"Every January, when a new year rolls around, one goal is always at the top of our lists: to commit to getting more organized. It can seem like an impossible feat and a daunting task, but it’s one that’s oh-so-worth-it. When you’re more organized, your day-to-day life gets easier, the days go smoother, and it can help to make us feel more put-together — and who doesn’t want that?
If you feel like you've missed the boat on ordering anything custom, allow us to introduce you to CVS Photo. With price points that are super affordable paired with their same-day pickup option, they’re a holiday procrastinator’s best friend.
With being more organized comes being cleaner overall — we’re way more likely to take a vacuum to the floor when we can actually, you know, see the floor.
This year, we’re holding ourselves accountable by signing up for Grove Collaborative, a super simple delivery service that drops all-natural cleaning tools and supplies right on your front step. Grove delivers you the safe, effective cleaning products that you love, right to your door, on your schedule.
Grove’s huge supply of cleaning products and tools features many brands that you know and love (but at a fraction of the price you’ll see at big box stores!), as well as their own collection of innovative products you can’t find anywhere else (Think: all-purpose cleaning concentrate that you mix with water to provide less waste). Signing up for Grove doesn’t mean you’re sacrificing loyalty to brands you already love (like Seventh Generation or Mrs. Meyer’s) — it simply means you’re getting those same products delivered on your own terms.
Choose to get these products delivered monthly (or whenever suits you and your needs), and choose exactly what you get every month. Notice you’re almost out of countertop spray? When you get a notification that your Grove box is about to ship, add it! With Grove, our usual excuses go out the window — you’ll never find yourself out of laundry detergent or paper towels again (been there!).
The best part? All of the products Grove provides are all-natural, so we’re checking our environmentally-friendly resolution off of our list by using plant-based, organic cleaning products (that are better for us and our families too!).
Want to try Grove Collaborative? Click here to get your free cleaning concentrates gift set with any purchase of $20 or more, along with free shipping and VIP trial!
Plus, with any new customer’s purchase of $39 or more, you’ll receive a free Grove Stonewear Tray!
In an attempt to actually stick to a resolution, here are some of the tricks we’re using this year to stay clean and organized.
1. Stick to a cleaning routine
One of the easiest ways to stay clean is to hold yourself accountable to a cleaning routine. If you stick to 30 minutes a couple of times a week, or 10 minutes every day, it can help you to stay continuously clean, rather than needing to do a binge once a month.
Grove helps us stick to our cleaning routine by ensuring we always have all of the supplies we need to keep up with our routine. As we run out of products we use, we make sure to add it to our next Grove box.
Some daily products to get you started? Environmentally-friendly paper towels, an effective surface spray, and all-natural cleaning gloves.
2. Wipe down countertops every night
If you’re in the habit of doing one weekly clean, wiping off your countertops (with an all-natural cleaning kit, to boot) every night can help to maintain cleanliness every week. When you clean them nightly, it forces you to put away any clutter that’s been set on top of them throughout the day, and helps to prevent more clutter in the long run.
3. Clean as you cook
Everyone knows the worst part of cooking a big meal is the sink full of dishes you’re left with after. It’s always tempting to leave it to deal with tomorrow, go enjoy your home-cooked meal, and call it a night. An easy solution to this is cleaning as you cook — when something is mixing or boiling, clean the dishes you’ve used so far. Then when you’re done making your masterpiece, the only thing you have left to clean is the dish your food was cooking in.
4. When you deep clean, tackle one room at a time
No matter how clean we keep our homes during the week, a good deep clean every once in a while is totally necessary. When you do, go through your house one room at a time. This way, you stay focused and can get some spaces completely spotless.
5. Keep a to-do list
Even if we do a quick 10-minute clean every night, we can never have every area of our homes spotless all of the time. When you notice something that you want to do soon, write it down on an ongoing to-do list. Then when you have time, you can choose to prioritize the tasks as you feel they’re needed.
One of our favorite tricks is also to always add toilet paper and paper towels to our Grove boxes, so we don’t have to be on the last roll to realize we need an emergency trip to the store.
6. Make your bed as soon as you get out of bed
This is an age-old trick for a reason. Making your bed in the morning both kick starts your productivity, and also makes it more likely that you’ll keep the rest of your bedroom organized throughout the day.
7. Clean out your closet as you go
Doing a full-on purge of your closet can be super intimidating. Packing up loads of your clothes to toss can leave you feeling like you have nothing to wear — and it gets even harder when you add in the sentiment of certain clothing items. Instead, try cleaning out your closet gradually, over time. If you pick up a sock that has a hole in it, immediately toss it. If you put on a T-shirt that no longer fits you or has a stain on it, get rid of it immediately instead of folding it and putting it back in your closet. Over time, you’ll notice that your closet is down to items that you actually wear.
8. Resist the urge to throw clothes you aren’t wearing into a pile
We all know the game: our rooms are spotless until we go to get dressed in the morning, try on 17 different shirts, and throw them on our bed or floor after we nix them. Getting into the habit of immediately re-hanging or folding clothes we’ve decided not to wear can help keep our bedrooms clean all week long.
9. Keep cleaning supplies where you use them
We have cleaning supplies designated for all different areas of our homes — the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room. Instead of keeping them all in one closet or cabinet, keep them in the room in which you use them. Then, when you notice something needs attention, you can clean it quickly with easy access to your cleaning supplies.
The first thing we do when we get our Grove boxes delivered? Put each product straight into the room we’ll use them in using their handy caddy.
10. Put a garbage can in every room
You know when you find something that you just don’t need anymore, but end up shoving it back in a drawer to deal with later? Having a garbage can in every room can help prevent that. When you can turn around and toss something instead of needing to walk into another room, it can make it mentally easier to de-clutter.
Obsessed? Click here to get your free cleaning concentrates gift set with any purchase of $20 or more, along with free shipping and VIP trial!
SHOP OUR FAVORITE PRODUCTS
This post was in partnership with Grove Collaborative, but all of the opinions within are those of The Everygirl editorial board.