also come in handy.
Get a portable organizer
If you constantly lose your phone in your own apartment, fumble with your hands for a long time in search of glasses, or you should always have certain items at hand (for example, a pen, notebook, headphones), then a mobile box will come in handy for these needs, ideally a special organizer.
It is convenient to carry it with you from room to room, as well as cling to furniture using a removable metal holder.
What’s on your desktop?
Many people work remotely these days, and having the right workspace can dramatically improve productivity.
We leave on the surface only what we use repeatedly every day, what is needed less often – goes into the drawers of the table.
Additional hanging drawers under the table, an organizer-shelf above the keyboard, stationery holders, a transparent silicone pad-mat on the table (it is convenient to place a calendar, phones and other useful pieces of information under it in the old fashioned way), stands for folders and documents.
It is better to place an organizer for wires and a small bin for rubbish under the table.
And a few final rules:
It’s easier to put the thing in its place right away than to disassemble the whole pile later.
Once a week it is worth arranging a “general” cleaning at home, sorting out what they did not overlook.
Each member of the family should contribute to cleaning, ideally – to clean up after himself.
Whether it is worth making the bed every day is a debatable question. If you sit on it during the day, then definitely yes, in other cases there are options not to waste time on this.
Most of the helpers given here (except for the cat), as well as other ideas, can be found in my selections:
10 indispensable home organizers with Aliexpress
10 shelves and holders to save space in the kitchen with AliExpress
10 practical bathroom shelves and holders from Aliexpress
Also, if you have your own life hacks on the topic, share them in the comments.
