Being neat and organized is not easy for everyone, but it should be.
I'm a pretty neat person but I definitely have some ex-roommates that would argue with that self-assessment. Maybe I should redefine it, I'm a clean person, neatness is sometimes a struggle.
I tend to have a lot of clutter lying around as I'm usually working on somewhere between 3 and 600 projects all at once. So, I've discovered that I need to have quick and easy solutions for my various projects. I do believe in the "everything has it's place" way of organizing but I have serious issues with all those neat-nics that organize everything into cute little matching boxes that then get stacked perfectly together in a specific order and then are placed inside a closet. Seriously? Are people expected to spend more time organizing their storage solutions than they do picking up their messes? I've found that when this much efforts is involved the job never gets done.
To keep your house clutter free or to allow for quick pick-ups, make your organization plan simple. Use open containers to store things. Don't stack things on top of each other, use shelves so you can easily pull out and push in containers. Don't worry about fussy little storage zones inside the container. Select attractive containers that serve double duty as seating options or coffee tables. Keep items stored in plain sight in attractive baskets or other tidy containers.
These tricks work for me and I'mready for guests in only about 10-15 minutes.
