1, 2, 3 Tidy! Quick Tips For an Organized Home

It doesn’t matter if you are a working mom or not, organizing your home can be a daunting challenge.  Whether daily or weekend cleaning is your strong suit, it seems the harder you work, the more clutter you find, especially if you have children. Here are some quick tips for an organized home.

1. If your children attend school, prepare their lunches at night. This will save lots of time in the morning rush.
2. Use a magnetic board; place it on your refrigerator, and list the food items you will need for your next shopping trip to the supermarket.
3. Buy some jumbo storage boxes to organize your closet. Add some additional hangers that support more than one piece of clothing. Some of the home shopping clubs offer space saver hangars and storage units which are affordable, and can turn any closet into an efficient space-saving unit.
4. Get rid of the piles of magazines, newspapers, and advertisements which have been accumulating in your home. Keep the current issues, and throw out the rest.
5. Organize your kitchen cabinets, and line them with Con-Tact paper.  Your cabinets will be easier to clean by simply using a damp sponge.
6. Throw out anything outdated from your medicine cabinet. If you also have a bathroom cabinet, line it with Con-Tact as well, and re-arrange the items inside.
7. Do you have jewelry scattered on top of your bedroom furniture. Purchase a jewelry box containing several drawers. You’ll never lose that earring again!
8. Encourage your children to clean their rooms.  Develop a reward system which will not only give them an incentive, but will teach them to be responsible for their clothes and toys. Buy different colored storage boxes for their toys!
9. Arrange all of your cleaning supplies in a closet or basement. Use hooks to hang brooms, dusters, and mops. If you have a few shelves, place all of your cleaning detergents, light bulbs and other household items on them.  This is not only a good organizational method, but you’ll find everything you need in one place.
10. Buy a CD rack and place all of the scattered CDs into one space. Perhaps a unit combining CDs and DVDs would be more suitable.

When your home is organized, you not only feel better but seem to be able to accomplish more, right?

Quick Kitchen Cleaning Tips

It’s said the kitchen is the most lived in room in many households, unfortunately this means it can also be the messiest!  Here are some quick kitchen cleaning tips to help you keep the mess and clutter to a minimum.

* Clean the kitchen cabinets, stove, refrigerator and counters with baking soda.
* Sweep and mop your kitchen floor.
* To remove skid marks on linoleum rub the spot with toothpaste before washing the floor.
* Remove all clutter from your countertop; that includes dishes, glasses, utensils cups and other items you may have lying around.
* Store as many appliances as you can in the cabinets.
* Clean your sink with olive oil.
* Replace your dish rag regularly, as well as the sponge or scrub you use for washing.
* To remove hard-water build-up in a teapot or kettle, pour in two cups of vinegar and bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, then rinse well.
* To clean the coffee maker: Pour straight vinegar into it as if you are making the coffee, no filter is needed. Turn the coffee maker on as if you were making a pot of coffee. Repeat this with a new batch of vinegar until it runs clear of calcium deposits.

Cleaning is a matter of preparation, determination and time management.  As you can see, all your kitchen needs now is a light once-over, and you are ready for the marathon of cooking and baking to begin.