Nothing is more soothing than soft neutral shades, selected worktops and clean tables in a kitchen or living room inspired by minimalism. But having a truly minimalist home is about much more than design choices—it’s also about keeping each room clutter-free.

Whether you’ve recently remodeled in this style or need little ways to stay on top of your cleaning, these are the items the designer (and self-confessed minimalist) cleans daily to keep her home a consistently soothing space.

Old and empty toiletries

According to home designer and minimalist Nina Lichtenstein, having a clutter-free home can do wonders for keeping your mind clear. This is especially true in spaces like the bathroom, which can turn into a spa-like retreat for relaxation when well maintained.

“A tidy home is not just about aesthetics – it’s about creating a space where you can breathe, think and feel relaxed,” she says. “Whether it’s an empty shampoo bottle or skin care container, dispose of toiletries as soon as they’re used to keep your space functional and visually appealing.”

Keeping the sides of the tub and shower shelves as small as possible will also make cleaning the bathroom easier and help you avoid the dreaded moment mid-shower when you realize that the product you need is really gone.

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Accounts and labels

Between grocery shopping and morning coffee, Lichtenstein warns that the bill pile can add up quickly.

And while it’s important to save them during return periods or to record expenses, she says addressing and cleaning up each piece of paper will help keep your desk empty and your countertop clean — and make it much easier to find the one you need if you do eventually you need to send something back.

“When you commit to preserving an item, receipts and labels no longer serve a purpose,” says Lichtenstein. “Shoving these into drawers or bags creates clutter that’s all too easy to ignore until it becomes overwhelming.”

Online Shopping Packaging

Whether it’s Amazon finds, capsule clothing or household goods, online ordering is an integral part of everyday life – even for minimalists. But even if your picks are especially thoughtful, Lichtenstein says the packaging they arrive in can be a major cause of the mess.

“Cardboard boxes, packing peanuts and bubble wrap add up quickly,” she says. “Break them down and recycle or dispose of them as soon as your orders arrive to free up space.”

To keep flattened boxes and packaging out of sight until recycling day, try keeping a lidded container in the coat closet near the front door or a multi-section trash can and recycling bin in your kitchen.

Junk mail

Digging through a huge pile of envelopes and advertisements to find those few important bills can be a nightmare, which is why Lichtenstein recommends sorting and throwing out unnecessary pieces of mail as soon as your daily delivery arrives.

“Paper clutter is one of the biggest culprits of chaos,” says Lichtenstein. “Tossing out junk mail and expired coupons daily keeps the counters clean and prevents piles of unnecessary paper from piling up.”

If you’re an avid reader of newspapers or magazines, she also advises recycling each weekly and monthly issue as soon as you’re done browsing.

Broken or damaged items

While we may have every intention of fixing a broken appliance, piece of kitchen wear, or item of clothing with a hole in it, Lichtenstein believes that if we don’t make the repair right away, it’s unlikely to be done in the future.

“That cracked mug or broken phone charger you’ve been meaning to fix? If it’s been sitting there for a while, it’s time to part ways,” she says. “These items just add guilt and visual clutter.”

Stale food and empty containers

Another area of ​​the home Lichtenstein always tells her clients to focus on keeping clean is the kitchen. Cooking can be a lot of fun when the ingredients are easy to find, but it can turn sour quickly if you come across something expired or unusable hiding in your fridge or pantry.

“Nothing detracts from the atmosphere of your kitchen faster than forgotten leftovers or wilted produce,” she says. “A quick daily scan of the fridge will keep the kitchen fresh and avoid unpleasant smells and surprises later.”

To simplify things even more, keep the week of meals ahead of you in mind as you cook and compost or throw away any perishable ingredients you won’t need for future meals as soon as you’re done with them.

Old cleaning products

Using the best cleaning products will keep your newly renovated home in tip-top shape – but a collection of nearly empty spray bottles, too many products, brushes and old rags could have the opposite effect.

There’s also one item Lichtenstein says you should stay on top of replacing.

“Sponges can harbor bacteria and lose their cleaning power over time,” she says. “Regular replacement (and quick disposal of the old) ensures a cleaner home and healthier kitchen.”

Small Miscellaneous Items

The final category of cleaning that Lichtenstein recommends staying on top of because minimalist is broad—but it’s also one of the most important and can affect every room in your home.

“Small things like paper clips, loose buttons and bent pins seem insignificant, but they can quickly overwhelm small spaces like drawers,” she says. “If you have no use for them, throw them away.”

These one-of-a-kind little items can extend beyond your junk drawer, so keep an eye on your closet, bathroom, and jewelry stash for any stray socks, loose earring pads, and random lids with no product to go with them.

From the time your child starts grasping things with his fingers until he is 4 or 5 years old, you need to be careful about choking hazards.

Children under the age of 4 are most likely to choke on something. This is partly because they tend to explore their world by putting things in their mouths.

This is also because they are still learning how to chew and swallow food. Babies at 6 or 7 months can bite off a piece of food with their new front teeth, but they won’t be able to chew properly until all their molars have come in and they’ve had a lot of practice with them – usually by the time they’re 4.

The biggest choking hazards for babies and toddlers

Babies and toddlers can choke on a surprising number of things, but you can’t eliminate every potential choking hazard or be on the lookout for them every minute of the day.

That’s why it’s important to baby-proof your home, as well as supervise your little one when he’s cruising around the house.

It helps to know what the biggest choking hazards are for this age group and to focus on limiting access to your child or closely supervising them when something unsafe might happen. These are the biggest choking hazards for children under 4:

• Hard foods that a child cannot chew or squish with the gums, including raw vegetables and hard candies
• Unsliced ​​round foods, such as grapes, cherries and grape tomatoes
• Foods cut into circular or “coin” shapes, such as hot dogs and carrots cut horizontally
• Foods that are sticky, such as peanut butter, candy, or gum and marshmallows
• Stringy foods, such as cheese sticks
• Dry, powdered foods and substances, including baby powder
• Button batteries and other small items such as coins, magnets and safety pins

Even innocuous household items you might not think about can pose a choking hazard. “My oldest took the rubber end off the door stop and put it in his mouth. I had to dig it out,” he says BabyCenter Community member cdh29821. “He scared me so much!”

11 tips to prevent choking

Pay attention. Supervise young children whenever they eat. (Kids usually can’t make noises to warn you that they’re choking.) This means you don’t let your child eat in the car while you’re driving or in the stroller while you’re pushing him. And make sure others don’t give your child something to choke on.

Be prepared for worst case scenarios

Learn how to deal with an emergency directly from an emergency physician in our CPR and Choking Course

Stay seated while eating and drinking. Do not allow children to eat while lying down, walking, playing or running.

Encourage slow eating. One way to do this is to make sure your child has a drink to hand during meals (like water or milk). Encourage sips between bites to make sure your child is chewing and swallowing, not stuffing his mouth with food that could cause choking.

Keep baby food soft. Puree or mash food so that it is soft enough for your baby to chew or chew, and be sure to cook vegetables such as carrots, broccoli and green beans until soft before cutting them into small pieces.

Cut the finger food into small pieces. When your child is ready for finger foods, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that you cut the food into pieces no larger than 1/2 inch. (See more guidelines for safe finger foods.)

At first, it can be difficult to tell if your baby is choking or just convulsing, and this can cause a lot of anxiety.

– Dr. Liz Donner, Pediatric Hospital

Spread a thin layer of nut butter. Drips from peanut butter and other nut butters are a choking hazard. Spread nut butter thinly on bread or crackers. Or dilute it with water or applesauce.

Choose your snacks wisely. Do not give children popcorn, gum, nuts, seeds, hard or sticky candies, or marshmallows until they are at least 4 years old. (The seeds may be too small to choke on, but they can get stuck in a child’s airway and cause an infection.)

Do not use tooth gels. Do not use teething remedies. It can numb the throat and interfere with the child’s ability to swallow.

Avoid small objects. Do not allow small children to play with buttons, coins, safety pins, magnets, batteries, balloons, small rocks, or anything with parts smaller than 1 1/4 inches around or 2 1/4 inches long. You can use a roll of toilet paper or purchase a “small object suffocation tester” to help you assess the safety of an object. If the object fits completely into the cylinder, there is a risk of suffocation.

Move mobile. Make sure your child can’t reach a hanging cell phone.

Keep baby powder away. Do not allow children to play with baby powder containers. The powder can shake off and clog your child’s throat.

What to do if your child is choking

First, determine whether your child is choking or simply convulsing. Constipation is normal for babies, especially when they first learn how to eat solid food, and is not dangerous.

“At first, it can be hard to tell if your baby is choking or just colic, and that can cause a lot of anxiety for parents,” says Liz Donner, MD, a pediatric hospitalist and member of BabyCenter’s medical advisory board. “Gaping is a normal human reflex designed to clear the throat to prevent choking. Learning to eat involves a lot of gagging, which can manifest as vomiting, near-vomiting, coughing, watery eyes, and tongue thrusting. However, choking occurs when a child no longer can breathe, cough, cry or speak. That’s when you know it’s time to intervene.”

Here’s how to tell the difference:

• A gagging child will gag, cough, and possibly throw up as their body tries to dislodge the object from their mouth. It is usually okay to let go of a child who is convulsing; interfering by patting them on the back or reaching into their mouths can actually make things worse.
• A choking child is often silent. They won’t be able to talk, cry or cough because their airways are blocked. They can also turn blue if they don’t get oxygen. A child who is choking needs emergency help.

If your child is choking, call 911 or have someone else call. For instructions on how to clear a child’s airway, see our infant first aid guide for choking and CPR, as well as our guide for toddlers and older children.

age 14+

Based on 1 parent review

October 19, 2019

age 14+

Pretty trivial plot and very silly acting.

I would not recommend this for a child of any age.

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What is the story?

In the basement of an Irish mansion, butler Simpson (David Warner) casts a spell and brings a banshee back to life in hopes that the banshee will help him find gold and make him rich. Instead, the banshee demands possession of a human body, and as the banshee demands it, the lady of the house, Laura (Veronica Hamel), descends the basement stairs. Simpson throws a banshee at Laura and learns too late that the banshee will not serve him, but the other way around. Meanwhile, two children from America — Ethel and Tommy — are sent to live with their future stepmother Laura while they await the arrival of their real estate developer father (Jack Scalia). When they realize that something is wrong and evil with Laura and Simpson, they start seeing a leper named Finn. It’s up to the kids to protect both Finn and their father from the clutches of Laura and the Simpsons, and they must prove to their father that Laura is, in fact, a banshee.

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Is it good?

THE LAST LEPRECHAUN is marred by cheesy audio special effects and superb acting, especially in the case of Veronica Hamel. She screams, moans and howls her way through her role as a greedy woman possessed by a banshee. Much of the film, in fact, seems overdone. Why does the butler eat cockroaches while in the barn? Why is there so much plot? Why does food fight? Everything seems to be done just to provide shock value to keep the audience engaged through a subpar story.

Speaking of which: while the story should be easy to follow, it often isn’t. The butler brings the banshee back to life in the form of his boss, and she wants to sell the land to energy interests while brainwashing her future husband while trying to scare her future husband’s children, while the gob is gallivanting his eye and has gold hidden somewhere, and the kids have to convince their father to his fiancee is actually a banshee. Something like that. It’s a lot to take in, with no real payoff, and everything about the acting and special effects makes it difficult – if not impossible – to care one way or another how it will all, predictably enough, end.

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Talk to your kids about…

• Families can discuss leprechaun movies. How is this similar and different from other films involving leprechauns?

• How did the film present Irish culture and folklore? Was this an accurate representation? Did you learn anything about Irish culture?

• Did you find the story confusing? How could the story have been told in a clearer way?

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Did we miss something about diversity?

Research shows a link between children’s healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in the media. That’s why we’ve added a new “Different Representations” section to our reviews that will be published on an ongoing basis. You can help us help children
proposing a diversity update.