Here it comes: I'm not big on clean-up orgies. Many people have a clean-up day and spend one or two hours on Sundays, for example, to get rid of the mountains of clothes and bags of chips from the working week. To be honest, my weekend is too bad for that.
Instead, I rely on order "on-the-go". With this strategy, cleaning up is done in passing, without investing much time or effort. It doesn't really feel like work. How does it work? Here come the best six tricks for a tidy apartment.
1. Less is more
Simple formula: Less stuff, less chaos. You don't have to become a minimalist maniac for that. It's enough to reduce the meaningless stuff and allow a few free spaces to develop. With these, cleaning is twice as easy. Which of all these things may stay? Everything that makes you feel good!
2. Organizers near
Make it easy for yourself! This mantra applies especially when cleaning up. Because tidiness is something that happens very easily on the side - when everything you need is ready. So: Give me your laundry baskets, organizer boxes, magazine racks and screw-on glasses. Put these superheroes near you and not in the basement or attic.
3. It's almost done
If there is such a thing as the golden rule of tidying up, then it is the 2-minute rule. Optionally, the 3 or 4 minute rule. This says: Everything that you can do in this time span will be done immediately. The advantage: Instead of writing the task on a to-do list or negotiating with yourself whether you want to do it or not, you simply get started. And have the task off the radar again.
4. Outside wow, inside wow!
Behind the cupboard doors of your kitchen is a complete mess? This is not only bad from a feng shui point of view. For less searching and more overview, it's worth investing in uniform containers for muesli, rice, noodles, tea and other supplies. Think about point 2 and provide a few extra boxes. This way you can refill right away and you won't be tempted to throw the pasta pack into the drawer.
5. Hold on a moment
It's been a long day and you just want to go to bed. No wonder that the clothes of the day are quickly thrown over the edge of the bathtub or crumpled up in a bedroom corner. Enough with the guilty conscience! There is nothing wrong with not putting the worn but still clean trousers and blouses back into the wardrobe. They can be ventilated and unhooked overnight. A coat rack or mute servant, which serves exactly this purpose, helps against the mess. In the morning you should tidy up the things to clear the place again.
6. Hitchhiking
From the bathroom to the kitchen, from the living room to the study, from the children's room to the cellar and back again. When you are at home, you often go from one room to another anyway. Use these paths for cleaning up. From now on, there is no way to go empty-handed! Much of what lies around can be quickly taken away and put back in its place.
Also very useful are storage areas that I have lovingly called "transit zones": On the bench at the basement stairs is everything that has to go to the basement. When I go downstairs, I automatically grab one or two things from there. That saves time!