I’m a very messy person who tries VERY HARD to keep a clean home. It’s probably ADHD. Anyway, the best advice I ever saw about it was:
“Instead of changing your habits to keep clean, look at where the clutter is. Now put a bin under it.”
I tend to remove my socks at the computer and then there’s a mountain of socks on the floor? I put a small bin and now it looks tidy. There are piles of junk mail on the table near my front door because I can never bring them to the recycling bin? I put a smaller recycling bin there. Etc etc.
Another trick that helps me immensely are BOXES.
The bathroom sink is covered in small bottles and all sorts of products? I got small plastic crates and I put them over the toilet lid, one for my stuff, the other for my roomate’s. The linen closet is just piles of things that fall when you open the door? Baby I just got a bunch of baskets and I will separate them by function.
I have baskets and small boyxes for: my cleaning products; my bird’s toys and stuff; my workout accessories; my meds and daily skincare products; my tools; and pretty much all my art stuff.
It still takes some effort to keep everything in its place, but having everything in a box still looks tons better than having everything on the counter, and it’s so better for the mental health.
After YEARS of a perpetually messy room with clothes all over the floor… I cleared off two shelves of my bookshelves. Clothes go there if they aren’t ready for laundry yet.
One change, and my floors are clear. And because they’re clear, they’re easier to keep clean.
One of the principles of design is that you have to design things according to how human beings act, not how you think they ought to act. That goes for designing your own space as well: organize for the you that you are, not the you that you think you ought to become.
(via propheticfire)
