Keeping things tidy can become not a tedious task, but a hobby and even a lifestyle. Different methods and systems for keeping things clean and organizing storage can help you love cleaning. These are the most popular approaches to tidying up, and you can choose the one that is closer to you.
FlyLady
The FlyLady system was invented by American housewife Marla Sealey in 1999. It helps cope with routine and forget about general cleaning forever. The main principle of flylady is to divide big tasks into small ones and give them 15 minutes every day, instead of spending the whole weekend.
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- Divide the apartment into four or five zones and do only one zone each week, with no more than 15 minutes a day. During this time, you can have time to wash the floors, or wipe off the dust, or put things in their places, or hang clean curtains.
- Over and above the proper 15 minutes to clean one area is spent on routine – the daily tasks of keeping the house in order. Washing dishes, making clean kitchen towels for tomorrow, wiping down the dining room table, putting things in the washing machine – these are all routines.
- Special control should be taken over “hot spots” – places where clutter occurs most quickly. This may be the shelf in the hallway, the coffee table in the living room, the nightstand by the bed. The cleaning of these places can be made part of the daily routine, and then the clutter can be eliminated before it has even formed.
- Followers of the method pay special attention to the kitchen sink. Every night the sink is supposed to be washed to shine, so that it meets clean in the morning.
Cleaning Like the Last One
The Swedes also have their own method of cleaning, which has the slightly frightening name of “cleaning like the last time.” But it’s all about how to live in a way that you don’t accumulate unnecessary junk and don’t get attached to things. The author of the method is artist Margaret Magnussen. Her idea is simple: every single thing in your home should be filled with meaning. Then cleaning will be a simple and pleasant activity that will not be time-consuming.
The basic principles of this approach:
- Margaret suggests a dramatic lifestyle change rather than a clean-up. This process can take several months, so there’s no need to set a time frame. You just go through your life and focus on what’s most important.
- Start with the global, such as sorting through your closet, gradually moving on to smaller things, like personal papers.
- First go through the things that make you feel the least emotion, like clothes or old gadgets.
- It’s important to get rid of things consciously, not just throw them away. For example, give books, nice clothes and toys to other people because they are valuable to someone else.
A House That Is Easy to Breathe in
The method is based on a book by interior designer Lou Wei. The author has over the years designed thousands of interiors and written her own guide to organizing storage, even in very small apartments. The method is based on a systematic approach and literally mathematical calculation.
The basic principles of this approach:
- The total storage space should take up at least 10% of your apartment area. The smaller the apartment, the larger the percentage of storage space. In the smallest spaces, storage space can go up to 40%.
- Storage is a balance of what we want to hide and what we want to show. The ideal ratio is 2:8, where 80% of all things are stored in closed areas and 20% are stored in plain sight.
- Things should be stored where they are used. That is, there should be storage space in every room.
- Give preference to large, built-in storage systems. Instead of several small dressers and drawers, it is better to buy one large cabinet.
- Lou Wei advises looking at storage organizations systematically. She divides the home into four levels: apartment, room, large furniture and containers or organizers. This approach helps you think about storage in detail and find a place for every item in the house.
- All small items can be stored in containers. Choose the same rectangular, stackable, clear and beautiful containers to make efficient use of the available space.
Sparkling Home
The sparkling house is a German method of cleaning. Its basic principle is to clean up after yourself at once. If you have eaten, wash the dishes, if you have changed your clothes, put them in the closet, if you have left a mess in the hallway, wash the floor.
The basic principles of this approach:
- Besides the immediate elimination of consequences, all cleaning comes down to a set of uncomplicated daily rituals. In the morning, air the room, make the bed, put things in their places, water the flowers.
- There is a concept of “rooms of the day” – in one room more time is devoted to cleaning than in the rest.
- The system involves children, giving them tasks of their own ability, which will be fun to do: to seat the dolls, collect toys, put their clothes after the laundry.
- Germans advise making a to-do list to follow a detailed plan during the cleaning process. The Sparkling House methodology will suit fans of strategy and tactics, anyone who appreciates discipline.