Life hacks to making your University housing or home more organized

Life can be crazy and often times during those crazy periods of life, an organized home becomes messy and disorganized. Whether you are going to college and living in an apartment like, Weber State Housing, working 40 hours a week, or running kids to soccer, an organized home can benefit you. It can relive stress and save time. If you need to declutter and organize your home, here are some ‘life hacks’ to organization. They are both simple and quick…two things that easily motivate most people.

Office space Hacks  organizing 1

Having an organized work space can optimize efficiency whether you work from an apartment like Harrison apartments or commute to a job. OfficeMax did a report and discovered that work space clutter and mess damages productivity and motivation while at work. How do you fix too many piles of papers and sticky notes posted to your computer monitor? File! Yes, filing is essential to keeping a mess free work space. Filing office documents or school papers, allows one to locate documents quickly and more efficiently. Piles of unorganized papers create stress and loss of focus. Using clip boards, hanging wall files or baskets can be fun ways to organizing mail and other misc. papers.

     Laundry Room Tipsorganizing 2

Doing laundry can often be a daunting  task when there are piles of clothes  lying on the floor along with other  household items. An easy solution to  cleaning up a disorganized laundry  room…hooks or rods! Placing hooks or  rods on a wall or in a cabinet will allow  you to store things that would  otherwise be in the way such as mops,  brooms, and household cleaners. They  are fairly inexpensive and easy to  install.

Boxes, baskets, and Bins – The Three B’s

Human beings have an innate instinct to collect things. We accumulate lots of ‘things’ everywhere we go. Many times the ‘things’ we accumulate and collect end up creating unnecessary clutter in our homes or apartments. College students living in places like, weber housing could benefit from using something as simple as a basket or bin. One way of storing the amounts of stuff we collect is by using boxes or baskets. Boxes can be labeled and documented, making it easy to locate and access the many ‘things’ we acquire. Boxes are stackable. Great for keeping a space less cluttered.

Organization doesn’t need to be time consuming. In fact, organization saves us time. Why waste time sorting through piles of junk or spending hours looking for something that should have been easy to find. Decluttering your home is as easy as buying a few hooks, baskets, or filing folders. It takes only a few minutes to install a rod or hook. Once you’ve figured out a filing system, locating important documents becomes a simple task.

References:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/03/27/the-dangers-of-a-messy-desk/

Decorative Bark or Gravel? Decisions You Need to Make in Order to Have the Perfect Flower Garden This Season

The key to having a beautiful flower or vegetable garden isn’t just the flowers and seeds you choose to plant. A lot of how well your garden does depends on the soil or mulch you use. Sometimes deciding on a potting soil or bark mulch might seem daunting, but here are a few things to consider when making your decision. It really isn’t that complicated.

Using rock or bark mulch can be one of the greatest things you can do for your gardens this season. Mulch is essentially a mixture of material (usually wood or rubber) that is spread on top of natural soil to protect it against erosion or moisture.

Decorative bark

Using a decorative bark or rock mulch in your garden offers many benefits to the longevity of your garden, but most people use it as way to boost their curb appeal and add the ‘Wow’ factor to their landscaping. Using bark mulch will also help plants keep an even soil temperate, as well as help to keep them moist during hot summer days. Mulch often helps prevent weed growth and offers less maintenance for your garden.

Want a Low Maintenance ground cover?

If you decide you want a low maintenance garden, decorative gravel might be your best bet. Decorative gravel or rock mulch is used as ground cover and is fairly easy to install. It is a low maintenance option if you’re not the traditional ‘gardening’ type. Most forms of decorative rock are mined from river bottoms so the rocks are smooth and pleasing to the eye. Rock mulch is also great for conserving water, since it allows soil to retain its moisture, thus allowing you to water less frequently.

decorative gravel

Your Soil is Important!

Soil type is another thing to consider when deciding where to start your vegetable garden or plant your flowers. Before you begin planting it might be helpful to dig up a small area of your garden in order to see the kind of soil there. Generally dark soil is the best and usually contains more organic matter. Most garden plants will grow better in soils that have higher organic makeup. If the soil is brownish red or yellow,  that could signal drainage problems or that the soil isn’t receiving suitable air. In this case purchasing some potting/topsoil might be beneficial. You can go to any home improvement store or gardening center to purchase a potting soil that best fits your needs. You’ll want to make sure it provides the proper amount of drainage and extra nutrients that will help your plants flourish.

soil

 Considering your  ground cover options  will help your garden  succeed!

When you consider your options (decorative bark, gravel, or mulch), your garden will have a better chance at succeeding and becoming the perfect accent to your home. There are many options of groundcover to choose from depending on your level of gardening experience and preference. Just make sure you choose the option that suits you and your gardening needs. After that, the rest is simple and you’ll be ready for a great summer!

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsoil

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/misc/soilbasics.html