Clutter-Free Home: Clean Up for Less with the Mini-Basket Method

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declutter — Baskets are used to clean up. They shouldn’t make another mess. Photo via Flickr.

Do you find clutter throughout your home?

You allow your family to hang out in another room and they sometimes forget to put items away.

If you have kids, it makes it difficult to keep your house tidy and they often lose toys or technology gadgets they didn’t put away.

Do you want to clean up in a pinch?

I have a solution for keeping stuff at bay when they hang out in the living room.

It’s a quick fix to keep your house organized.

I’ll tell you about my cleaning task and what method I use to quickly clean up (more on that later).

Clutter Free Home: Clean Up Quickly

During the month of April, I’ve been cleaning. Every day I’ve been posting a project I’ve been working on to get my house in order. Today I’m completing a simple task.

I’m surface cleaning. I’m clearing off surfaces to quickly make my house look cleaner and organized. Since I’m out of rocket fuel to clean today (running on fumes), I am just clearing off surfaces today.

Here is my before picture. I have to clear off my living room table. Here’s what it looks like.

green-and-clean-surface-clean — It looks like Barbie is doing pushups. I’ll have to interrupt her workout.

I am using a reusable cleaning product to wipe the table down. I purchased it awhile ago for 10-15 dollars (It’s Shamwow). I no longer buy loads of paper towels and help the environment out in the process.

I also plan on using my Mini-Basket Method to quickly straighten up.

1. Grab all items that need to go back where they belong.

2. Put them in a small, attractive container in the room.

3. Hide the basket out of sight.

This way you can clean up quickly and give items a temporary place to be. I’m kicking myself for not trying this sooner.

They key is putting the items in a container that matched the room.

reduce-clutter — A temporary home for toys that fits with my living room color scheme. I only paid 10 dollars for this basket and I have used it for years.

clutter-free-home — Tuck the basket out of sight. I put it on the side of my couch.

The Bottom Line

Keeping your house clean and organized doesn’t have to be such a chore. Incorporate simple ways to clean up to get your house cleaner, quicker especially when it comes to cleaning up toys.

Here are other challenges I completed.

Day 1 How to Vinyl Tile Your Bathroom Floor for 30 Dollars in 360 Minutes