Thursday, April 30, 2009

Parenting Pointers: De-Cluttering - Entry

Today we're going to start a room-by-room series on de-cluttering - easy ways to keep the rooms looking a little bit more organized. Our first room is the entryway.

The entry tends to be a place where things accumulate - shoes, coats, mail, and more. And yet, it's the first thing we (and our guests) see when coming into the home. How can you minimize clutter in this area without much effort?

If you have the space, put in a small cupboard or table. Assign each family member a place - either a drawer, or a specific wicker basket, or shelf. They can use it for daily needs - school bag, lunchbox, etc. Have a family rule that each member only gets one pair of shoes and one jacket in the entry at a time - and enforce it. Keep reusable grocery bags here to help you remember them as you go out shopping, and put a small mail drop spot to keep ingoing and outgoing mail looking organized.

If you have a closet in the entry way, even better. Jackets and shoes can go there, and have even less clutter out in the open.

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