Keep it tidy this festive season

Finding some peace and calm by creating order will make life easier as people come and go over the holidays

ARE YOU feeling frazzled because your home isn’t organised in time for the holidays? Here are some tips.

Keep it simple

Find places for things and put them there. Have, for example, one place for your keys, another for the kids’ toys, and a specific place for clothes as they get changed (such as the cupboard and not the chair). Keep your dishes and plates in specific places so when they have been cleaned everyone knows where they go. If they don’t fit, perhaps you have too many. Same goes for mugs or pots and pans. And, of course, your clothes.

Be kind to yourself.

You don’t have to be perfect. Do what works.

Don’t buy too much

The chances are the shops are not going to run out of loo paper again. Buy what you need and what you have space for. As a rough guideline, if you buy something new, something old has to get donated.

Accept that it’ll never all be done

Organising a home is a bit like having a lawn – it will always need cutting. So factor that into your schedule. Clear out and clean the fridge once a fortnight or so; see what is accumulating in the garage.

Like life, organising a home is an ongoing task. However, doing the work from time to time means you (more or less) keep on top of things. Which makes it all easier.