With a career and a family to keep track of, it’s easy for the clutter to get out of control. After a while, the job seems so big that you don’t know where to start. It seems overwhelming. But, any home expert will tell you to take it one room at a time. Eventually, everything will be in the right place. There’s no need to get it all done in a day!
The start of a new year offers a great opportunity to get organized. Here are some of the best affordable homes organization tips that you can try out.
- Don’t let junk past the front door
The table by the door usually turns into a junk catch-all. You get your mail and you throw it on the table. Instead, make it a point to keep this area organized. Remind yourself as you walk through the door that the Bloomingdales catalogue goes straight in the recycling. This area should have special spots for everything that belongs there. Keys on the key-holder, mail separated by bills and personal in an organizer. If it doesn’t have a home, it doesn’t belong there.
- Purge Before You Buy
When you start organizing your home, you might be tempted to go out and buy household organization accessories. But, the last thing you need right now is more stuff! Before you do that, go through the house and purge what you don’t need. You might find you don’t really need a bigger shoe organizer. It wasn’t until you sorted through the mess that you realized you could throw out a few pairs.
- Maximize Cabinet and Drawer Spaces
When you’re trying to get everything in a drawer, you end up stuffing things on top of each other. Instead, have cabinets and drawers sectioned off so you can see everything. Buy plastic sectionals for drawers. Every piece in the drawer should get its own spot. Plastic bags go in one section, paper clips in another. Stacking shelves can go in your cabinets. That way you don’t have to stack your soup bowls and your dessert bowls all on top of each other. You can maximize the vertical space.
- Store Things According to Importance
This rule goes for the kitchen, the closet, or any other part of the house. Keep the items you use most often at eye level. That way when you go to look for it, it pops right out at you. Store items that you use less below eye level. Items you hardly use but still need go above eye level. That way you won’t constantly be reaching for the stepping stool.
- Don’t Forget Your Bathroom
The bathroom is a space that’s often overlooked when it comes to organizing. You can use drawer and medicine cabinet organizers to keep everything in check. But, don’t forget that lots of bathroom products have expiration dates. Most makeup and skin creams expire in about a year. Medications have a short shelf life too. Make a bathroom purge a regular habit. We at Parkvuehomes design luxury bathrooms with plenty of in built drawer space in order to keep them looking this streamlined.
- Keep a Wastebasket in Every Room
This might seem like its own kind of clutter but you’re actually training yourself and your family to toss out the trash before they leave a room. It should become as natural as turning off the lights. It can also serve as a reminder to toss knick-knacks right when you realize you don’t need them. Sure, the main trash-bin might only be a few rooms away, but having a wastebasket right there will encourage you to get rid of it now.
- Try the “Closet Trick”
Trying to organize your bedroom closet can turn into an hours-long fashion show. You promise yourself that you’ll wear that leopard print jumpsuit someday!
But, to really get organized, you have to be ruthless. To keep your closet from overflowing, try the “Closet Trick.”
First, take any clothes that aren’t seasonally appropriate and put them in storage bins. Next, turn all the hangers so they’re facing towards you. Whenever you wear an item, put it back in the closet with the hanger facing away. After six months, take whatever you didn’t wear and donate it.
- Put Your Organization on Display
One way to keep home organization more fun is to make it look like a design choice.
For the kitchen, you could put up pretty pegboards to hang pots, pans, and utensils. That gives you a great reason to put each piece back where it belongs every time. You can put dry goods in glass or vacuum sealed containers. It keeps your food fresh, and you no longer have to look at messy bags and boxes.
Remember, if you do a little organization each day, your home will never turn into a full-blown disaster. But if it does (life happens!), now you know how to fix it.
