While summer may still be hanging around on the calendar, the lazy days of vacation are gone and we are all adjusting to new fall schedules. School’s back in session and all that that entails from the early morning rush to get out the door to afternoon sports-practice pickups and games that run late into dinner hour. After an initial week or two of chaos, we turn to home-organizational expert, Ali Tedeschi of H.O.M.E by Ali (www.homebyali.com) for advice on how to lend some harmony and balance to our day. Here’s what she told us:
A seamless morning routine is totally attainable.
A few simple organizing updates can eliminate meltdowns over clothing choices, avoid arguments over toiletries and reduce the toil of putting together multiple lunches and snacks. The solution is to streamline key areas of your home. The following steps take a little time but the payoff in decreased stress and added ease will be invaluable.
1: Switch out seasonal clothing
The logical place to start is to switch out everyone’s summer wardrobe. This seasonal strategy may seem like a daunting task. If motivation or stamina is not quite your strong suit, consider hiring a professional organizer to get you started. Working side by side with a professional will not only cut the labor in half, it will also help you learn the method and become adept with the process for next season’s change-outs. Once you establish a system, you can apply this same method each season.
A) Take ALL the clothing out of closets, drawers and storage bins and pile them on the bed (just one room at a time, please!).
Mindfully sort through each item one at a time and ask yourself the following questions:
How many times did I/she/he wear this item this season?
If this answer is zero or only a time or two, you pretty much know it’s not a keeper. This does not apply to special-occasion garments, such as timeless cocktail dresses, men’s suits, etc. You may not have had the opportunity to wear those items this year, but they were most likely expensive and, as mom always told us, “the classics never go out of style’’!
Does this item still fit?
This question will be very important for children’s clothing. For adults, it may be related to weight-loss/gain or poor sizing choices when purchasing (especially if it was a bargain!).
Does it look tired/faded/worn after so much use?
Here’s where you need to be somewhat ruthless, particularly with favorites. Once the integrity of an article of clothing has been compromised with puckered hems, pilling on knits, worn spots on knees, etc., it’s time to let it go, regardless of how much it’s been loved.
B) Create 3 piles for the clothing; keep, donate, discard.
After going through everything, bag up your donations and discards. Did you know that most old, worn-out clothing can be recycled? Recycled textiles are used to make everything from baseball stuffing to home insulation to even paper money! There are a number of companies like the American Textile Recycling Services or Planet Aid that collect donations at drop-off locations. Sites such as Recycle Now can help you locate drop-off bins in your area.
C) Finally, neatly rehang closet items, fold drawer contents and fold up last-season’s clothing to be stored in sealable bins.
Note: Use plastic bins instead of cardboard boxes. Anything paper-based can absorb moisture and smells, as well as attract unwanted critters. Bins should be stored in a dry place, preferably not the basement.
2: Arrange children’s closets/drawers to make clothes easy to select
Once clothing has been sorted, it’s time to put all the items back into their proper places. Arrange drawer contents based on dressing from head to toe. Underwear and socks in the top drawers, tops in the next drawer down and bottoms in the drawer beneath that. Pajamas can “live” in a few different spots. They can go in with underwear/socks if the drawers are large, have their own drawer at the very bottom of the bureau or get placed in a nightstand drawer next to the bed.
For younger children, it is infinitely helpful to have them pick out tomorrow’s outfit the night before.
This will help eliminate wasted time the next morning and make getting dressed less exasperating and upsetting.
3: Create a “college dorm” approach in the bathrooms
When siblings share a bathroom, nothing can bring a relatively calm morning to a screeching halt than kids having to search for personal essentials when they need them. Create a bin for each member with all the items they use daily or regularly to get ready in the morning and at bedtime. This not only keeps the bathroom counters neat and orderly, it makes cleaning a cinch. Each family member takes out their bin when it is their turn to use the bathroom. Once finished, they just replace their bin in its allotted spot back under the sink, in the closet or on the shelf. This simple little hack is a big a time saver and eliminates frustrations over misplaced toothpaste and hair ties.
4: Organize the food cupboards and pantry to allow everyone to grab snacks quickly
Rethinking where items live can help tremendously with breakfast and lunch/snack preparation. Snacks such as cookies, protein bars, chips and dried fruit can live on the bottom shelf giving everyone the ability to select the desired treats for their lunch.
Cereals, oatmeal and other breakfast items on the next shelf up allows any age easy access to their breakfast preferences. Higher shelves can be utilized for more traditional pantry items like canned goods, rice, pasta, condiments, etc.
Another helpful hint: whenever possible, prep lunches the night before.
A great time to do this is while the family is still gathered in the kitchen after dinner. Each person can work on their own lunch depending on their age of course, and it’s a super way to share the chore and get it done that much faster.
5: Mudroom organization
And last but not least, the mudroom! As the last stop before everyone leaves the house and the first when they arrive home, this area is key to make the entire morning’s efforts culminate in success!
Each family member should have their own designated area for backpacks, sports equipment, musical instrument cases, completed school projects. If your home does not have a mudroom in the traditional sense, designate a specific area right inside the main door where you can create a space for out-the-door staging.
Adding freestanding units with cubbies or hanging hooks with bins below for each person is a perfect solve for keeping everything neat, organized and easy-to-grab on the way out. Don’t forget a cubby or bin for the family dog to organize leashes, harnesses, brushes, dog coats and vests for cool weather walks and hikes!
We’ve all experienced how the overwhelming stress of a hectic, frenzied morning routine can linger with us throughout the day.
Time-consuming, chaotic hunts for misplaced backpacks or school work, lost shoes and sweaters, struggling with clutter and disorganization, the frustration, the tears... However, just by making these 5 simple and easy changes throughout your home, the morning routine can become almost magically painless for the entire family.
Invest the time and work diligently through each space.
It doesn’t need to all be done in one day—in fact, it’s actually best to break these strategies into small projects so that the process doesn’t become overwhelming. Encourage family participation so that each member has a vested interest in making your new system function smoothly. Achieving an easy, breezy morning routine is a precious investment in your family’s happiness and teaches your kids the enduring importance of staying organized.
Discover more tips from Ali or schedule a conversation with her at https://www.homebyali.com/ to discover how to create a more harmonious and smoothly run home.