Which room to start cleaning first: practical advice

If you're always putting off throwing out junk and criticizing yourself for it, consider that you're not alone. Many people are unable to declutter their space properly. And that's because they simply don't know which way to approach cleaning.

Meanwhile, household experts say that success largely depends on where you start. House Digest interviewed such experts and found out that the best way to approach the task is to start with the room where you start and end your day, i.e. the bathroom.

Usually, a lot of unnecessary things accumulate here – empty bottles and tubes, expired products, old toothbrushes and washcloths, etc. At the same time, the bathroom is usually quite compact, so it's not as tedious to clean up as in larger rooms. Besides, many bathroom items are also inexpensive, so it's easy to redesign the entire bathroom with textiles and accessories.

Start cleaning your bathroom by taking out everything you can. This means emptying all the cabinets and drawers, taking towels off the hangers, and even removing the rug. Next, sort these things into categories. For example, you can sort them by frequency of use or by type of item.

Next, check everything for unnecessary duplicates, as well as things that you rarely use or simply don't like. All those extra towels or unnecessary but still usable cosmetics can be given away or donated to charity. Believe me, someone will be happy with such a gift.

Check everything you leave behind for its expiration date. If it has expired, dispose of it immediately. For cosmetics and household chemicals where it is difficult for you to determine the expiration date, use the mark on the label with the letter M. It looks like an open lid, as well as a letter and a number. This means that the product can be used for a certain number of months after opening. If you see M6, it means that the product should be thrown away six months after the first use. M12, respectively, indicates a year.

Some unnecessary items can be reused. For example, turn old towels into rags, and store some small items in empty jars. But you still need to get rid of the truly unnecessary.

Finally, it's time to find a place for each category of items. Place everything you use often in the most accessible places, such as on shelves at eye level. Consider removing items that you rarely use from the bathroom altogether. Move spare towels to the closet and the first aid kit to the pantry.

Get creative and add storage solutions to free up space on your bathroom countertop and help yourself stay organized longer. For example, get shelf organizers, drawer dividers, extra hooks, and baskets. And finally, if you can't find a place for a certain thing, think again about whether you need it.

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