6 Valuable Tips on Creating an Organized Home

Being a single parent is an entirely rewarding role, but certainly not an easy one. From holding a job, supporting your children, trying to tidy up – it is all collectively exhausting. The unfortunate reality is that you spend so much time taking care of all the necessities of life, that your home organization suffers, merely because you have no time to dedicate to it. 

Although you might feel like you have too much on your plate to dedicate time to organizing your home, there are ways to make that chore an easier one on yourself. Engage your kids in the process. By doing so, suddenly the task is not just all on your shoulders and the whole idea of organizing your home becomes a lot less stressful.

Here are some key things you can do that will allow maintaining your household as a single parent a much simpler task to take on.

#1) Create an Organizational To-Do List

“The first step in bringing an idea to life is putting pen to paper.”  – Drew Scott, Property Brothers

Whether it be reorganizing your home décor, fostering new healthy cleaning habits, or working on prioritizing your home in your daily routine, write it down. It is a lot easier to go get things done when the information is laid out in front of you.

•   Identify the areas of your home that need some tidying up
•   List the products you need to store and organize for each area of your house
•   Consider buying book shelves, drawer organizers and boxes for storage
•   Identify areas that you may want to consider renovating so you maximize your organizational capacity

Once you write down your ideas and lists, start to implement that vision. Planning is the key to success and should be the first step.  

Although you might feel like you have too much on your plate to dedicate time to organizing your home, there are ways to make that chore an easier one on yourself.

#2) Use Common Home Décor Hacks

Are your shoes everywhere? Is your jewelry a tangled mess? What about the space under your sink; is it cluttered? Try some common home décor hacks to really get that clean vibe.

• Use Dollar Store containers to organize the cabinet spaces.
• Use clothespins to hang up your jewelry to keep it from knotting up.
• Try taking advantage of tote bags and wine crate dividers to organize your shoes.
• Use multi compartmented plastic drawers with labels for your kids to organize their toys or belongings accordingly

#3) Store Sentimental Valuables in Safe Storage

If you have special items that have sentimental value that you want to keep but you don’t need to access on a regular basis like year books, kids videos etc, consider boxing them up and then storing them in your locker, storage facility or large closet where it’s safe. Before you start your clean-up effort, create 4 piles that will help you categorize your process:

•   Donate: items you don’t want and have not needed within the past year
•   Sell: items that are in good condition with good value but you won’t need
•   Store: items with sentimental value that you might not access now but want to keep for future
•   Throw: items that have no value, use and essentially just junk taking up space

#4) Teach Your Kids Good Cleaning Habits

If your kids are at an age where they are capable of more complex tasks, give them the responsibility to accomplish chores around the house that will help you keep everything organized. This not only helps you out by taking some of the cleaning stresses off of you, but it also gives your children a sense of responsibility. 

Give them chores such as vacuuming, sweeping, sanitizing and other tasks that will help you maintain a tidy environment for the family.

Helpful tips to get them started with this process include:

• Creating a chore schedule listing their daily and weekly duties they need to do so they stay on track.
• Offering a rewards program for completing their chores, such as an allowance or opening up certain privileges.
• Training them to put items back in the same spot they got them from when they are finished with it.
• Teaching them about the importance of having a clean and organized home and why it is vital for their quality of life and health.

#5) Keep your Kitchen in Top Shape

Your kitchen is probably one of the most frequented areas in your house. Aside from a place where cooking activities take place, it’s commonly a place where the family congregates. So naturally, it is the one room that would likely require the most clean-up effort several times a day.

To keep your home running smoothly, make sure your kitchen is well organized.

• Each drawer and cabinet should have related objects together so you’re not having to rummage through a number of cupboards and drawers to find kitchen items for your cooking.
• Keep spices in one section preferably in spice rack and label them for each of finding when you’re cooking
• Have a drawer organizer to separate all your flatware, knives and serving utensils
• Keep all your packaged seasoning in a container so you can easily find them
• Soups and canned food should be categorized and stashed away together
• Pots and Pans should be grouped and tucked away but still be accessible
• Cleaning supplies should be kept together under your sink or in a drawer with related products

#6) Recycle or Upcycle

Whenever possible recycle what you will throw away so we can reduce the landfill. Recycle items that are accepted by your local recycling depot and upcycle (repurpose old items into new) items that have purpose and functionality

•   Find out what types of products the recycling depot will accept
•   Separate the various household items so they can be dropped off at the appropriate areas at the waste management center (ie. paint, wood, steel)
•   Consider recycling non-functioning electronics at the electronics depot
•   For hazardous chemicals and household liquids, drop them off at the appropriate disposal centers that actually accept them (ie. butane, propane, oil, aerosols)

Final Thoughts

Single parents are always on the move and have to juggle work, life and family every day to keep their home running in good order.  Because they do all the house chores on their own, they need to be even more efficient in how they manage their household. There is on one-size-fits all solution for every household but consider some of these key tips to help you keep your home running like a tight ship.