Hello again!
This is quite different from my usual posts for you!
I used to think that creating order for people in their homes would be a great career for me!
Friends often used to ask me to come round and help them create order in their home.
And I used to love doing that!
Creating order in my own home used to be a control pattern for me.
I’m mostly glad that it isn’t any more;
I’m really comfortable with dis-order nowadays.
(Although it was quite a useful control pattern!!)
So, here are a few suggestions I’d love to share with you, in case you’d like to create more order in your home!
Having Homes for Things :
1. I create a “HOME” for everything. When things have a home, I can see when they are not in their home and when they need to be taken home. It’s a wonderful thing to always know where to find something.
2. When I am going from one part of my house to another, I can see if something isn’t in it’s home, and pick it up as I am going, and take it back to its home.
3. The closer to the front door it is, the more ordered I have that area. There’s something wonderful about seeing order as I am leaving the house or come in to the house. So, my car keys have a home, for example.
4. I create order with the first thing that my eye gets drawn to when I come in the front door. In my home, that’s the sofa. Just reordering the cushions makes it look ordered.
Making Things Easy for You :
5. I like to make cleaning easy and simple. So, I’ll often clean a bit of the bathroom when I’m in the shower. That way, I just take a few more moments each time, to clean the bath, or the shower, and yet it gets done easily.
6. I keep all the rubbish in the car just to the left of my seat. Whenever my children are eating something or have a wrapper, I ask them to pass it to me and I put it in that place. Then, when I get out of the car, I just put the rubbish straight in the bin (I have my big bins right next to my car to make that really easy.)
7. Talking about the car, I have a funny little trick that I like. When I am waiting for one of my children, or am in the car wash, or similar, I use a wet wipe to clean the dashboard or other parts of the car around me. Again, that means it gets done in spare moments.
8. I don’t have any bins inside any more. I hated cleaning inside bins. I just have the big bins a few steps from my front door. I collect up a few bits of rubbish and put them straight in the big bins. It takes a few more trips, but I LOVE never needing to empty, or clean, inside bins.
9. I don’t have bowls where bits and pieces can be put in. Those kinds of bowls always get filled with loads of bits and pieces. I put things straight in their home instead, or on a surface so that when I am going in the direction of their home, I can take them there.
Toys
10. I always made homes for toys too! I found that my children, even when they are really young, loved to know where each toy is. I organised their books in size order, so they would always know where to find the book they wanted, by its size.
(this is from a few years ago, when we used to keep non-fiction books on the top shelf!)
11. I reorganise their things every few months, to reflect their changing developing needs and interests. The things that they love the most, I’d have most visible and accessible. For example, my son is loving his Tegu blocks, so at the moment they are out on small table near the sofa where we spend most time.
12. When they were younger, I generally kept their toys and learning materials where they could reach them themselves. This wasn’t always possible, but I aimed for it!
(this is from about 5 years ago)
13. When they were younger, I kept similar things together for their different ages. So, all the puzzles were together. If one of my children was doing a puzzle, I could help the other get the puzzles that suited their age more. There would always be something similar for each aged child.
14. From a young age, each child would also have their own space, which then became their own desk. They would have a blank space in the middle, with their own age-apt paper, pencils, craft things etc.
(This was Lana’s desk when she was about 7-8)
(This was Sunny’s desk when he was about 3-4)
(My daughter’s desk now, at 13)
(This is Sunny’s desk, now, at 9)
15. I do regular clearouts. We still keep far too many things, but every few months, when it’s alive for me, I’ll get rid of things that are too young for them or are old or not interesting for them any more.
16. I find new uses for old things. So many of our bits of furniture have been through many different incarnations. For example, I had a nappy changing table for my son (which I didn’t really use much because we did EC!), which has been many things, and at present is a space where his hex bug toys are kept.
(This cabinet has many many incarnations, for example!)
Self-acceptance
17. One of the most beautiful things I’ve learnt though, is to feel completely comfortable with disorder. I have so much more self-acceptance nowadays, and that translates to not judging myself, whatever my home looks like. Ordering has become more of a pleasure now that it isn’t a control pattern. I love the beauty that comes with order, and I love the relaxation that comes when there isn’t order and I don’t even mind!
I’d love to hear if you have any tips or tricks for creating order in your home! Please leave a comment below.
Sending much love,
Marion xxx