The best thing I ever did for our home and sanity was go through months of ruthless decluttering to minimize our possessions to only the things we loved and needed.  This by itself has made it infinitely easier to control clutter, but clutter still happens.  It’s one thing to create room for everything to have its place and another to consistently put things back in their place, which is where I struggle a lot.  It takes daily habits to maintain that order, and luckily they aren’t difficult nor time-consuming to do.  In partnership with Brooklinen, here are 5 simple daily habits to keep your home clutter-free.

1. Make the bed

Have I talked enough on the blog yet about the benefits of making the bed??  It’s an important one.  Making the bed is one of the smallest daily tasks that can make the biggest impact on both your bedroom and overall mindset.  The bed is the focal point of the room and sets the tone for the rest of the space.  If it’s messy, it keeps the door open for creating clutter.  If it’s made, it encourages everything else to get made.  Once the bed is tidy, it brings my attention to areas that aren’t and I continue on to pick up those clothes off the floor, or toss that  cardboard box that’s been sitting in the corner.  It’s a very positive way to start the mornings and best done before your day begins.

Alongside this topic, your bed linens must be beautiful, whatever that means to you.  Like with everything, you need to feel joy in what you surround yourself with in order to have pride in taking care of your space.  This time I dressed my bed with the Striped Linen Duvet Cover Set from Brooklinen’s gorgeous new limited-edition linen collection made with Belgian flax.  The organic texture and softness of the high quality linen is not only beautiful, but it helps so much with getting more comfortable and better sleep.

Of course if linen isn’t your thing, Brooklinen offers Classic and Luxe Weaves.  All the patterns and colors are classic and effortless to mix and match, delivered to your door with ease.  I personally love the Luxe sets as they’ve gotten softer and even more comfortable with every wash.  They’re usually what my bed is made with and you guys are constantly asking me where my sheets are from- they’re from Brooklinen!  Use code ‘HOMEYOHMY20′ for $20 off + free shipping on your Brooklinen order.

2. Take something with you when you leave a room

This takes a little pre-planning and isn’t always easy to remember (because who thinks about tidying at every given second…), but with practice it becomes more like second nature.  Whenever I get up to leave a room I make a quick scan to see if there’s anything in there that shouldn’t be, like empty cups or an iron in the living room.  I’ll grab it and put it back where it belongs if it’s on the way to whichever room I’m moving to next.  It takes almost no extra effort and feels like I’m killing two birds with one stone while saving myself from running around later.

3. Dedicate 15 minutes a day to cleaning

Set a timer and give your undivided attention and effort to it- sweeping, wiping down counters, deconstructing and putting away a pile that has formed in a corner, putting away the dishes, anything that catches your eye and bothers you.  I’ve repeatedly found that I get a lot more done in 15 minutes than I think I can.  This helps with tasks I’ve put off thinking that they’d take too long, and once I see that they took way less time I’m encouraged to keep going, often past that 15 minute timer.

On days where I want to fight it and insist that I don’t have 15 minutes to spare, I’ll say to myself fine, then only do 5 minutes.  What usually ends up happening is that I feel so good about what I did in those 5 minutes that I’ve successfully entered ‘the zone’ and want to keep going.  It’s like I’m tricking myself into it.  If after those 5 minutes I’ve had enough then cool, at least I got those 5 minutes in.  Getting started is really the hard part, and building this 15-minutes-a-day habit is an effective way to combat that.

4. Keep countertops clear

Some things live on your countertops and others are idly sitting there because you didn’t put them back where they belong.  Be clear on the difference, which really depends on making sure everything has a home and knowing where that is.

A little technique I sometimes use is what I like to call the basket technique.  When clutter starts growing on a counter, I take whatever isn’t supposed to be there and dump it in a basket.  It helps so much to break down the task and visually see exactly what needs to be put away.  From here, I put back the items where they belong and if there’s anything in there I don’t know where to put, I’ll assess why.  Is it because I don’t need it?  Then don’t keep it (beauty samples I’ll never use is a common one).  Is it because there’s no more room where it should go?  Then I’ll have to tackle that area for a potential purge.  The basket, it works.

5. If it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now

Sometimes I’ll reason that because a small job won’t take long, I can take care of it later and relax for now.  This is exactly why clutter happens.  Every small job that gets put off combines into a large job that’s even less enticing to do.  If you’re putting a dirty plate into an empty sink, wash it now and put it away, or if you’re tripping over shoes in your entryway, quickly put away the pairs that aren’t getting worn soon.  Of all the habits to make, this is the one that will change your life for the better instantly!

 

Of course, I’m not perfect and I don’t always get to all these things everyday, but I try, and the results are far better than not trying at all.  Adopting these easy habits will not only help significantly with clutter but will also remind you to regularly ask yourself if what surrounds you brings you joy.  You know exactly what to do if something doesn’t!

Anyone in the midst of decluttering/purging or already know how amazing it feels to get that done?  Have any of your own daily habits to help with the clutter?

In case you missed it, use code ‘HOMEYOHMY20′ for $20 off + free shipping on your Brooklinen order.

This post is sponsored by Brooklinen.