Start with small projects, things you can see improvement in quickly. Try organizing a closet. Sort through it and get rid of things you don’t need anymore. You can donate them, get them ready for a yard sale or just throw them away. As you make more room in your closet, think about ways to maximize your storage space. You can add shelves and other closet organizers.

As you move through the list, some projects may take more than a day. Take about 15 minutes to a half an hour a day working on your cleaning “to do” list. Before you know it, you’ve gone through the entire house and organized it. The trick now is to keep it organized.

Each day, keep up on maintaining your newly organized home. The key is to not get into the “I’ll do it later” mindset. Stay focused and keep at it and you WILL have an organized home and life…AND you will be a happier person! While it takes time and a bit of effort, it will be worth it once the house is clean, neat and organized.

Copyright © Lara Velez, All Rights Reserved

But…

WHERE do you start?????

It can be extremely overwhelming. Unfortuately, it’s like weightloss…LOL…REALLY easy to get fat messy and VERY hard to lose the weight messies! To get your home in order will require time, patience and diligence.

It is also important to make a plan on how you will get your house organized. Take a walk through the house and make notes of what needs to be done in each room. Once you have made the list, determine priorities (what to do first). I also recommend that you break each area into sections. For example; the bedroom…do not expect to get your whole room done in a day. You will be overwhelmed and if you are a true wannabe, you will give up! Trust me…LOL…I KNOW! So, take your room and divide it into tasks…one day pick up all the items on the floor. The next day clear and organize the dressers. Then closets. And so on.

Starting with the smaller goals will help you see the improvements quickly. This will help you continue the process. Also, as you make more room in your home, think about ways to maximize your storage space. You can add shelves, baskets, organizers, etc.

Finally, make it a goal to clean at least ONE thing each day. Remember, the tortoise beat the hare because he was slow and steady. Slow and steady mixed with a little old fashioned determination WILL help you win the messies to clean race!

While you are cleaning, it is very important to KEEP what you have accomplished organized. So…you will need to MAINTAIN! If you have something that is not in its “home,” take the time to either put it there as soon as you notice it out of place! Or, have a designated area on each floor, like a basket, to put things that need to go to another floor. Then at the end of the day, everything in the box gets put away.

Another idea to help keep the house organized is to have a schedule where each room of the house gets a thorough cleaning one day each week. (If you have children…this is where you can get the kids involved and assign them age appropriate tasks to help you!) It may take awhile to get in the new routine, but if the family works together, it will be MUCH easier. If everyone learns to remember that they need to put their own things away, that will also help. You can have special rewards to encourage the kids. You will be helping them be neater grown ups in the process!

Keep in MInd…

It will take time and a bit of effort to get your home in order. However, it will be well worth it once the house is clean, neat and organized!

Copyright © Thou Shalt Clean!

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Email me at admin @ thoushaltclean.com (remove the spaces between @) with YOUR link and I will put you on our blogroll…AKA…Wannabe Neat Freak Friends.

We are ALREADY receiving a NICE amount of traffic….PLUS, it’s a great way to get some good link love…and of course spread the word…It’s a win win!

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Speaking of mates, I just cannot get the man’s smelly work shirts to not have SOME mild smell in the under arm area. LOL! I mean I do it all…the soak with THREE different cleansers…the LONG wash with THREE different cleansers…and I finish it off with the FOUR dryer sheet drying time! AHHHHH! He should bottle whatever it is that comes out of his pits! LOL! We could REALLY get a handle on terrorism with the strength of my wonderful husband’s under armor! OK, OK, sorry…LOL…I LOVE my husband. However I do NOT love washing his work clothes!

Then there’s the teenager! LOL! My goodness! WHERE ARE her clothes??? She complains about having NO clean clothes. They are always MIA when I begin a load. I even make the announcement…”I am washing clothes! If you want something washed, NOW is the time!” She comes waltzing into the laundry room with ONE shirt, a bra, and a pair of panties! LOL! AHHHHHH!

Do you think I will ever have NO laundry??? LOL! What about you? Does your mountain ever shrink??

Copyright © Lara Velez, All Rights Reserved