Having a warm inviting home is one of life’s blessings. Having pets to share your home can be a blessing and a challenge at the same time. As a constant declutterer, I value my space and the animals that share that space by implementing a few daily habits that make life a bit easier.
- Keep a box for animal toys, blankets, extra food, and brushes in your utility or near the back door. If it’s in an open space, make sure it has a lid on it so pets cannot access it. This keeps everything in the one space and helps keep it organised and clean.
- A clear space is easier to clean so your animals can be in a fresh environment as well as yourself!
- If your pets are allowed in your sitting room, make sure you have decluttered it so that there are no boxes, clothes, DVDs, or old pictures lying around for dust to gather and your animal to leave his smell/hair/poop on it.
- People often get into the habit of seeing and buying lots of blankets for their pets as a treat. This can soon get out of control. Instead, keep the blankets to a minimum and put your energy into keeping these blankets clean by washing them regularly.
- If you find it difficult to keep organised, make out a list of jobs that need to be done each day that involves your animal, e.g. clean out the cat box and wash the dog’s blanket.
- If your pet has access to the rest of your house, make sure under the beds are clear and that all clothes are up off the floor as animals can be known to leave little gifts in these spaces that make your house smell and look bad.
- Did you know that people who live with pets can become immune to the smell that the animal creates? This is the reason you must clean up regularly even though you can’t smell anything. Your guests can and may not want to say anything!
- Take each place that your animal stays/sleeps in and look at the space. Take a photo and see if you can make the space less cluttered. Your pet will thank you too.
My name is Bronagh Twomey and I help people who are overwhelmed by their clutter. I help them make decisions about what items to keep/reuse/recycle and dump. Research is now proving common sense – that clutter is not good for your physical and mental health.
You can follow me on Facebook/Twitter and Clutter2Calm. I work in the Munster Area. Look out for my new website – Clutter2Calm.ie. – coming soon.
