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Bedroom FAQ: How can I keep my home clean all winter?

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If you’re anything like me, you have a bit of trouble keeping your home clean during the winter months. When it’s cold outside, you want to be cozied up in front of the television, under a blanket and sipping on some hot cocoa. However, cleaning is still a big priority. Here are some things you can do to stay clean during winter:

Clean your garbage cans!

You’re going to be shut in all winter with these germ havens, so now’s a good time to clean them thoroughly. Take them outside where you can blast the insides with a garden hose, then add disinfectant.

Get into the places you usually don’t think about cleaning:

Tables and countertops aren’t the only household items with horizontal surfaces. In fact, just about everything in your house except Rover’s tennis ball has some kind of horizontal surface where dust and dirt will nestle, often unnoticed. You’ll want to clean the top horizontal edges of:

  • Interior doors
  • Trim, including baseboards and chair rails
  • Artwork and mirrors
  • Electrical wall plates
  • Wall-mounted smoke detectors, CO detectors, and thermostats
  • Upper kitchen cabinets
  • Light bulbs and light fixtures
  • Computer monitors
  • Books on shelves

Remember your furnace filters!

Yeah, this is a no-brainer, which is why it’s last on this list. But everything else you do could be moot if you’re not changing your filters at least once every 60 days (more if you’re sensitive to allergies).

Air filters for furnaces are rated by level of efficiency. The higher the rating, the better the filter is at removing dirt, mold spores, and pet dander.

Found at House Logic.

Check back for more Bedroom FAQ’s as we continue to collect information to create the ultimate Bedroom Homeowner’s Guides.

 

6 Strategies to Banish Clutter Forever

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Do you have a lot of clutter in your home? Maybe you have a bedroom with very little free space due to books, clothing, papers and other items piled all around. Or, perhaps you have a hall closet that can’t take one more coat or hat because it’s filled to the brim. Whether you need to declutter one closet or every room in your home, you can do it in an efficient way. Consider six useful strategies to help you banish clutter.

 

Divide the Area into Small Zones

 

Start your decluttering project by choosing just one room. For instance, if you want to declutter your bedroom, divide the space into small zones. One small zone may be the far left corner of the room. After tackling that, move on to the far-right corner of your bedroom. You may want to create small zones covering just three or four-square feet of a room. Dividing the area into small zones makes the job of decluttering more manageable.

 

Decide What to Keep, Donate, Recycle or Throw Out

 

Get four large trash bags before sorting the items in one zone. Label one bag with the word keep, another with the word donate, another bag with the word recycle and the last one with the words throw out. As you sort, put each item in one of the four bags. Some items such as old magazines, newspapers and computer paper can be recycled. Clothing items and shoes that have been sitting in the same pile for a year are perfect candidates for your donate bag. Put the items you like into your keep bag.

 

Do I Really Need This Item

 

After decluttering one zone, take a second look into the bag of items you plan to keep. Be honest about how much each item means to you. Have you been holding onto a book for ten years with plans to read it one day? Or, do you have a formal dress in the bag that you’ve kept around for five years in case there’s an occasion to wear it? If you haven’t worn an item or used it in six months, there’s a good chance you’re never going to. Donating it means the item can take on new life for someone else.

 

Declutter in Small Spans of Time

 

One of the main reasons why many people avoid decluttering is it feels like an overwhelming task. This is why it’s important to break the room into small zones and declutter for a finite amount of time each day. For instance, you may want to start by spending just 30 to 40 minutes decluttering each day. This keeps you from becoming overwhelmed and gives you the opportunity to see the progress you’ve made every single day!

 

Develop New Ways to Organize Your Things

 

Once you have a zone cleaned, it’s a good idea to come up with new ways to organize the items you keep. For instance, you’ve finished decluttering the floor of your closet. You may want to put all your shoes into a hanging shoe organizer instead of placing them back on the floor. This frees up space and allows you to locate the shoes you want at a glance. Simple tools like small labeled containers and drawers can keep your items in neat order.

 

Dedicate Yourself to Staying Organized

 

After decluttering a room, you want to do what you can to prevent things from piling up again. A good rule of thumb is to put away items right after you’ve finished with them. For instance, instead of throwing a pair of jeans on a chair in your bedroom, take a few moments to hang them in the closet. An extra few seconds spent putting an item away adds to the overall organization in your home.

 

Finally, try to get the help of other family members with your decluttering work. The work will go a lot faster with each person in charge of a small zone.

Bedroom FAQ: How do organize my bedroom closet?

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My bedroom closet always starts out very organized and sorted after I clean it and get rid of clothes I don’t need but within days, it gets cluttered and messy again. I’ve tried many different things to keep my closet organized but here are the biggest tips that helped me:

Scheduling just 60 minutes a week can really make a dent in your overstuffed, cluttered closet. Can’t spare that much? Try two half-hour sessions. If you’re constantly being interrupted by “Hey Mom!” — ask your spouse to take the kids out for the afternoon. Remember to return the favor when it’s his turn to hit the closets.

Getting rid of things that don’t belong in my closet is essential:

Remove items that have no business in your closet. Bank statements, insurance information, or tax documents don’t belong next to your shoes, scarves, and sweaters. Create a Life.doc to organize and store all of your important documents in one accessible place. File the remaining papers in an office cabinet or milk crate.

Doing things all at once can be overwhelming so work in sections:

Designate a place for everything in your closet. Shoes in one place, sweaters in another, and so on. This will help you keep order and save you time each morning. Make smart use of the space. Installing shelves will double your storage and help sweaters and t-shirts keep their shape better.

And make sure you are consistent:

Dedicate 15 minutes a week to straightening your closet after the “big clean”. Spending this small amount of time will ensure you never have to go through a major de-clutter again.

Found at HGTV.com.

Check back for more Bedroom FAQ’s as we continue to collect information to create the ultimate Bedroom Homeowner’s Guides.

Bedroom FAQ: How can I silence a squeaky bed?

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A loud bed does more than just lie there while you’re trying to sleep. It has a say about how much you move around during the night, and won’t shut up when all you want is some shut eye. So what can you do about it? I found a few tactics to help ensure a silent night’s rest:

Tighten the Joints
Sometimes, fixing a squeaky bed is as simple as tightening a few screws and bolts. Check out all the joints on your bed frame and take a wrench or screwdriver to any that are loose. You can also try adding washers to the screws (if they don’t already have them) to get a tighter fit. Plastic or rubber ones work particularly well.

Socks
Silence your bed frame with old socks. Just remove the mattress and line the middle bar of the frame with socks or other scrap material (e.g. old tee-shirt). This keeps the mattress from making direct contact with the frame, which should take care of the sound. Plus, it gives you something to do with all those mismatched socks.

Wax
Just like sticky dresser drawers, wax is great for squeaky beds, too. Once you figure out which joint the sound is coming from, rub a candle stick or a bar of paraffin or beeswax all over the contact surfaces of the joint. Depending on what type of bed frame you have, you may need to take the joint apart. You may need to apply several coats to get rid of the friction causing the sound.

Oil
For metal frames, oiling the joints or springs can get rid of squeaking. A few drops of vegetable oil or a spray of WD-40 will lubricate the joints and keep them from making noise.

Found at MacGyverisms.com

Check back for more Bedroom FAQ’s as we continue to collect information to create the ultimate Bedroom Homeowner’s Guides.

Bedroom Video: How do I make an under-bed storage drawer?

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As an avid bargain hunter and thrift store enthusiast, I often find myself with an excess of clothes. Being unwilling to donate or sell them, I inevitably end up with no where to store them. However, I do have a lot of room under my bed. Here’s a nifty storage hack you can DIY from a bookcase or media cabinet:

Found at DIY Network

While not everyone has an empty bookcase lying around, it might be a great idea to check out Craigslist or a second-hand store for a budget-friendly solution. Of course, you can always just buy pre-made storage boxes at a store but by taking on this DIY project, you can personalize it to your specific taste.

Bedroom FAQ: What color should I choose to paint my walls?

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Is your favorite color the “right” color for the walls of your bedroom? We spend one-third of our lives asleep, so it’s important to take every aspect of this space into consideration. A bright red bedroom will create a much different mood than, say, a lavender or a chartreuse one. What makes you feel most at home? Here are a few points to help guide your color choice:

Consider neutrals: One easy way to go with is a with a neutral color like white, beige or gray to give your room a clean canvas.

If you want color, narrow to cool or warm colors; you’ll cut your color choices in half. If you’re going to go with a bold color, I suggest going all the way. (In other words, if you want bold, go for that bold shade that’s dark and dramatic; don’t wimp out and pick a paint chip a few shades lighter.)

Remember that the sheen of a wall can have a huge effect on how a color is perceived in a room, so know the finishes available and how they might transform your room.

Finally, don’t paint an entire room before stepping back to see if you like a color: Use paint swatches to test small areas of the color in all different types of light. And be sure to seek out color suggestions by finding out the colors used in your favorite house tours.

Thanks, ApartmentTherapy!

Check back for more Bedroom FAQ’s as we continue to collect information to create the ultimate Bedroom Homeowner’s Guides.