How to Organize Your Home, One Messy Room at a Time

Your home should be your serene sanctuary. It should be a place to unwind and relax after a long day. However, if you’re one of the one in four Americans who have a clutter problem, you may feel claustrophobic or uneasy in your house, according to the home organization and storage blog SpareFoot. 

If you want to clear away the clutter and organize your home once and for all, you should go room by room. Some tips on getting your whole home organized include:

• Minding the 3 R’s
• Take Inventory
• Sort Your Stuff
• Containerize Your Items and Label Them
• Set a Routine

If you’re ready to take home organization to the next level, you can effortlessly make your way from room to room by applying these simple tips.

While you’re in the process of organizing your home, you should use these three guiding principles for every room:

• Reduce what you own. It’s the most direct route to effective home organization.
• Be resourceful. When you own fewer items, you’ll have to come up with creative ways to use what you already have.
• Be resilient. If you don’t have something that you need, don’t automatically go out and buy it.

Go through every room in your house and make a list of all of the essentials you already own. For example:

• Kitchen: Open up all of your drawers, the pantry, fridge, and freezer and take stock of food, ingredients, pots, pans, dishes, and silverware.
• Bedroom: Make a list of all of your clothing for every season, as well as shoes, jewelry, accessories, and outerwear.
• Garage: Take an inventory of your much-needed tools, gardening supplies, and other essentials.

Be as practical as possible when making your list. The goal here is to only write down the items you need, not all of the things you want. Knowing what you already own will help you from going out and buying things that you don’t need.

After you make a list of all of the essentials you have, it’s time to cut the clutter. Find bags and boxes and label them as “Donation” or “Toss.”

Afterward, go through every room in your home and gather all of the items that aren’t on your list of essentials. Sort the unneeded/unwanted items into the Donation or Toss bags and boxes.

Purging items that you don’t want or need will allow for more room in your home, and a lot less clutter.

After you have de-cluttered each room in your home, it’s time to get organized! Using your essential items inventory list as a guide, purchase containers (or use ones you already have) to sort your possessions. Many folks make the error of buying the containers first before knowing what and how many items they are going to end up storing.

Opt for clear containers so you can easily see the contents inside. Group like items together for each room. For example, in your home office, designate a container for pens and another one for mailing supplies.

Don’t forget to label each container so you know what’s inside!

It’s pointless to spend time organizing your whole home if you’re not going to maintain it. Make it a routine to set aside some time every week to keep your home tidy. Take 10 minutes to go through each room and ensure all of your items are in their proper containers.

This is especially important when it comes to your garage, basement, and custom closets. Keeping your custom closets organized will help you easily find the items you are looking for right away, and help keep you from buying items you already own. To learn about getting your custom closets in order, Check out Six Effortless Steps to Organizing Your Custom Closets by Innovative Home Storage.

If you need more help getting your home in order, here are some easy organizing tips for each room in your house:

• Kitchen: Designate specific drawers or shelves for specific items. For example, in your pantry, designate an eye-level shelf for the items that you use every day. Put your container of cleaning products in an out-of-reach location from kids and pets and also designate drawers for sundry items, placemats, cookbooks, and more.
  
• Bathroom: While purging your home, pay special attention to your bathrooms. Get rid of outdated beauty, bath, and medical products. If you have a big family, give each family member their own drawer to store their personal items in. 
  
• Bedroom: Don’t just stuff your clothing into your drawers. Fold and hang them neatly. Keep shoes in a designated corner of your closet.
  
• Family Room: Be sure to keep high-traffic areas of your household free of clutter. You can do this by creating “no store zones” where your family cannot stash their school items, coats, and other items that enter and leave the house daily. Designate a basket for every family member to keep their go-to items.

A tidy, organized home is a welcoming one. Make your household an organized oasis by taking stock of your essential items, purging unneeded items, containerizing items and labeling them, and routinely organizing your home.

Sources

• https://www.innovativehomestorage.com/six-effortless-step-to-organizing-custom-closets
• https://www.sparefoot.com/self-storage/blog/7022-survey-shows-one-fourth-of-americans-have-a-clutter-problem/
• https://www.southbaycustomclosets.com/custom-closet-designer-questions