This is a collaborative post: Family life can be quite chaotic at the best of times, being a glorified taxi driver for your kids on the school run, keeping the house clean and entertaining them daily. It’s nothing short of a miracle if you have a few minutes for yourself at the end of a long day!
Who wants to be the one to pick up coats chucked on the floor or tidy up those Lego® pieces that you have just stepped on for the millionth time? Have a read through these organising tips that you can easily implement in your own home and don’t worry – you won’t have to start decluttering à la Marie Kondo. You might find some extra time to chill out with your favourite bottle of booze!
Basket case
Who doesn’t love a good bit of storage? Maybe you have heard of this before, it’s an oldy but a goody, if you want to hide the mess chuck it into a few pretty-looking wicker baskets and no one will be the wiser. Unless they have read a few too many blog articles.
I would suggest having a few baskets in the hallway. One for each family member, get them to simply plonk their stuff such as leather school bags, sticks, hats, and whatever else they may drag into the house into their basket.
Get hooked
Go vertical and use the wall space in your hallway! Along the same vein as the baskets, give each family member their own hook. Hang them lower for the kids so they can easily hang their coats up on them. Ta-da! Technically, if everyone plays their part, you won’t be picking up coats and bags from the floor anymore! You can also add some extra shelving so you can store accessories such as hats, gloves, scarves and anything else you might need easy access to before leaving the house.
Dedicated laundry space
Sometimes it may feel like you are working in a launderette with the amount of time spent soaking, scrubbing, and washing a mountain of clothes. Those dreaded P.E. kits won’t wash themselves, so space to actually do the laundry will make it a much more enjoyable job. If you are lucky enough to have a utility room, then you are good to go, all you will need to do is perfect the layout to make it work for you. Installing a stainless-steel sink from GROHE is a great durable option that will stand the test of time. However, if you haven’t got an extra room, then don’t despair. You might have some extra space that is not being used to its full potential, whether it’s in the bathroom, a corner in the kitchen or even the garage. Setting up a dedicated laundry space that is suited to your needs will help you and the family get the job done a lot quicker!
One in one out rule
If you have the patience, you could try and teach your kids the “One in one out” rule. This might help keep extra clutter at bay. Of course, this is not always an easy task, depending on how attached your kids are to their toys. If it’s not working, simply try to contain their toys in one place. Especially if you have younger kids, get them to play on a dedicated play blanket. There they can spread out to their heart’s content. Once they are done playing, you can simply grab the ends of the blanket and dump all the toys into their storage bucket. JOB DONE!