Keeping Clutter Under Control

Keeping clutter under control can be a challenge with kids in the house.  Even if you put something away, it may magically reappear! Kids Activities Blog is trying hard to embrace a clutter-free {OK, we would be OK with several degrees of less clutter!} and love this idea for keeping your desk top clean!

Do you have a clutter hot spot in your home? You know the kind of place I mean – where all the stuff that doesn’t have a home, or that will take too long to put in it’s home, is dumped in a heap. I have a clutter hot spot in every room of my house! The worst part about these spots is that the clutter just seems to breed. What begins as a neat and well intentioned pile of two or three letters rapidly multiplies into an avalanche of mail, keys, catalogues and goodness knows what else. Well, no more! I’ve decided to take action and get organized.

I recently secured a small corner of our guest bedroom to use as my home office. It’s a bit of a luxury to have that space all to myself but I knew from the outset that my desk would quickly become a dumping ground for clutter. I find that especially after an art or craft session with my son, the last thing I can be bothered doing is put away all the paint and other supplies. It’s just so easy to leave it all on my desk instead. Before long it looks like this. Instead of creating a calm and productive workspace, all I’ve done is created an enormous shelf for all the “I really don’t know where this needs to go” items we use every day. Sound familiar?

The solution? Containers, containers, containers. Whatever the organizing dilemma in my home, the answer is always containers. I had this wicker basket on hand, but a simple plastic tub, or even a cardboard box covered in pretty paper would work just as well. This sits atop my desk and I can still just dump everything on my desk when I’m feeling lazy in a hurry, only now it actually looks attractive and I have a clear workspace. When the basket is full, it’s time to put everything away. I find it actually saves time – one quick ten minute session of putting things away, done! This has worked so well for my desk that I’m planning on adding one of the clutter hot spot organizers in every room.