Real Estate Home Decorating
Spring cleaning: Getting your home ready for the season
Jessica Denay, author of "The Hot Mom Handbook" series has partnered with Swiffer to offer these tips to help keep your home clean while also balancing work and family:
* Don't try to do everything at once. Divide chores into daily, weekly, monthly and even seasonal tasks. Do the dishes daily, and try to throw out old food in your fridge as part of your weekly tasks. With spring upon us, dust build-up will be your nemesis. By dedicating certain days this spring to seasonal chores like dusting ceiling fans or sweeping out the fireplace, you can help better manage the upkeep of your home and do deep cleans less often. Denay recommends Swiffer 360 Dusters, which use thousands of fluffy fibers that change shape to fit virtually anywhere to trap and lock dust, dirt and pet hair without spreading it around your home.
* Know when to call it a day. It's easier to keep your home clean and keep a positive mindset if you set aside a few minutes each day to clean. If you have an overwhelming task list, attack each task in order of importance and get to the last ones on your list as time allows. Don't let cleaning consume a whole day or weekend.
* Don't waste time. Efficiency makes a huge difference. "Always clean from the top and work your way down, otherwise you'll be cleaning in circles," says Denay. It helps to focus on one area of the house at a time. Keeping all your cleaning supplies in a caddy can also prevent extra trips to retrieve items you might have forgotten or couldn't carry. Find shortcuts. Use products that can work on multiple messes like the Swiffer Sweeper that allows you to sweep and mop with one simple tool.
* Don't sweat the small stuff. It's completely possible to maintain the appearance of a clean home even if the most out-of-the-way places aren't cleaned regularly. Perception is reality and even if that area behind your fridge is a little dusty, nobody will notice. Concentrate on the open areas of your home that see a lot of traffic. If these areas are clean, your home will feel spotless and comfortable.
Following these tips will allow you to balance chores amongst free time. With just a little daily attention, you can make cleaning seem like less of a chore and more like a refreshing activity. "Having a sparkling clean home gives me peace of mind and the actual cleaning process makes me feel like I'm doing something good for myself and my family," says Denay.
Easy organization: lifesavers for busy lifestyles
(ARA) - Car keys. Mobile phones. Sunglasses. Not to mention backpacks, tote bags and the afternoon mail. Stuff. We all have it and most of us struggle with a convenient place to hide it. With our busy, come-and-go lifestyles, the kitchen tends to be the catch-all for everything that passes through and our countertops tend to absorb the brunt of it. But there are many organizational lifesavers that can help you literally get a grip on things in your kitchen, entry area or any other room.
The solution to feeling organized may be as close as your cabinetry. According to a recent study by the Research Institute for Cooking and Kitchen Intelligence (RICKI), when homeowners were asked to pick from a list of products they'd want in their dream kitchens, "customized storage solutions for cabinets" topped the list.
"As much as we'd all like to slow down our hurried schedules, it seems nearly impossible most days; but organization can be key to de-stressing when we are at home," says Cathy Hitz, brand manager for Diamond Cabinets. "A few changes in your kitchen cabinetry can make a world of difference in getting your home - and your life - more organized."
Get a grip - get organized
If your kitchen is filled with small dropped items that have taken over your countertops, try creating some reserved parking space for these items. One option is the Utility Drop Zone cabinet from Diamond Cabinets' Logix organization system, which offers a pull-out shelf with a charging station that's big enough to hold an entire collection of mobile phones, MP3 players and other small electronic devices, plus four convenient, out-of-sight shelves for organizing other small items that make up your "stuff." A magnetic white board and pencil holder are also placed conveniently on the inside door, providing a place to jot down messages and help everyone keep track of who's going where.
A similar version of the cabinet comes with the slide-out charging station, optional shelves, plus key hooks and coat hooks to accommodate anything from hats and scarves to dog leashes - plus enough floor space to stash a bag of pet food or a small basket of toys.
Stay on track
Change is good. But it's even easier with modular shelves that you can change without the hassle of pulling out the family toolbox. One of the simplest systems is the EasyTrax cabinet, which lets you add, remove or shift up and down up to five slide-out shelves. Need a place to tuck away tall appliances like the blender and food processor? Remove a few shelves. Have too much of a canned good thing? Go with all five. You can change the configuration into one-, two-, three-, four- or even five-shelf combinations at varying heights.
As an added feature, the modular cabinet also comes with a SmartStop guide that prevents the outer doors from slamming shut - so you not only get to feel organized, but you get some peace and quiet, too.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
