Organized Home

Spring blows in with warm wind and the promise of ... spring cleaning?

With the coming of spring, even the most casual home managers feel an inexplicable urge to move furniture, clean windows and vacuum baseboards to welcome the return of sunshine and warmer weather.

Certainly, there's a lot to be said for the notion of spring cleaning. It's a good time of year to rout out the dirt, dust and disorder that's crept into the home since the holiday season. By doing a thorough clean once a year, no area of the home gets too far removed from the results earned by energetic mops, vacuums and cleaning cloths. Longer days bring a new burst of energy for many of us, and using that bonus to deep-clean our homes seems like a good match for rising springtime spirits.    More »

Spring cleaning is on the horizon, and you could use some help.

Many hands make light work ... so how do you get the kids to pitch in when it's time to spring-clean the house?

Try these five tips to involve children with housecleaning chores:    More »

When it comes to kids and housework, the blasted terrain is familiar: a dirty house, balky children, and frazzled, frustrated parents.

Tired parents try it all, from chore charts to screaming fits.  Canny children engage in housework sabotage, selective hearing or childish irresponsibility to duck assignments. The noise levels--and stress levels--rise along with the stacks of dishes.

How to negotiate a peace on the issue of children and chores? Try these family-tested strategies to calm the conflict and gain the goal:    More »

Blooming bulbs and Spring breezes signal that warmer weather is on the way.

Sure, many of us will do an all-out session of Spring cleaning, but even small, simple jobs can bring the season's freshness inside.

Shake the winter doldrums out of your organized home with these five easy ideas to swing into Spring:    More »

Paid cleaning help can be a wonderful short-cut to a clean and organized home--if the household budget can stand the cost. But what do you do if the Prize Patrol bypassed your door this year?

Take a speed-cleaning lesson from the pros! Paid cleaning services are masters of the art of speedy, efficient cleaning. Watch professional cleaners at work: they don't waste time, cut corners or dawdle over the job--and they know how to clean fast, clean right.

To speed cleaning chores in your organized home, take a tip from their copybook. Try these tips from professional cleaners:    More »

Taken a trip down the cleaning aisle at the supermarket lately? If you believe the ad hype, you can't keep a clean house without loading your shopping cart with a different cleaner for each surface, floor and sink in the house.

Hogwash! Simple recipes using products from your pantry make effective household cleaning solutions. An added plus: these natural products are more environmentally friendly than commercial alternatives.

Stock your cleaning tool tote with these homemade cleaning sprays and solutions to make short work of household grime--without harsh chemicals or irritating fumes. Try these easy recipes to clean your organized home faster, better and cheaper:    More »

Standing in line at the supermarket check stand, nobody can deny that we're on the dreary downside of a new year. Tabloid headlines scream the weight-loss secrets of the stars, while traditional women's magazines sing siren songs of money-saving, belly-busting, speed-cleaning tips and techniques.

We ourselves? All those resolutions that looked so basic, so easy, so noble through the champagne haze of New Year's Eve have lost their rosy glow viewed in the stark light of a morning cup of coffee. With the children back to school and holiday decorations back in their attic boxes, our resolve for a better, thinner, healthier and wealthier year has once more washed up against the hard and niggling realities of daily life.

Be of good cheer! There's a tried-and-true boost for just about anybody's New Year's resolutions. [I'm talking garden-variety resolutions here: weight loss, financial prudence, better home or personal organization. If you've vowed that this is the year you read the Russians, my hat's off to you but you're on your own!]

I'm talking about cleaning the refrigerator. Spearing the Great White Whale.    More »

When wintry weather blows, will your family be prepared?

Winter brings special seasonal challenges to an organized home.  Winter storms can make navigating roads and walkways hazardous; power outages and snow days highlight any family's readiness for cold weather.

Take time now to review your family's emergency preparedness with this Winter Preparedness Checklist. It'll help you prepare your home and automobile for cold-weather hazards.    More »