When you are living in an apartment, storage space can be hard to come by. One complaint that we hear from our clients is, “My apartment gets cluttered really fast. I just don’t have enough space for all of my things!” We understand that finding the space for all of your things, your partner’s items, and your children’s belongings can mean getting creative with storage. We want to help you create a serene and tidy living space.

Here are a few tips that we found really do work in an apartment, to keep things clean and organized.

IN THE MAIN LIVING AREA: The living area may be the first thing you see when you walk into the apartment, so keeping it clean is important, so the space doesn’t feel like it’s closing in on you.

• Create Designated Spaces for Your Things. Having a few baskets for storage will help to keep similar items together, and baskets can also look nice in the room.
• Keep the space dusted. As you know, dust collects on any flat surface, and it adds up quickly. Dusting weekly (or every other week) will help the area to look neat and maintained.
• Select a few accessories for the sofa and chairs. It’s a nice touch to have a throw blanket and a few throw pillows to add color to the furniture, but having too many can create a cluttered space. Having too many accessories can overwhelm a small room. Choose your favorites for display and store the rest for when you need it.
• Vacuum Weekly. Crumbs accumulate in the living areas. Dust also gets embedded in the fibers of your rugs and sofa cushions. We suggest you vacuum it weekly to maintain the look of the upholstery and the carpet or rugs.

IN THE KITCHEN: The kitchen needs to be cleaned daily to be able to maintain that space.

• Keeping the dishes cleaned and put away is the biggest thing you can do to keep your kitchen clean.
• Cleaning the countertops should be done daily (or at least every other day) to be sure that crumbs, food odors, and germs don’t collect on the surface.
• Sweeping the kitchen should be done every evening if you have pets. Most people sweep only if they see some crumbs, but in truth, crumbs seem to come out of nowhere and collect under by the kitchen cabinets and the trash can.
• Clean out the refrigerator every week and throw out old to-go containers that were never eaten, as well as old leftovers. Doing this weekly will help you stay on top of it and not let the refrigerator get out of hand.

IN THE BATHROOMS: The bathroom should be cleaned once a week to keep the sinks and toilets cleaned and to keep grime from building up.

• Clean the shower door or glass to maintain the shine and remove soap scum buildup.
• Scrub the shower tiles to get the soap scum off and make it shiny, again. Get an automatic scrubber to make this an easer task.
• Clean the toilet seat, bowl and base with a throw-away cloth.
• Wipe off the entire bathroom counter and sanitize it around and behind the sinks. This is where germs hide. Get the dirty water and soap build-up from around the edge.

IN THE BEDROOMS: The bedroom can sometimes be the “catch-all, hide-all space”. Sometimes people toss things in the closet to deal with it later, and this can really get out of hand after a few weeks.

• Washing the sheets and blankets will make your room look better sleep better and smell better. We suggest people change their sheets once per week for a cleaner space and better sleep.
• Making the Bed works wonders to make the room look cleaner, instantly. If you take the time to make the bed, your entire room looks better.
• Dust the furniture and remove any old cups, glasses, food wrappers, etc. Picking up the clutter will also make your space look so much better.
• Clean the glass in picture frames and mirrors. These items will reflect more light once they are dusted and shined, and it makes the whole room look brighter!
• Vacuum Weekly. Dust gets into the carpet and rugs, and just vacuuming it will look and smell better. It revives the carpet and rugs.
• Reclaim your space by separating things into three categories: Keep, donate, and sell. Consider getting 3 boxes and labeling them, and then sorting your shoes and clothing into these boxes as you organize.
• Seasonal Separation may need to be the next step. If you have a lot of clothes that won’t fit into your closet, then consider separating them into summer and winter clothes. You can store what you won’t need until the season arrives.

If you need help maintaining your apartment, call Plan B Cleaning! We would love to help you maintain your serene and tidy living space!