Whip your home into shape by following these five tried and tested ways

Keep mail and miscellaneous papers in a separate drawer
Chances are that your junk drawer is already packed with junk. Set up a separate drawer for all of your papers – mail, receipts, and your kid’s notes from school – and sort through the pile once a week. Make it a point to keep any stray paperwork in this particular drawer to keep paper clutter in your house to a minimum.

Make sure your kitchen counters are empty
Cluttered countertops can be a nightmare. Grouping kitchen gear by color lets you reap the benefits of an organized kitchen without the stress of visible clutter. Amp things up a notch by taking everything off the counters and storing them on open shelves. This way you will have more space to prepare your meals while giving your space an airy feel. 

Arrange your books by height or color for a tidy look
Unless you read everything on your Kindle, your home is sure to have books scattered all over the place, from the shelves and nightstands to the floors and counter space. Keep them all at one place by investing in some functional bookshelves and then make these bookcases pleasing to the eye by organizing books by height or color for a less cluttered, more cohesive look.

Create a homework station
If you have kids at home and you are always finding stray pencils, crayons, and erasers all over the place, then it’s time to make a homework station. This sounds fancy but really is the easiest thing you can do. Simply fill a clear plastic bin with pencils, scissors, glue, rulers and whatever it is that you kids need for homework and make sure they put everything back when their homework is done. 

Have a 10-minute speed cleaning session every day
You might spend an entire weekend cleaning your house and getting it in order but it can get messy quite easily if you aren’t careful. A really great idea would be to set a 10-minute timer at the end of the day and walk around the house putting things back in their right places and dusting a little here and there. 10 minutes every day can really make a big difference in maintaining order and neatness in your home. 

 
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