Tag: organizing

5 Ways to Organize Under the Kitchen Sink Cabinet

Raise your hand if you do not dread that dark area under the kitchen sink, and you have my admiration. When I had just begun to work years ago, I once rented a 25-year old home. What was I thinking? Affordable rent. Every night was a nightmare. The minute I would switch on the light, all I could see on the floor were generations of roaches that came from under the sink. Maybe because: 1) the kitchen was dark 2) the pipes leading to the gutter underneath were ill-fitted 3) it was hard to access for cleaning, and 4) the trash can was kept there. No matter how clean the area was, it did not deter the roaches. Sound familiar? I am sure many of you who have rented homes, or otherwise, would agree with me. Personally, I’m so glad those days are past me when colonies of cockroaches…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

Day 5: Let’s make the windows squeaky clean!

No Comments

The favorite feature of my current home: floor-to-ceiling windows and wall-to-wall glass windows. This ~ translates to a flood of natural light. But, that also means tough deep cleaning once in a while. it’s quite a task to keep the shine on large glass windows. They looked the best the day professionals from MyBlueBottle cleaned the windows. Within weeks, dust and grime formed a layer on the tracks and the shine became muddy. I took it upon myself to periodically clean all the windows to keep the shine on until the next time they are deep cleaned.. What you’ll need to clean the tracks: Vaccum Old socks A sprayer filled with equal parts vinegar + water + two drops of liquid soap Old toothbrush Microfiber Old cloth How to clean the tracks: Loosen the dirt with a tooth brush first. Vacuum the tracks with a crevice attachment. I use an…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

Day 4: Surface clean fans, switchboards, light fixtures, and doors.

No Comments

Some of the most dustiest places in a home are above our heads – places that are out of normal sight and reach. Ready to look upward? All the surfaces over your heads will get a shine! If you can spare a little over 30 minutes, it will be wonderful. What you’ll need: collect your supplies I’m getting a little inventive with this one after having tried a number of cleaning methods to see what fits best: A bucket to hold your cleaning essentials. 2 to 3 old pillow covers. Colin or any other surface cleaner. Microfiber cloth. Ladder. A pollution mask to cover your face and safety googles. A cloth to wrap your head Vacuum. Wipes How-to: If your house is a duplex, I prefer starting from the top floor and then going down. But, the choice is yours. If it is a single floor, start from the bed…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

Day 1: Clean master bedroom closet

No Comments

Ready for Day 1 of the 30-minute Diwali cleaning challenge? Today, we start with the master bedroom closet. Closets can be a pleasure to watch the day they are cleaned and a nightmare on days when they resemble a dump yard. Depending on how many clothes you have, how big your closet is and when was the last time you cleaned, this activity can either take 30 minutes or longer. If you can’t get to it all today, attend to the messiest part today; the rest will be a breeze. What you’ll need: Cleaning materials: A small cleaning bucket to carry around the cleaning stuff. A microfiber mitt or an old vest. Some cleaning solution like Colin or just plain water. Shelf liners. Vacuum cleaner if it is a sliding wardrobe. One huge plastic bag to give away items in good condition. One huge plastic bag to trash items of…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

1 Awesome Cleaning Habit to Keep Your House Clutter Free

1 Comment

Wondering if I missed a digit in the headline? Should it have been 10 cleaning habits or 11? No, you read it right. This one habit I came across in a list a few days ago has transformed my life for the better, and it’s only right that I share it with you all. I subscribed to Elle Decor’s feed on Facebook and often find their cleaning/organizing lists useful. One such list was titled 11 daily habits to keep a house clean and tidy. The title piqued my interest. Now, I am not a cleaning fanatic and you are less likely to find my house super organized any time of the day. No, there are no clothes lying on the floor, unmade beds, unclean toilets, clothes waiting to be folded, untrimmed grass in the garden, trash waiting to be taken out, or dirty vessels in the sink – none of…

Uncategorized

Organizing: What works best for you in the kitchen?

2 Comments

Vandana shares her kitchen organizing tips today. There are no rules when it comes to the kitchen….whatever works to help you be more efficient rules. She says, “I’ve lined the drawer with a silver gift wrapper to give a shiny finish and I’ve categorized and labelled items for easy access. Earlier, I stacked up items and it was quite difficult to get to the items at the bottom. Sometimes, the smaller items used to get lost in the entire pile, making me buy again, only to make way for duplicates.” On the ever growing grocery list, she adds, “also, I have a pencil right on top of my fridge to enter items in the shopping list as and when stock gets over. This way, I don’t have to remember a long list of items before I go for shopping.” Thanks, Vandana for sharing these pictures.

Uncategorized

Storage: Boxes from Bigso

No Comments

I hope it’s bright and sunny in the part of the world where you live in. Here, in Bangalore, there is an overcast for the past couple of days, but no rain in sight. But that doesn’t deter us from camping out on weekends, does it? How and where do you store important bills? Do you have any ideas for stashing away wires and cords of the zillion digital devices that occupy our lives – from Kindle and Kinect to Creative and iPad? How about the knick-kanck in your kids room such as crayons, poster colors and chalk pieces?And, how about those bands and clips in rainbow colors in your dresser? Over the years, I’ve used a combination of things for storage that’s recyclable and not ugly in presentation ranging from color paper-wrapped shoe boxes to colorful straw boxes. We have a habit of filing telephone, electricity and water bills…

Uncategorized

Clear the Clutter: Organizing Receipts and Bills

No Comments

How many receipts do you have in your purse this minute? Do you have bills ranging from dry clean, tailor, grocery bills from Reliance Fresh/More, vegetables purchased last evening to parlor trips a fortnight ago? The secret is out – these are after all what makes a woman’s purse bulky! But, if you are the one of those organized ones, then you do know what to keep and where to file and what is to be trashed. An incident at my son’s pre-school got me started on this post. The school asked parents to submit the child’s file Monday morning. This is how the system worked – at the beginning of the school year, every child was given a file to be taken home, and subsequently it was the parent’s responsibility file the individual sheets of school work that was sent home. The sheets just got interesting with time -…

Uncategorized

Closets Large Enough to Hold All You Own

No Comments

Do clothes fall out when you open your closet? Can you find your socks, hankies easily when in a hurry or do you have to empty the closet to find that red scarf? Is your personal space a treat to one’s eyes – with neatly ironed and folded clothes (with the fold facing outward) lining the shelves and crisp cotton saris and work suits arranged meticulously on hangers? Many of us fall somewhere in between, don’t we? For a few days, however, after all the contents of the closet has been emptied out and organized, it does sport that Martha Stewart-closet look. But why is it so hard to maintain an always well-organized closet? Lack of space, time, or no fixed space for accessories? It’s a combination of all of these factors. How much ever large one’s closet may be, if you don’t take the time out to discard what…