It’s all about how to organize your home today. Do you feel like you’re living in a home full of clutter? It’s hard to enjoy spending time at home when you have a mess everywhere. You may have struggled to keep up with organizational tasks to keep your home in good condition. Sometimes it seems a little overwhelming, but if we take it a room at a time it becomes much easier to deal with.
While it’s hard to come home to a house full of clutter, the good news is that you can take steps to organize it and get it back to looking its best. It’s going to take some effort and time, but when you finish organizing, and your house looks a lot better, you’ll be glad that you took the proper steps to get the job done.
In case you missed this post, How to Declutter Your Home or this one, 15 Ways to Clean Your Home with Borax, or this one, How To Clean Your House And Stay Healthy
When my granddaughter lived with us while she attended school in Southern Utah, she and I watched the Netflix series, “Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. We watched it one whole day, and the next day until we watched the entire series. You have to watch it with an open mind because some of the things are not what you and I would do, but it does open your eyes to clutter and how to deal with it.
The movie series made me think about how much “stuff” we have and probably do not need. The more I watched it, the more I let go of “stuff,” and it felt great. I started to watch another type of clutter-free series, I think it was called “The Home Edit.”
That series was more about the owners and buying stuff and it quickly turned me off. Marie Kondo teaches you how to make do with what you have, but also to let go of stuff of all kinds.
How to Organize Your Home
Use Storage Shelving
Before getting started, consider purchasing storage shelves that you can place in different parts of the home. These shelving units can come in handy in the kitchen, basement, garage, and even the laundry room.
The shelf above is one of six that I have in my garage. I bought them from Costco. The ones on Costco.com are more heavy-duty than the ones in their stores. I opted for the ones with wheels in case I had to move them. These are the ones: TRINITY EcoStorage 6-Tier Wire Shelving Rack, 48″ x 18″ x 72″ NSF, Includes Wheels
You can use storage shelving to keep things organized, including the snacks you’ll have available for your children to grab and eat, the laundry products you’ll use when washing clothes, and any items you plan on stockpiling and holding onto in the basement. These units can help you save space and stay organized to eliminate a lot of the frustration in your life.
Not sure where to find these shelves? Not a problem! You can order them online. You may find several durable, high-quality options on Amazon, along with Wal-Mart and Target. If not, you can check your local Aldi supermarket. They will occasionally have these durable storage shelves that you can conveniently fit just about anywhere.
Get Rid of the Clutter
Focus on getting rid of the clutter. What can you get rid of that you don’t need? If you have items in your home that are taking up a lot of space and you have no use for them, it’s time to get rid of them. It doesn’t mean you need to toss valuable items in the trash. Instead, consider packing what you don’t need and donating it to homeless shelters and other less fortunate people. There are plenty of people who could make use of the items you’re not using in your home. It’s one of the simplest ways to get rid of clutter.
If you don’t plan on donating, you can have a garage sale/yard sale to start selling items you don’t need that are taking up too much space in your home. The goal is to get rid of things to eliminate the clutter and have plenty of room throughout your property.
These are my favorite containers, MDesigns Containers Each Measures 5.75″ x 16″ x 5″ high
The picture below is in my kitchen. I bought the sliding racks at Lowe’s and the white baskets from Walmart. I installed them myself years ago, now you know how organized I am. It’s just me. Everything has a place.
Go Through One Room at a Time
The idea of going through everything at once likely has you feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done. Try to make organizing the home a lot less complicated by taking care of one room at a time. Depending on how much time you have available to dedicate to get through everything, you can create a schedule to start working on one room per day or every other day.
Start with the room that you spend the most time in, such as your living room. You can remove the clutter, wipe things down, and use organizational bins to keep things in order. Once you’ve completed one room, move on to the next the following day, such as the kitchen or bathroom. You’ll quickly start to feel a sense of accomplishment each time you finish cleaning one room. It gives you the motivation needed to continue with the organizational duties that will get your home back to looking its best in no time.
Go Through Drawers and Cabinets Last
Focus on what you can see first, and then make your way over to the drawers and cabinets that need to get organized. You’ll feel more motivated to get to those things after taking the time to organize other areas that are much more noticeable. First, open the drawers and check for anything you’re no longer using that you can toss in the trash or donate. Next, remove the items you plan on keeping so that you can give these drawers and cabinets a good wipe down.
Finally, figure out how you’re going to organize the different things before you put them back in the correct spots. If you take the extra time to do this while cleaning and organizing, you’ll have an easier time finding what you need later.
The picture above is what’s left of the stuff I took out of two filing cabinets. I narrowed what I would save to this small amount. It’s so freeing to let go of old receipts of large purchases that are out of warranty now. It’s important to me to declutter and live with less. A lot less.
Please look for a good paper shredder to get rid of documents you no longer need to keep. It makes sense to shred those confidential documents rather than just throwing them in the trash. Mark has spent the past few days shredding old bank statements, tax returns, and files relating to work he completed years ago. We’ve filled our large garbage bin with bags full of shredded materials. Tomorrow the recycle truck comes by and we’ll say goodby to a bunch of sensitive information papers. Paper Shredder
Put Things Back When You Finish Using Them
Many people have the bad habit of setting something down when they’re done using it without putting it back in the spot where it belongs. Try to get yourself out of this bad habit if it’s something you often do at home. The problem with this is that when you put something out of place and continue to do that with other items, it’s easy to create more clutter around the home. You end up with a mess that you’ll need to fix all over again.
I realize that it may be a challenge to get other family members to follow your lead. Make a game out of it or offer some incentives when the job is done so that your kids, or even your spouse, catch your vision of how great things can be once your home is clutter-free.
So, the next time you use the flat iron, the box of tissues, or anything else for that matter, put it back where you got it from. Once you get in the habit of putting items back when you no longer need them, it’s something that sticks. If you have children at home, be sure to encourage them to do the same with their toys, books, and other items.
Final Word
Organizing the home might seem challenging when you have multiple rooms that could use some significant help. However, if you’re willing to work in one room at a time and put forth the effort to get the job done, you can end up with a home that looks clean and organized in no time.
First, focus on getting rid of the clutter before anything else. Once you’ve taken care of the chaos, it’s time to start organizing items in the right places while using organizer baskets and storage shelves to help you save space.
You’ll see the difference these steps can make in your home, leaving you with a mess-free property. If you have other ideas that have worked for you in your home, please let me know so we can pass them on to my other readers. May God Bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images: Clothes in a pile Depositphotos_99534954_s-2019, Drawers with Kitchenware Depositphotos_203784540_s-2019
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