Tag: organise

A simple guide to a clear and organised kitchen

A simple guide to a clear and organised kitchen

Your kitchen is often seen as the heart of your home; it’s where you gather to cook and socialise; however, keeping it organised and clean can sometimes feel as though it’s an unachievable task. With meal prep, snack time and the occasional spill, it’s very easy for your kitchen to become messy and feel cluttered.  However, with a little bit of effort and some smart thinking, you can make sure your kitchen is a clean, efficient and welcoming space.

We’re going to have a look at some of the ways you can create a thoroughly clear and organised kitchen so it’s a space that you can be proud of and enjoy.

Declutter your kitchen

Before diving into the deep end of cleaning, you need to start by decluttering your kitchen. This means that you need to get rid of any items that don’t belong in your kitchen, like keys, post and books.  Then, you need to go through each of your cabinets and drawers and make sure you get rid of anything that you no longer use or need. You need to be ruthless with this; if you haven’t used it in the last year, it’s probably time to get it gone.

You could think about donating old kitchen items such as pots, pans and appliances to a local charity shop or thrift store. This will help you to free up some space and it will also help somebody who is in need.

Deep clean your appliances

 You use your kitchen appliances on a daily basis; therefore, they need some care and attention. You need to have a thorough cleaning of them to make them look better and last longer. Items you should tackle:

Your refrigerator:  You should start by removing all the food and getting rid of anything that is no longer on date. Then, clean with a mixture of baking powder and water. Make sure you clean the seals and the outside of the fridge as well. Before you put anything back in, make sure you think about some storage solutions that are easier to use.

Your oven: This is something that people often dread; however, it is important for both safety and hygiene. Take out the racks and soak them in warm, soapy water; then, use baking soda to coat the inside of the oven. Allow the mixture to sit for a few hours, then start getting rid of all the grime.  If you have any stubborn areas, then you may want to use a little bit of white vinegar to help you lift them. If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, then you may want to consider using an oven cleaning service so that you can get your oven nice and clean without all the hard work.

Your microwave: Your microwave is really. All you need to do is put water with a few slices of lemon or vinegar into your microwave and put it on high for three to five minutes.   The steam created from this will help you loosen any nasty gunk and allow you to wipe it down easily.

Your dishwasher: This is another one that is easy to clean. Load a piece of copper or white vinegar and put it on a hot water cycle.

Clean the cabinets and worktops

You may be surprised by how much dust can accumulate on your worktops and cabinets; therefore, it isn’t a good idea to clean them regularly. Clear off any items from your worktops, wipe down the surface with a mild cleaner, making sure that you pay attention to the corners and edges where detritus can collect. If you have any stubborn stains, use a mixture of water and baking powder, leave it for a couple of hours, then wipe it down. For your cabinets, you can use a mix of warm water and dish soap; if they are a little bit greasy, then you may want to add a bit of vinegar to the mix. Make sure you pay attention to your handles, as they can gather a lot of bacteria. Make sure that you don’t forget your splashback when you are cleaning your worktops and cabinets, as a lot of grime can get on there without you realising it, especially if it is behind this stove or in an area where you prepare food.

 Organise your kitchen space

Now that you’ve made everything clean and tidy, it’s time to organise your kitchen and make it as functional as possible. First, look at your pantry and make sure that you have similar items in it, all grouped. For example, if you’ve got canned goods, make sure they are all stacked together and easy to see. If you have containers for things like pasta, rice and cereal, make sure you put them in a place where you can easily see them and have access to them. It’s a good idea to label everything so that you can see what you need. When it comes to your cabinets, make sure that you have one cabinet for each item. For example, put your pots and pans together in one place. If you’re short on space, you could consider using shelf risers or pull-out organisers so that you can make the most of your kitchen space. Don’t forget that you can use the space under your sink for things like all your cleaning supplies and random bits and bobs. Think about adding some bins where you can put smaller items together, so they’re organised.

Getting your kitchen cleaned and organised might seem like a huge task; however, when you put a bit of planning and effort into it, you can create a kitchen that is both functional and inviting. Whether you are going to do it all in one day or you’re going to spread it out across a couple of weeks, it’s really worth getting this done. Don’t forget that it’s important to keep up to date with your kitchen cleaning regularly, but you don’t need to do a deep clean every single time.

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3 practical ways to kickstart your day

3 practical ways to kickstart your day

Sometimes, getting up and getting ready for the day can feel like more of an effort than it’s worth. No matter what you do, you could feel like it’s just a chore and something you need to struggle through. What if that doesn’t have to be the case? With the right ways to kickstart your day, it’ll become much easier than you’d think.

If you’re already finding it difficult to get your day started, it’s worth focusing on three of these tips. They’ll make your morning – and the day itself – more enjoyable than you could’ve thought. Why not dive into them?

Ways to kickstart your day: 3 practical options

1. Have a coffee

A dose of caffeine can always be a great way to kickstart your day, but you don’t need to settle for the same flavour every day. Instead, you could experiment with different types of coffee and flavours. You can get these from various places, such as Horsham Coffee Roaster.

With a little experimentation, you’ll have a new favourite flavour before you even know it. You could end up enjoying your coffee more than you could’ve thought.

2. Write your daily to-do list

You’ll have quite a few things to do every day. While these can change somewhat, some of them are relatively standard. You’ll do them most days without needing to change them up. Sometimes, it can still be difficult to keep track of everything. Why not make this easier with a daily to-do list?

Writing this first-thing in the morning makes sure you know exactly what you need to get done, making your day more straightforward. If you don’t feel like writing it in the morning, do it before you go to bed and review the list not long after you wake up. While you’re having your coffee perhaps?

3. Have a ‘getting ready’ order

Needing to make too many decisions all the time often results in fatigue, and you can start feeling this even in the morning. Why not avoid that by making sure you don’t need to make too many decisions right after you wake up? A “getting ready” order can be a great way of doing this.

Look at this as a step-by-step list of what you’ll do every morning. Having this in a specific order makes it much easier to follow and prevents you from needing to decide what you should do next. It’s a great way of making your morning routine much more straightforward than you could’ve thought.

Ways to kickstart your day: wrapping up

If you’re struggling to get up and get ready every morning, you might need to use a few ways to kickstart your day. You shouldn’t have to put too much time or effort into this, though. All it takes is the right habits and a good morning routine.

Having an order to everything, writing or reviewing your daily to-do list and having a good coffee are all great parts of this. With a little bit of effort, you shouldn’t have a problem setting up your day the right way.

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Tips for keeping your home and family super organised

Tips for keeping your home and family super organised

Do you feel like your family and home are in constant disarray? If you’re looking for tips to help control things, read on! In this post, we’ll share some easy ways to keep your home and family super organised. From decluttering to creating a daily routine, these tips will help you regain the peace of mind you crave. Let’s get started!

Have a permanent donations bin in your home

A dedicated donations bin in your home can easily keep your family and home organised. Donation bins are great for quickly sorting and storing items you no longer need so that you can donate them and reduce clutter in the home. When setting up a donation bin, make sure it’s easily accessible to everyone in the family but also out of the way if you do not want it in view. Try labelling the bin with simple signage such as “Donate Here” or “Give Away”, so there is no confusion when anyone wants to use it. After the bin is filled, consider donating the items regularly and replace what was given away with anything else you find around the house that needs to be donated instead of thrown away or stored. If a donations bin still needs to be part of your family’s organisation toolkit, take a few minutes to set one up and start collecting unneeded items that could be rehomed!

Menu planning

Menu planning can be a great way to stay organised in your household. It is convenient and cost-effective, as weekly or even monthly meal plans can help cut down on trips to the supermarket, reduce food waste and harness leftovers. Menu planning also helps alleviate dinnertime stress as you can plan for busy weeks when cooking can become an unwanted burden. Start by thinking of meals everyone likes, including simple options everyone can make. Then, plan dinners for the week and can use leftovers for lunch the following day or for another dinner. If meal prepping is something that works with your routine – making those meals on Sunday when you have more free time & space – then do it for shorter amounts of time throughout the week, including packing your lunches in advance, batch cooking a few nights’ worth of dinner and pre-made components to include in a salad, sandwich or wrap each day. Setting yourself time goals will set you up for menu planning success while allowing variety while keeping things organised.

Have designated personal spaces for everyone to keep their belongings

Creating designated personal spaces for each family member is an easy way to organise your family and home. Allocate a cupboard or wardrobe to each family member where they can keep their belongings such as clothes, bags, shoes and any other personal items. You can use fitted wardrobes, storage boxes, lockers or separate areas delineated by coloured drawers. Once allocated a space, encourage each family member to put their items away when not in use — this will also help them feel more responsible for keeping their area clean and tidy. When it comes time to do chores like cleaning bedrooms or changing sheets, this will be faster and simpler since everyone knows where their things should go. Designated personal spaces with creative organisation methods enable you to stay on top of clutter before it compounds, allowing for order instead of chaos.

Create a visual family schedule

Keeping your family organised can be a daunting task, but if you create a visual family schedule it can make it much easier. A visual family schedule is a great way to keep the entire family on track and know what is happening throughout the week. It can also help foster independence in children and teenagers as they learn to use the schedule to plan meetings, appointments and extracurricular activities. Visual family schedules also act as helpful reminders for everyone in the household, so there are no unwelcome surprises on important dates or days when specific tasks must be done. Creating a visual schedule at home takes some simple planning – get creative with colourful dry-erase boards, printable calendars or even wallpapers taking up some space on your fridge. However, these mediums make organisation fun for kids and show that you can have an incredibly organised household with a bit of ingenuity!

Involve the whole family in cleaning & household tasks

Keeping a busy family and home organised can seem like an overwhelming task. However, involving the whole family in household tasks is a great way to share the workload and keep your home tidy. It’s important to give each member of the family ownership of their tasks, so assign housework based on skills and interests. Build teamwork by setting specific goals for each cleaning or organising task or introducing incentives for reaching those goals. Try assigning tasks to various family members regularly, or create a rotating schedule throughout the week so everyone has an afternoon off each week. Giving everyone individual tasks will help ensure all areas of your home stay organised and free of clutter; remember to keep it fun and ensure everyone is doing their bit!

Keeping a family and home organised is an important task to maintain. The key components to staying organised are planning meals, allocating designated personal spaces for each family member, creating visual family schedules and involving the whole family in household tasks. With these tips, you can keep your home clean and clutter-free without all the stress.

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7 smart tips for organising your kitchen

7 smart tips for organising your kitchen

There are people in this world who love nothing more than to label and organise every last detail of the homes; everything has a box or a specially allotted space, and their homes are neater than you could imagine. And then there are people who lose entire days simply looking through piles of their clutter trying to find their keys.

This article is mostly for the latter type. Now, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t room in this world for both kinds of people – it just means that they should probably never meet and they should never marry each other.

The following seven steps in this article will show you smart ways for organising your kitchen; you don’t need Marie Kondo just yet!

Drawer of reusable plastic containerscredit

1. Control your plastics cupboard

That is possibly the single most hated cupboard in the entire kitchen. Plastic containers have a nasty habit of getting all kinds of out of control, seemingly overnight. Control your plastics cupboard by putting some simple rules in place.

Start by buying a plate rack and vertically stack all of the lids inside. Separate the lids from the containers and store the containers from largest to smallest – Russian doll style. Store the mismatched containers in a separate cupboard or drawer – if, after a year, you haven’t managed to find their missing partners, you should dispose of them.

Fridge freezer overflowing with food

2. Organise your fridge

If your fridge regularly throws things at you when you open the door, this means you need to de-clutter – and fast. Filling every inch of space in your fridge can lead to reduced energy efficiency and excessive food waste.

The warmest spots in your fridge are inside the doors and the top shelf. If you store your milk and eggs in either of these places, they’re more likely to spoil. Milk or eggs should be stored on the middle shelf and condiments inside the door.

The top shelf of your fridge is better used for storing leftovers, but make sure to consume them within two to three days.

Kitchen pantry area

3. Keep the most used items in the front

Keep your food cupboard or pantry shelves in check by storing your most used items at the front to freshen up your kitchen. If you have the space, dedicate the middle shelves to commonly used items like flours and rice on the left, and store your tinned goods in alphabetical order on the right.

By organising your tinned goods alphabetically, you can easily see when to replenish them.

Kids' stroage area

4. Create a space for the kids

Dedicate a shelf, cupboard or hooks l09op90p;o’for your kids to store their school items like their books, sports kit and lunch bags. Make sure the shelf is big enough to comfortably store a sports bag and a large lunch tote.

This space will help keep your kitchen clutter-free, and it will also teach your children to keep all their school things in one, dedicated place. It will save you from hunting for items in the morning when you’re already running late.

Open kitchen shelves

5. Install shelves

Open or floating shelves in the kitchen are a lovely way to keep your kitchen neat and organised. This is a helpful tip if you have a small kitchen with limited counter space. Use the walls around your kitchen to store items like coffee, tea and sugar canisters. To make the space look extra cute, add hooks under one of the shelves to hang your tea & coffee mugs.

Clear glass food storage containers

6. Use clear storage containers

Clear storage containers are a godsend. They help you organise your space and allow you to know what’s inside them at a glance. For ease of reference, add labels onto the containers.

No more shaking of boxes to see how much is left inside. If you store foodstuffs in these containers, be sure to add the date to the label each time you refill.

Blackboard in a kitchen

7. Buy a chalk and dry erase board

Chalkboards and dry erase boards are an attractive way to take control of your kitchen. Use the chalkboard to keep track of grocery items you need to buy, and use the dry erase board to map out your schedule for the week/month.

You can also buy dry erase style calendars to add to the kitchen wall or fridge – they’re super handy for when plans change, and you need a bit of extra help remembering everything that you and the family have on the go.

Organising your kitchen doesn’t have to be a nightmare – spend thirty minutes organising it here and there, and you’ll notice what a difference it makes within a couple of weeks.

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