The start of the new school year can be a busy and hectic time in your home, rushing to get the kids ready for school and yourself for the workday. Wouldn’t it be nice if your weekdays didn’t feel like such a rush? Fortunately, they don’t have to be. With your schedule filling up with work, school, and extracurricular activities, having a neat, organized home will help take away the stress of your busy weekdays. Here are few areas of your home that can be organized in easy, cost-effective way to keep the house in order during the school year.
Home entryway
Your front door will open and close numerous times throughout the day with your family members hustling to get to their next destination which can quickly create a cluttered entryway. You can bring order to this area with some simple – and inexpensive – solutions. The easiest option is the addition of hooks for hanging coats, bags and purses. But you can take your entry decor to the next level by adding pieces like cubes and shelves.
There are a lot of different entryway ideas out there, but we love these Ikea hacks – which keeps the project affordable while making it look like a top-of-the-line job. But regardless how you decide to design it, creating order out of this household “dumping ground” will save your time – and bring some sanity back to your home.
Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of the home and where your family often kicks off their days. With everyone in a rush to get out the door to get their day started, it’s important to keep the family’s central meeting area in-order for an efficient beginning of the day.
One thing that can keep things orderly is to delegate counter or table space to lay out everyone’s lunch – that way it’s not strewn all over the kitchen. You can also purchase mini chalk or dry erase boards to label each lunch by name for a quick grab-n-go lunch area. You may also want to consider organizing your fridge shelves and cabinets by type of food and portioning those items into the sizes for lunches. This way, everyone can just “grab and go” rather than having to assemble everything each morning.
Study Area
After a long day of learning, the kids will need a neat, quiet place where they can sit and do their homework. A study area can be set up in any room of the house that has available space. While the kitchen table is always a go-to for doing homework, there are a lot of creative ways to give the kids their own space. Leaning desks are narrow enough to fit in tight spaces, often providing both a desk space as well as shelving for supplies. There are also creative ways of converting small spaces (and even closets) into home office space – which can be used by the entire family. Check out Remodelholic’s clever closet offices!
Laundry Room
The laundry room can often be the messiest, and smelliest, room in the house. With everyone constantly on the move, your laundry room can become cluttered with dirty clothes, sports equipment and cleaning supplies. There are a few simple things to bring order to the chaos:
- Assign a different laundry basket for each family member so you can tell who is in the most need for a clean batch of laundry
- If you have cabinets or counter space in your laundry room, consider sectioning them off with dividers to separate the variety of items that fill the room (i.e. laundry detergent and softeners, sports equipment, house cleaning supplies, etc.).
- If you don’t have counter space available, purchase a wooden slab to place on top of your washer and dryer – instant counter space!
- Hanging racks provide additional storage space and organization.
Keeping your home organized can help you take a little stress out of your day and have a happy Back-to-School season!
This post is intended for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional advice. The point of view and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Realty Executives International.