Leaving a paper trail

A lot of us get overwhelmed with amount of paper we collect in our homes.

Paper that we receive on daily basis, like credit card receipts, mail, magazines ... can easily be organized in just few minutes at a time. Designate one spot in your home where you drop these papers off during the week as you rush through your daily routine. At the end of the week - give yourself 5 to 10 minutes to go through the pile you collected over a week. Sort out your pile by putting together like items, like bills, credit card receipts etc. You will find that this weekly exercise will keep your home clean of paper trail, and your bills, statements and mail more organized. The more frequently you do your quick run through your papers, the quicker it will be to sort it out.

Double duty furniture pieces

Lots of furniture pieces these days can easily be used for more than one function. Many coffee tables come with built in shelves or drawers for extra storage, beds are high enough to allow storage under them etc.

As seen in this picture, a trunk can be placed in a sun room and used as a bench, while at the same time - providing tons of storage space to keep plenty of things that you don't need lying around your home at all times. By storing your items in the trunk, they become conveniently accessible and you can retrieve them easily at any time. It's a great solution for storing toys in the kids bedroom, or linens in the living room ...