Housekeeping Trouble Spots

Our house is gradually looking better for longer periods of time since I’ve settled in to a cleaning routine.  I still rarely make it through the week without missing at least one scheduled day of cleaning but things still look pretty good.  However, I have noticed there are a few areas of our home that are constantly cluttered and looking terrible.  I have some ideas on how to tackle these areas and I’ll be sharing my solutions as I implement them.  I’m even going to be brave and share a few pictures.  To start out, here are the Top 5 Trouble Spots in my home:

1. Recycling: There is a counter top about a foot wide between our sink and kitchen door.  Our cutlery sits there in a wooden block.  Flattened cardboard and paper gets tucks behind the block.  Can and bottles pile up in front of the block.  Eventually, the papers get so high that you can’t see the light switch.  Shortly after that, the whole collection tumbles to the ground and fills the doorway.  At that point I gather it all up and stomp downstairs to put it where it goes.  Arggg!!  Specific problem: The recycling bins are not in a convenient spot, and I don’t really want to crowd our entryway or kitchen any more.
   

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2. Laundry: I have no problem getting the laundry washed and hung on the line.  I’m almost as good about bringing it back in.  Then, the baskets get put in our bedroom so they are out of sight.  It seems like there are always 2 or 3 baskets in there.  Finally, I dump them all out on our bed, sort them, and either hang them up or put them in our dressers.  I’m getting better about putting away a basket at a time but it is still a problem.  Plus, I get really sick of crowded closets and fighting with dresser drawers.  Our bedroom is so small that my dresser is in our office.  We have a laundry chute that makes it easy to keep dirty clothes where they belong, it’s all the clean ones that get me.  Specific problem:  Inefficient system for handling clean clothes and cramped spaces to put them.




3. To Be Filed: I’ve posted before about my Basket System for bookkeeping and filing.  I still use that system and it works great.  For the most part.  I’m not exactly great about filing the to be filed stuff.  Maybe, sometimes, it might overflow and get stuffed in a paper sack labeled “to be filed”.  Part of the reasoning for that is that I’m bad about filing (obviously).  I think a bigger part of it is that I have 2 filing cabinets and one set of the folders isn’t even labeled.  The folders aren’t in any form of order either since I’ve added more over the years.  Specific problem:  Filing cabinets need to be revamped and made easier to use.
   

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4. Shoes: I built a nice bench for our back room but there is not enough room under it for all of our shoes.  Our extra shoes go in the bottom of Brian’s closet (in a big pile).  Every Sunday we dig out our cowboy boots for church and then they lay in the back room for half the week before I put them away.  The bottom part of the bench isn’t wide enough for the shoes to sit flat so they are constantly falling over and out in to the middle of the room.  Specific problem:  We need a better system for shoe storage. 
   

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5. Basement:  I know this is great in scope but truly, the whole basement is one big trouble spot!  We need more shelving to get things up off the floor.  The laundry area needs a place for detergent other than on top of the dryer.  The canned goods/pantry area is an absolute disaster.  The recycling bins overflow and need serious help.  This is especially bad because when you come in our back door the first thing you see is the basement.  Specific problem:  Lack of organization in the basement.

I would love to hear what the trouble spots are in your home.  Feel free to leave your list in the comments.  As I begin to implement solutions I’ll be sure to share them here.

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