Have a Problem Keeping Counters Clutter Free? Try These Ideas!

Counters and other surfaces are just hard to keep clean. You walk in the door and everything you were carrying just gets put down. It’s a daily struggle. In order to help you out we found this article with ten different strategies to keep you surfaces clutter free. We hope they help!

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From the article:

The dining table, kitchen counters, coffee table, nightstands ??? flat surfaces certainly have a way of attracting clutter. But the piled-high stuff makes it a hassle to use those surfaces ??? to prepare a meal, eat a meal or kick up your feet for movie night. It also makes it harder to find things and just plain looks awful. Still, we keep on piling because it seems easier than putting things where they???re actually meant to go. To have long-term success in keeping the flat surfaces in your home clutter-free, you need to find places for your things that are just as easy and obvious to use as a table. If you???re tired of clearing off the surfaces in your house again and again, only to have them redisappear under piles of who knows what, these 10 strategies should help.

Have a not-flat place for each thing you come home with. When you walk in the door, the natural impulse is to drop everything you???re carrying on the nearest available flat surface. The next time you arrive home, pause and pay attention to what you???re holding: shopping bags, a coat, a bundle of mail, perhaps keys and a phone? Decide where you will put each of these items from now on. Hooks are faster to use than hangers, so if you tend to dump your coat on a chair, choose a hook.

Paper items can be a real problem, so be sure to have a recycling bin near the front door, as well as some sort of quick sorting system for handling important documents. (But keep the categories very broad, or you won???t be as likely to use the system.) If smaller, random items are a problem, consider hanging tote bags on hooks. They???re easy to dump things into and very flexible ??? you can change their contents as needed, from library books and school projects to dry cleaning.

Keep your dining table set. A neatly set table has a clear purpose, and that makes cluttering it up less of a temptation. In the evening after dinner, clean off the table and set out some breakfast things ??? this not only helps encourage a clutter-free table, it makes for a smoother routine in the morning. After breakfast, take a moment to set out a few fresh placemats and cutlery for dinner, and your table will be a much less tempting spot to toss your stuff when you get home in the evening. If you have curious cats who are likely to walk all over your lovely table setting while you???re out, you can set out candles or flowers and perhaps a stack of dishes with a napkin laid across the top to protect it from prying paws.

Designate a bin for your ???worn-once??? clothes. Flat surfaces in the bedroom (the bed, floor, dresser top and chair) tend to become receptacles for articles of clothing you???ve worn once but plan to wear again before laundering. (Sweaters often fall into this category.) Rather than dump these items onto the nearest surface, give them a home. An open-top basket or bin is a good solution because tossing the item there is just as easy as tossing it on a chair. If you have a closet system, clear out one basket or drawer to use for this purpose; otherwise, a second laundry basket can corral the items.

Avoid clutter catchalls. A tray or basket on the coffee table or counter to hold clutter might seem like a smart idea ??? until it???s full and overflowing onto the surface around it. Remember that clutter attracts more clutter, so when a group of random little items (hair ties, loose change, buttons, pens) ends up in one spot, you???re far more likely to add other (larger) random items (stack of mail, shopping bag, pile of dry cleaning) to it. A better practice is to create a spot for each type of item ??? for instance, a jar for coins, a cup for pens, a hook for keys, a tray for mail, and a drawer organizer with little slots for small items like hair ties and stamps. It then becomes easy and satisfying to drop things into their individual containers.

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Looking to declutter and organize? Checkout this article about declutter and organizing tips that could be of interest to you.
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Read the entire article here: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/55288753/list/10-strategies-for-keeping-surfaces-clutter-free