...and how to break them!

Routine and habit are at the core of life. Much as we might like to think of ourselves as free spirits, most of us live to a set rhythm, dictated by work, family and sleep. We’re often creatures of habit, too, but not all habits are healthy! At home, certain lazy practices can lead to a messy home and an unhealthy environment. From not taking off your shoes by the front door to over-indulging the dog, here’s a run-down of common offences and how to resolve them. Tweak your mess-forming behaviours and help tidy up your interior.

1. You wear shoes inside the house

Rather than taking off your shoes as soon as you come through the front door, you get distracted and end up circumnavigating your home in mucky footwear before finally removing them.

Solution: Dedicated storage will encourage you to remove your shoes as soon as you get home. Specially designed racks near the front door are ideal, but a simple basket into which you can toss your footwear is a start.

1. You let your pooch sit on the sofa

Letting your dog snuggle on the sofa inevitably leads to hair and sometimes mud transferring from hound to upholstery.

Solution: Create a lovely bed for your dog and encourage him or her to use it. If the message isn’t being received in your furry friend’s brain, then cover your sofa with a washable throw, which you can remove once it’s time for the humans to sit down.

1. You pile up used teabags

If repeated trips to the kettle for your morning brew or a visiting bevy of thirsty friends lead to a mountain of used teabags piled perilously on your worktop, act now!

Solution: Treat yourself to an attractive – and here’s the trick – lidded container that you can place where you make hot drinks. Toss the bags in there, then compost them later.

1. You dump clothes

From throwing your coat over the banisters to shedding your clothes on the bedroom floor, dumping clothes makes a big mess – fast.

Solution: Anything you take off should go on a peg, in a drawer or wardrobe, or in the laundry basket. Remove any tempting dumping grounds, too, such as a chair in the bedroom, which can easily become a spot for long-term, messy clothes storage.

1. You store cleaning products badly

Yes, that’s right, it’s possible to do such a thing. If you keep your cleaning products in a mix of locations, a jumbled state or buried at the back of the cupboard, you’re putting up boundaries between yourself and cracking on with cleaning.

Solution: Buy a bucket or caddy for all your cleaning kit and keep it where it’s easily accessible. Try storing a separate cleaning caddy in the bathroom, where it’s handy for a quick clean-up, and one in the usual under-the-sink location in the kitchen.

1. You don’t finish what you start

You cleaned part of the bathroom but couldn’t face tackling the shower enclosure… You hung up the laundry but now it’s sitting in a pile, waiting to be sorted… You vacuumed the living room floor but left the sofa alone…

Solution: Do less, and allow enough time for each task, so you can finish what you start. Not completing a job is almost as bad as never embarking on it in the first place. Half-finished tasks are also deadly for morale.

1. You can’t help collecting

If you’re one of those people with a passion for books or knick-knacks, you may have reached critical mass when it comes to collecting. This can create a messy home that’s over-burdened with ‘stuff’.

Solution: Have a clear-out. There are heaps of great advice on Houzz for doing a comprehensive declutter, but you can begin by sorting items into piles for charity, storage or the bin. Then aim to restrict your collecting habit, or schedule in another clear-out in six months’ time.

Can’t bear to part with your precious pieces? Order them instead. This vast shelving unit is stuffed with books but, thanks to some clever colour coordinating, it looks eminently organised rather than bursting at the seams. The same idea can work for ceramics and other collections.

1. You go to bed when you’re too tired

You know how it goes… You’ve nodded off in front of the 10 o’clock news again, and wake up only to blearily stumble up to bed. This creates mess. Any glasses, plates, papers or books you were using end up being left on the floor or coffee table. Throws are lazily cast aside in a heap, cushions tumbled onto the floor and crumbs scattered.

Solution: Go to bed 10 minutes earlier, before you’re super-tired. Before you go, clear the living room of all dirty dishes or glasses, quickly straighten up the sofa and turn off the lights. It’s never nice to be greeted by last night’s mess when you come downstairs in the morning.

1. You hoard condiments

It’s very easy to amass a huge quantity of spices, sauces, pickles, relishes and spreads, especially if they’re stored deep within a closed kitchen cupboard. This can gobble up storage space and quickly become a sticky, tumbling mess of jars and bottles.

Solution: Edit your condiments. Bin anything that’s past its use-by date or hasn’t been opened or eaten more than once (a sure sign that you don’t actually like it). Then routinely clear out your condiment cupboard to prevent build-up or, better yet, relocate all jars and bottles to a neat rack, where they can be seen, used and kept in order.

1. You’re a piler upper!

Piles of paperwork, magazines or books are not the enemy of a tidy home, but messy piles are.

Solution: Tidy and organise your piles – this home office is a perfect example of a relaxing kind of order at play. Stacking your books neatly can turn a jumble of reading matter into a beautiful library. If freestanding piles never stay put in your home, invest in a few simple pieces of storage. Shelves, baskets and box folders will impose order on any errant books, papers or admin.