Sometimes the key to having a clean area is by having the right things in the area. You know what I mean. You have a pile of pens, you have bills stacking up, you have to run to the other room to blow your nose.
How can bringing THINGS into your house make for less clutter? — It’s a good question. BUT, when rooms are well stocked with the right items, it makes it easier to keep them tidy.
Today I want to talk about 3 things to have in each room of your house to help it be more functional.
Really quick, if you’re looking to make managing your house and decluttering easier, don’t miss my 5 word organization challenge. It’s going to make that ALL easier!
3 Things to help your home be easier to declutter and manage:
Pen cup/container
This gives you a place to put all those pens that you know you’ll need but don’t want cluttering your space. I honestly have a pen cup in probably every bedroom, each room (except the living room, because I don’t want to encourage my kids to write on my couch). Makes it easy to put those away, and I know you have a bunch of coffee mugs you don’t use – put them to good use!
Garbage
When ever I go to visit someone and I can’t find the garbage I feel like they’re just asking me to litter. Just like Disneyland, if you don’t want the trash cluttering your “park” make sure that there is a trash can within good reach from most rooms. Also, don’t get the tiniest garbage can they have — get a good sized one, bonus points if the edges aren’t too slanted — takes up less room that way.
Kleenex
Ok, in some ways they may add more clutter (which is why you NEED a garbage can in rooms)… but this is super necessary. We have a box in every room.
Instead of my kids using their sleeve (or even worse, my sleeve) I try to keep a Kleenex box in each room. It helps keeps germs at bay! Any more there are so many cute boxes, it’s easy to find one to match your fancier rooms (if you’re into that, which I am not).
Bonus Items Added in 2024
A bin for blankets in the living room.
My kids love to huddle under a blanket when they’re watching TV. I don’t even mind if they just throw it in there (I just want it off the couch or floor).
Hampers.
I have one in each kid’s room. In fact, my boys each have their own (because they no longer wanted to share their laundry duties). I know some families keep them in the bathroom – whatever works for you, but just get your FREAKING DIRTY CLOTHES IN THE HAMPER.
Teach kids (or other family members) to use it. Dirty clothes go in there, clean close get taken care of. Starting early helps this one (I hope).
Sorry, that’s obviously a hot button topic with me.
So, think about the rooms in your house that function the best, and consider why. Maybe you could incorporate some of those things into other areas of your house to make them more functional.
Tell me about them in the comments!
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This post was originally written in 2016, but has been updated.
