The Top 5 Clutter Zones!

“Ah, the perfectly organized life. It exists in our dreams, even if the reality we wake up to is an explosion of clothes, school projects and the general disorder of everyday living. Now you can get closer to the dream just by taking simple steps and tackling the busiest clutter zones first. Here are some simple tips to bring a little order into the home—one room at a time.

Organize the entryway for stress-free entering and exiting

One of the busiest places in the home is the entryway. Having a hallway table gives you a place for mail, keys and whatever you need to take with you before you head out. It’s also a welcoming place to unload items when you come home. To keep this common clutter zone neat and clear, try these ideas:

– Keep school permission slips, outgoing mail and grocery lists in a home reference binder. Just take an Avery Binder, and tailor it to your family’s needs by organizing sections for your paperwork with Avery Dividers, customized with the free Avery Design & Print Online software. Loose papers and forms will have one central home so you can avoid the headache of searching for things.

– Remember the little things with a friendly reminder. Place a pad of Avery Lay Flat Sticky Notes on the table so you can write quick notes or messages to family members, and reminders to yourself.  Plus, your notes won’t be overlooked—with two strips of adhesive to reduce curling or lifting off the surface, your messages are easier to read. Write a reminder to your kids that they have soccer practice, or jot a note to yourself to remember the dry cleaning.

Tackling the kitchen confusion

If only the kitchen was used for just preparing and serving food. Chances are this room takes the brunt of a busy family’s daily activities.  Here are some easy-to-implement fixes for a streamlined and organized family command center:

– Make meal times quicker and easier by labeling food containers using removable removable Avery I.D. Labels. They stick to most smooth surfaces, and remove cleanly. Now you can survey the contents of your fridge with a mere glance instead of peering at a mountain of mysterious food containers. Be sure to include the date you created the culinary concoction, so you can get to your leftovers before it’s too late.

– Ever double-book yourself for a dentist appointment and an event at your child’s school? You’ll never have a scheduling conflict again with this family activity calendar. Just customize online and print on Avery Magnet Sheets. Place your brand new calendar on your fridge, stick on your activities and voila!—it’s easy to see your entire family’s schedule at once.

If your home office is less like a hub of productivity and more like a maze of paper piles and tangled electrical cords, a little intervention is needed. Fear not, these ideas can help avert the next crisis:

– Create a color-coded filing system. Sort your paperwork into categories using file folders labeled with colorful Avery File Folder Labels. Assign a different colored label for each category, such as green for financial, red for health and blue for school, or a different color for each family member.

– You stoop down to unplug a cord, angle yourself into a small crevice and grab at a plug, only to realize it’s the wrong one and the crazy yoga pose must be tried again. Pull the plug on electrical cord confusion! Avery Durable Printable Cord Tags resist damage from heat and help identify the right cord the first time.

Rid the chaos in your kid’s room

If you can’t enter your kid’s room without stepping on something, it’s time to change things up. Here are some simple suggestions you can take to tidy up their rooms and even encourage them to help:

– Identify where things go for a quicker clean up. Avery Adhesive Pockets answer the question of how to organize their toys and knick-knacks. Stick the pockets to bins, boxes or storage containers and print out a customized card for the contents. Kid-friendly designs on the printouts make it easier to coax little tykes to do the clean up themselves.

– Help your child organize their own closet with Avery Door Hangers. Customize these door hangers so kids can organize clothing by type (or in a shared closet, per child).  Now it’s easy for Junior to see where shirts, pants and sweaters go—and there shouldn’t be any more excuses for clothes on the floor!

– Straighten up closet space in a snap using Avery Shelf Tags. Just print and attach to identify the contents that belong on the shelf: sweaters, blankets, etc. And when you need to switch up your organization later, it’s easy—the tags feature a removable adhesive that peels off easily.

Conquer your car’s clutter

Technically, this clutter zone isn’t in your home but we spend so much time in our cars that they become a second home for many of us. Take a few minutes to tackle this neglected zone and quickly restore order in your four-wheeled “room.”

– Need a convenient place to store loose items? Tuck Avery Pocket Tabs® in your glove compartment or in between the seats to store receipts, coupons and driving directions neatly away. The closeable pocket with flap means things stay where you want them, no matter how many twists and turns the ride through your busy day takes.

Try these suggestions one room at a time, so you don’t overwhelm yourself. Little changes can add up to big improvements. By conquering your clutter zones, it can help make a more comfortable home—and a happier you.”

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