Summer is here and the next few weeks are looking like it’s going to be hot and sticky! Kids have broken up from school, vacations beckon, the garden takes on a life of its own – and you suddenly wonder how does your home suddenly turn upside down so quickly?!
Being a busy family, you won’t have much time for home chores in these months – with schools out, travels in, it’s easy to let life slide on the home front…
Summer is a great time to enjoy and spend time with the kids, and although it brings many advantages, there is also that one disadvantage – the ever increasing creating clutter!
As great as it is to have the kids back home, they’re likely to cause more mess – not only wanting to get those toys out that they haven’t played with for a while but also buying new toys and having nowhere to put them.
Still, summer can run smoothly if you keep tabs on important areas of the household, have some sort of rules in place and have ideal storage.
One thing to keep in mind is to make the most of the space in your house and adapt to it – shelving could be a great way to fit your exact requirements, and having modular units is something definitely worth considering, particularly if you don’t have much room – because you can build them to fit your exact requirements.
Be sure to invest in shelving, but remember – more storage equals more stuff. So do look into flexible units, as units with shelves built at different heights will allow you to take a more flexible approach to displaying your items.
Once you have the storage in place, your duty as a parent is to be prepared! Why not make some rules for you and your family:
- Put it away, straight away
Get into the habit of putting things away as soon as you’re done, and you’ll cut down on a great deal of the clutter in one simple step – don’t forget to teach the kids this rule as well, it will save you having to clear up their mess!
- Many hands make light work
The most frustrating place to keep clean and well organised is our children’s bedroom or playroom. Try teaching your kids the ABCs of tidiness – while you may find it easier (and faster) to organise it for them, it will save you time in the future!
Tip: Why not add a bottom shelf to you storage solution to make it easier for the kids to pack away their toys, therefore you can make tidying away a group effort.
- One in, one out
In particular, ensure each child has suitable storage in their bedrooms for their personal possessions, then make sure they go by the rule of ‘one in, one out’ – whenever they bring something new home to keep, something old has to go. It’s amazing how much tidier the house (and the kids rooms) will be when all their stuff has a place to live.
By following these rules, it will help you keep your home tidy during the summer months – and be sure to get the whole family involved, as a parent – don’t get left to do all the dirty work!
Shelfstore is a system of creating furniture, shelving and storage solutions around your ideas – in any size, and to fit your space.
Have a go at creating your own shelving system using our easy to use design wizard:
By Tony Fitz-Costa. Check me out on Google+
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what do you think?