Storage & Sorting
Empty the Shelf Before You Buy the Bin
Start with an empty shelf. Not a tidier shelf, but one holding nothing at all, with everything that used to live on it in a pile on the floor.
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Author ยท Marissa Duplantis
I write Simply At Home from one house in Baton Rouge. Every routine here gets tested on my own shelves first, and I keep only the part that still works a month later.
Getting the Dryer to Do Its Job
Start with the lint screen, then check the vent, and only then blame the dryer. When my dryer started needing two cycles…
What I Check Around the House Before the Heat Comes On
Before the heating comes on for the first time, walk the house with a flashlight and a notepad and give yourself thirty…
How I Built a Weekly Cleaning Rotation That Actually Sticks
Give each day one room and stop there. That single rule is what turned my cleaning from a weekend event I dreaded…
My Weekly Hardwood Floor Routine, Start to Finish
Vacuum before you mop, and mop with less water than feels right. If you take nothing else from this, take that.
How I Reset the Cabinet Under the Bathroom Sink
The cabinet under a bathroom sink is the worst storage shape in a house. There is a drain pipe through the middle,…
What to Do When the House Has Gotten Away From You
When the house has gotten away from you, do not clean. Clear one path first, then one surface, then stop for the…
Decanting Dry Goods: What Is Worth It and What Is Not
Start with the four things that actually go bad, and leave everything else in the bag it came in. Decanting solves real…
Hanging Things on the Wall So They Stay There
Empty the wall before you buy the anchor. That sounds backward, but the single most common reason something falls off a wall…
Sorting With Three Boxes and a Deadline
Set a timer. What ends most decluttering sessions is not running out of items, it is running out of decisiveness, and then…