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shawierich-blog · 6 years ago

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New Year, New Home: How To Declutter And Organize All Year

This is your year. You're going to start fresh and figure out how to declutter and organize your home (and keep it organized) once and for all. You should be able to get that figured out in a month or so, right?

Not necessarily. Once the calendar flips, you'll find yourself rudely reminded of your responsibilities at work, the tangle of schedules for the kids and a longing for new personal adventures (like finally committing to that morning yoga class). Suddenly, your infallible home organization system seems hopelessly flawed.

Don't get stressed out! Here's a plan you can actually stick to. We created a month-by-month checklist culled from the smartest home organization experts we could find to help you get your act together at the leisurely pace of a full calendar year.

Declutter and Organize Your Home, One Month at a Time

Month One: Tackle your laundry room.

Let's go right to one of the trouble spots as we decide on the best ways to declutter and organize your home. Your laundry room is one of the hardest-working spaces in your home. Since it sees a lot of action, start your organization project by removing everything but the washer and dryer. Give all surfaces and baseboards a nice cleaning and then sweep or vacuum the floor. Then:

Add a drying bar: Rather than hanging your wet delicates from random spots in your house (we've all been guilty of using the shower, doors and chairs), install a drying bar right in the room. Mount a shower rod, bath towel holder or extension rod underneath a shelf, giving you a great spot for a row of hangers.

Contain your supplies: “Instead of having bottles of detergent all over the top of your machine or all over the floor, use a rolling cart,” Bonnie Dewkett from The Joyful Organizer advises. “It slides in between your washer and dryer or along side the unit. It is plastic and easy to clean when detergent spills.”

Organize your clothes: Laundry bins full of dirty clothes can easily crowd your floor. Use a hamper, baskets or bins to pre-sort dirty clothes (one for whites, lights and darks). When it's full, you'll know to do the wash.

“Have a spot for miscellaneous items,” Bonnie adds. “Misfit socks, items you find in pockets, and small toys that have fallen into the laundry basket can all clutter up your laundry room. Purchase a bin or jar and put all of these random items in there. Let your family members know where to look to find their stuff. Every few months, clean it out.”

Month Two: Give your mudroom a makeover.

Your mudroom is the entry to your home, which means it could be the first thing people see when they come over. Whether you have a spacious room or a cramped doorway, chances are this space could use a little love.

“Only things that you truly need as you're coming or going and that you use on a daily basis should be kept in the area,” Steph from Modern Parents Messy Kids explains. “A safe rule is: if it can possibly go somewhere else, it should.”

Include seating: A small bench is a smart addition to any entryway, since it offers a place for people to safely put on or take off their shoes. And added bonus? You can use the space underneath to store shoes.

Install hooks: Hooks work great for entryways that lack a closet space. Even a short rack can hold your guest's coats, purses and other accessories.

Allocate space: Purchase a basket for each family member, and allow them to use it for their shoes, gloves and scarves or small sports items.

Month Three: Simplify your bedroom.

“In order to get the most restful sleep, the bedroom should be a serene, uncluttered environment,” Kirsten Fisher from Imagine Home Organization says.

You can't figure out how to declutter and organize your home if you can't get a decent night's sleep! To simplify your bedroom, Kirsten suggests:

Being consistent: Give your room a unified look by purchasing a complete bedding set that includes a bedframe, skirt and shams. Commit to taking three minutes each morning to make your bed.

Maximizing storage: Use bedside tables with drawers and add behind-the-door shelves. If you find you need extra storage, place a trunk or long ottoman at the end of the bed.

Keeping surfaces clear: Avoid messy floors and table tops by establishing a “home” for every item in your bedroom. Nothing should be left lying around!

Staying clean: Place your clothes hamper in an easily accessible location, this way dirty items can go directly from your body to the laundry without stopping on the floor or bed.

Month Four: Rearrange your kitchen pantry.

Along with the laundry room, the kitchen probably gets the most work out of any room in your house- - which is why organizing it can be so hard. While you probably clean out your fridge and scrub your counters regularly, you may be guilty of avoiding your pantry.

To declutter and organize your pantry, start by removing everything and giving it a good scrubbing. Then, take a look at everything you have stored inside, and dispose of anything that is expired or will never be used (did you need that much cream of mushroom soup?).

Limit your pantry to the necessities. Donate anything you won't use to a food bank, and move doubles to other cabinets or even the basement.

For the remaining items, Abby from Just a Girl and Her Blog recommends swapping out bulky packaging for containers or bins that can sit on top of one another. She also suggests using cabinet risers to hold things like spices and soups, which give height to items in the back and make them easier to locate.

Month Five: Declutter and organize your shed.

“In order to maximize storage in your shed, you need to provide a storage system,” Kirsten says. “A large empty cube is the least efficient method of storage, so you need to create structure.”

Remove everything from your shed. Eliminate items you no longer use or aren't in the best condition. Organize everything into categories, such as sports gear, gardening equipment, tools and decorations.

“The best solutions utilize the full height of the wall and overhead space,” Kirsten adds. “Organization says minimizing the number of things you have to have on the floor. Utility shelving is excellent and one of the best systems for flexible wall storage for tools is ELFA sold by The Container Store.”

Month Six: Condense your entertainment.

Although the world seems to be becoming increasingly digital, many of us still hold on to our beloved hard copies of DVDs, Blu-Ray Discs and even VHS tapes (nostalgia, right?). Instead of letting those bulky plastic cases take over your living room, invest in a multimedia shelving system.

Before deciding on the size of your unit, take a look at your inventory and omit anything you don't need. When is the last time your teenage children watched those cartoons? Figure out what your family still uses, and donate or store the rest.

Once you've established your new library, create a system that determines how you organize your media on your shelves. You can get as specific as you want (by album title, artist name or genre). If you're wondering how to organize your home and are really short on space (and don't mind ditching the cases), opt for a simplified setup.

“When storing movies, DVDs and CDs, it's really helpful to remove the DVDs and CDs from their packaging and store your movies and music in a DVD binder instead,” Lauren Kim from momhomeguide.com says. “A DVD binder has several sheets of plastic sleeves that can store at least 200 DVDs and CDs. I moved my family's movies into a DVD binder, and now instead of storing our movies in a big ottoman, we can store our movies in a slim binder that fits easily into our TV entertainment unit.”

Month Seven: Revitalize your bathroom cabinet.

Although it's commonly referred to as a medicine cabinet, you're better off using this space for your beauty products.

“Consider moving drugs to a different location, such as a high kitchen shelf,” Alice Daniel from Better Homes and Gardens suggests. “High humidity and heat can cause some medicines to lose their potency. Wherever you store your medicines, make sure they are out of reach of children.”

Only the most-used items should be stored in your bathroom cabinet. If you don't use it daily, put it in the closet or under your sink. To organize your remaining items:

Use jars: Clear jars make it easy to quickly find whatever you are searching for. Use them to hold your cotton balls, Q-tips, band-aids and small lotions or ointments.

Add trays: Thin desk trays double as the perfect organizer for small items, like nail polish, tweezers and other tools.

Place by popularity: To avoid adding time to your already hectic morning, organize your supplies based on how often you use them. Place most-used product at eye level, and less popular ones on higher shelves.

Month Eight: Focus on your furry friends.

You may not be able to train your four-legged friends how to declutter and organize your home, but you change a few things to make it easier to keep them safe and organized.

“Just like with children, it's important to weed out your pet's playthings from time to time,” Sarah Soboleski from Classically Organized advises. “Your pet most likely has a favorite chew toy and preferred stuffed animal, so work on letting the rest go. And, of course, you should have one central location to keep their playthings. A bin or basket or even a diaper caddy could work well to corral their items.”

It's also a smart idea to buy an inexpensive rubber mat to put under your pet's food and water bowls. This will keep it from sliding around, protecting the floor from scratches and spills.

Just like you, your pets have a unique list of special needs. Type up relevant care instructions, like medicines, allergies, contact information and directions to the nearest animal hospital, to put with your family's records. This way, whoever is in charge of your companion will know what to do if anything was to happen.

Month Nine: Purge your playroom.

“A thing that's important in any organizing endeavor,” Stacy Erickson, a child development specialist and professional organizing blogger for Home Key Organization, says, “is to have the least amount of stuff possible. Less stuff equals less to clean/put away which equals more time.”

Kids are constantly getting new toys and games. Before jumping right into your organization project, take the time to donate your child's unused toys.

“Reducing the amount of toys in your space not only makes things less overwhelming for you, but it can also help your child focus better and become more engaged in independent play,” Stacy explains. “Try putting half of the toys that are out right now away in a safe storage spot. Carefully observe your kids for a couple of days after that and see what happens.”

Organize toys based on similarity, and store them in clear bins for easy visibility.

Abby recommends labeling everything - this will help you or your child find things quickly.

Use wall storage and stackable bins to keep your floors clear of clutter.

Following this system will help encourage them to be active themselves in decluttering, regardless of their age.

Month 10: Establish a recycling system.

Americans generate about 254 million tons of trash. That's a lot of garbage! As you figure out how to organize your home, minimize your family's ecological footprint by creating a recycling center right in your own home.

The best way to stay consistent with your recycling is by sticking to one place. Determine an area in your home that can hold the extra storage (the garage, laundry room and kitchen are popular areas), and clear it of any existing clutter.

Then, purchase matching containers. Every area recycles differently, but it's safe to say you'll need at least three options: one for metal, one for plastic and one for paper. Depending on space, you can hang bags from your wall, stack bins on top of each other or place cans next to one another.

“Designate and clearly label containers for your recyclables,” Jill Annis from Simply Organized, LLC says. “Have the containers easily accessible in your kitchen or pantry to prevent recyclables from cluttering counters.”

Month 11: Declutter and organize your home office.

Start this new habit in the new year to significantly declutter and organize your office. “Reduce paper clutter by scanning documents and storing them electronically when possible,” Bryn Huntpalmer of unclutter.com explains. “Organize your electronic files into clearly labeled directories on your computer hard drive and get in the habit of backing up all your files to an external hard drive at least once a week. You might also consider automatic backup to Cloud storage.”

To organize your physical papers, create a color-coded filing system. Each category (medical, financial, insurance, warranties, etc.) should have a unique color or pattern. This will allow you to keep everything in place and easily found in the case of an emergency.

When it comes to the rest of your office goodies - focus on simplicity. Invest in a few boxes and drawers to hold supplies, and be sure to label everything so you know what is inside. Play with fun colors, photos of your loved ones or your favorite quotes. This is a place of creativity - you'll want to surround yourself with a little inspiration!

Month 12: Manage your makeup.

Sick of running late because you couldn't find your go-to red lipstick? Yeah, we've all been there. Take this month to manage your makeup:

Ditch: Even though your makeup hasn't run out yet, it may still be time to ditch it. All makeup has a shelf life, and ignoring it can make your face a breeding ground for bacteria. Dispose of anything that is past its time (do you really need three black mascaras, anyway?).

Divide: “Now that you're left with the products you want to keep,” Sarah Soboleski from Classically Organized says, “start putting things together in categories. Keep your brushes all in one place, your moisturizers together, and your lip glosses grouped with one another. This way you always know where to find something and you can see your collection at a glance to know if you're getting low or missing a certain color.”

Designate: Place each item in a designated space, and commit to keeping it there. Depending on the setup of your vanity, use drawer dividers, acrylic drawers, plastic containers or over-the-door organizers to hold your products.

And don't forget about those brushes! Just wet your brush, swirl it in baby shampoo, rinse and lay to dry overnight.

Too much stuff, not enough space?

You wanted to figure out how to declutter organize your home, and you succeeded - that's great! But now you're left with a ton extra things you're not ready to get rid of, but they don't necessarily have a place in your home.

Our solution? Self-storage. Life Storage offers a variety of storage options to protect even your most delicate belongings. Visit our website to find a storage unit near you. You can even learn more about how you can receive a free rental truck.

How do YOU tackle clutter year-round? We'd love to hear your tips and tricks. Let us know in the comment section below!

This post originally appeared on the Life Storage blog on 1/5/16 and was revised on 12/31/18 to provide new information.

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outtodry · 7 years ago

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Initial Interview Takeaways

Interviewer: Ali

Always puts away clothing immediately

Different fabrics require different care and frequency of cleaning (silk vs. wool vs. winter coats)

Has system of hanging clothes up to the left to keep track of wearing items equal number of times

Brings clothes to cleaners of visibly stained, otherwise goes once a season – system of hanging to left ensures each item is worn about 5-6 times per season. Clothes are put away in storage clean, new season of clothes comes out

This system works but would be nice to have something that helps you keep track of number of times something is worn

Solution would have to be cheap, doesn’t want to replace hangers but could hang something on existing hangers

Interviewer: Katie

Want autocount on the hanger if possible

Usually use the same hanger for suits

Need guidelines for the number of times worn to dry clean ratio

Label is useful if not a suit

Usually use odor as indicator

Like that it’s a third-party attachment to the hanger

Must be thicker

Timer not as helpful

Interviewer: Jackie

What was the outcome of the experiment and what was learned based on this outcome?

List the outcome of the experiment as it relates to the original hypotheses and/or the intended cause/effect relationship.

Interview 1: The user liked the idea of something that was easy to slip onto every hanger, as we hypothesized. She also was interested in the counting mechanism. However, she was concerned about how much it would cost to use as well as how visual it was in the closet (if it stuck out too much, she couldn’t align her clothes correctly).

Interview 2: The user also liked the idea of slipping something onto the hanger, but she did not like the counting mechanism. For her, it did not align with how she cleaned her clothes. Some “wears” were worse than others, so clicking once per wear didn’t make sense for her.

What actions should be taken based on the outcome?

Update the appropriate aspect of the problem definition and/or target users.

Interview 1: Make a prototype that is smaller.

Interview 2: Change the counting mechanism from a numbers based system to perhaps a color based system, such as stop light colored, so that the user could adjust it more realistically for their idea of how dirty the outfit was.

Did the experiment run as planned? Were the concepts/questions/treatments clearly understood by the subjects?

What, if anything, was observed or learned that was unexpected?

How would you change the design, if at all?

Interview 1: I learned that it was harder to get people to think out of the box. When the user saw the prototype, she had a hard time imagining how she would use it as a flatter tally counter, and I think that inhibited some of her responses.

Interview 2: I learned that there can be differences in the way something is counted. In my mind, determining the number of wears was always based on a number, so it was very interesting to hear from a user who considered counting on more of a sliding scale of colors from clean to dirty.

Were any new problems revealed that were not identified prior to this experiment?

There were questions about how automatic the process would be. People wanted the system to be easy, almost a set it and forget it, so we will likely need to experiment with this in the future.

After the fact, are there any indications that alternative drivers, other than those hypothesized, influenced the results?

I hadn’t really considered price point when designing the prototype, but I think that that was on the forefront of the users minds if they intended to use this as a full system for their entire closets.

Interviewer: Justine

Person 1:

This individual likes clothes but is not super into them – she likes comfortable clothes; likes stylish comfort but with more weight on comfort. Doesn’t really like shopping. She dry cleans generally professional clothing, although she goes to great lengths to buy professional clothing that does not use dry cleaning. She does laundry once a week, and doesn’t really have different rules for clothes, although she typically doesn’t dry what she considers “real” clothes.

The first word she thinks of when she hears “dry clean” is “annoying.” She thinks that if dry cleaning was something that could be worked into the routine it wouldn’t be as annoying, but dry cleaning requires two errands to occur. This summer her dry cleaner was in the laundromat that was on her block, so it was a lot less annoying – it was part of her routine, not an extra hassle.

She knows things need to be dry cleaned by smell or when there is an obvious mark or dirt.

Regarding the prototype, she thinks it is an interesting idea that would probably be helpful for some people and some articles of clothing. For her, the thought “oh I should do dry cleaning” is when she wears something and smells it – if it doesn’t smell after 10 times, she would think she is doing great and doesn’t need to dry clean. But for some people it would probably be a good reminder, like a Brita filter tracker. But for her, she doesn’t know how much she would use it: “I would want to reward myself if I made it 10 times without cleaning.”

Person 2:

This individual likes clothes and likes looking good, but doesn’t consider herself the most clothes-savvy person. She does laundry once or twice in a three-week period, and she does have different rules for different clothes, although mostly for work clothes. Her work clothes are nicer quality, so they are usually the ones that have extra care – nicer blouses, pants usually can’t be dried, etc. She dry cleans some, not all, of her clothes; when a piece of clothing is dirty, she generally throws on the floor until there is a room in the laundry basket and then in the laundry basket.

She mostly dry cleans clothes for work – dresses and blazers. Same as our first person, the first word she thinks of when she hears “dry clean” is “annoying.” She has to go somewhere to do it, she has to spend money to do it, so she puts if off. Never coordinated to get everything together in one place; she drops it off at school so it is the most convenient it could be and it still is a pain to pick it up. She dry cleans if she gets something on it; otherwise, she tends to wear things to the max that she can before dry cleaning them – she can tell if there are deodorant marks on them, or if it is really wrinkled. Another time she dry cleans would be right before an interview – if she knows there is something she wants to wear and wants to look good.

Her reactions to the prototype were that it was interesting but she doesn’t think the thing preventing her from dry cleaning is not knowing how often she has worn a dress – if she has worn something only once, but other things need to be dry cleaned, she’ll throw the dress in. The pain point is the process of getting everything together that needs to be dry cleaned, getting it to the dry cleaner, picking it up and getting it home.

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robertsneagle · 8 years ago

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50 Ideas to Organize Your Home

When you have a home, you have a need for home organization. Fact is, we all have “stuff”. And “stuff”, can end up slowing down our day, and ruffling our feathers in the evening. “Stuff” quickly becomes clutter, and who wants that?

If you have stacks of papers that belong no where, crazy and chaotic mornings, or lost car keys, check out these easy ideas.

Evenings/Mornings:

1. This one is pretty self explanatory… Lay our everything you are going toneed in the morning the night before, and teach your kids to do the same. Photo below by ‘BHG‘.

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2. Have a central area for purses, keys and your wallet. Always put it there. Always.

3. Set out everything for breakfast that is non refrigerated, right down to the spoons. Obviously, this means knowing whats for breakfast the night before. No stops at Krispy Kreme, ok?

4. Write up a daily to do list for the next morning on your smart phone and put priority items first. Move items from today that didn’t get done into tomorrows list. Update your calendar. We like an app called “Cozi“. It has the capability to handle your whole families activities, and you can even keep your grocery list there. This calendar lets each family member share with one, two or all other members what their schedule is. It can also send you email reminders, like for trash day. Oh, and it’s free. Photo by ‘Container Store‘.

5. Go get gas, pick up the first graders cupcakes, or get that pencil sharpener that your high schooler can never seem to find. Don’t put off errands ’till morning when everything is busy.

Bathrooms:

6. Keep your bathroom paraphernalia out of sight when not in use. Buy a plastic carry all with a handle on top, or a pretty basket. Put all of your make up, deodorant, hair spray, razors, etc. into the container and place under the counter. Bring it out when you need it, then always put it right back underneath.

7. Shower caddies are essential for keeping the shampoos, conditioner, face scrubs and specialty in-shower treatments from taking over the whole space. (Guilty.) This one is from ‘The Container Store‘.

8. Squeegee your shower doors after every single shower. Keeping the squeegee right in the shower makes that easier. Add a little suction cup hook if you need. If you have a shower curtain, use a daily shower spray to keep clean up from being impossible when you finally get around to a whole bathroom cleaning.

9. A strip of magnetic tape (any craft store) or a magnetic knife holder can help keep items like nail clippers, tweezers and scissors handy.

10. Use those wasted corners and awkward space to put in a freestanding cabinet to add storage. Photo by ‘BHG‘. Remember to repurpose to save bucks, paint is everything!

11. Once a month, go through your bathroom cupboards and drawers and throw away old or ineffective products you never use.

12. Roll your towels and use them as decor tucked into pretty baskets on piled on a bench. Check out our post on DYSS on DIY bathroom towel storage! Photo by ‘BHG“.

13. Use wall hooks for hanging towels, robes and clothing. Behind the door is a great way to use wasted space.

14. Use drawer organizers for makeup, jewelry, ponytail holders, and other loose items. Or make your own. Try our post on budget make up storage for ideas.

15. Use pretty floating shelves to add storage above the toilet, and add value to the room. Need tutorials? DIY floating shelves.

16. Use a timer in each bathroom, and use it… This is great for getting out the door on time, AND getting teenagers out of the shower.

Closet:

17. Place color separate baskets in your closet for laundry, and one for dry cleaning. This will save you time sorting clothes, and you will always know when you have enough colors for a full load.

18. If you haven’t worn it in a year, donate it. Goodwill and some other charities even take worn out clothes, as it employs people while they are redirected to recyclers.

19. Sort your clothes by season, and only keep the present season in your closet. Pack out of season clothes away in an under bed storage container. DIY under bed storage ideas!

20. Put your clothes in categories that work for you. Color, formality, type or office wear are good places to start. This will save you time putting together outfits, and save you money from re-purchasing items you didn’t remember you had, as they were buried in the closet… somewhere. Inevitably to make their re-appearance right after the return window on your new item has expired.

21. Recycle wire hangers. Clothes simply slide off of them to the floor. Get velvet hangers at Costco to hold even the slinkiest silk dress. Or make your own with this tutorial on no slip hangers by Diane from ‘In My Own Style’.

22. Use a system for hanging scarves and belts. Shoving them in a drawer is no good for anyone.

23. Use a shoe rack. Rotate out of season shoes just the way you rotate out of season clothes. No reason for six pairs of leather boots to bury all your cute sandals in July.

24. Use hooks on any closet wall space to hang purses, jackets, and accessories. Photo by ‘HGTV‘.

25. Use vacuum sealed bags to store out of season clothes in a tight space. Just don’t use this method on delicate fabrics, as the wrinkles could become permanent.

Kitchen:

26. Organize your kitchen cabinets into categories. Make sure your cups are near the fridge so you can easily pour that afternoon juice, and your utensil drawer is near the dishwasher so you don’t have to make ten trips across the kitchen. Pots and pans? Near the stove. Kids plates? On a lower shelf so they can get to them without calling you from the first bath you have had in a month. Getting it?

27. Keep whatever you use for a pantry immaculate. No where does clutter make more of a mess than with food. Try our post on organizing your pantry.

28. Add a kitchen island to a small kitchen to increase storage and prep space. No worries, we’ve got that covered for you too. DIY kitchen islands, and more DIY kitchen islands! Want some more? Try this DIY rolling kitchen island from Jen at ‘House of Wood’!

29. Use an inexpensive plastic lazy-susan in the back of deep cupboards, so you never forget whats hiding back there!

30. Try to store tupperware in a drawer rather than a shelf, as that way you will always be able to find a matching lid.

31. Only keep things on the counter you use often. We only keep the Vita Mix and the Keurig on the counter, even the toaster goes in the pantry and gets brought out daily when needed. And if I could convince my other half, the Vita Mix would go under the counter too! (Not the Keurig folks, at this very minute I’m sipping its second offering of the day.)

32. Do you have cards and scraps of paper with scribbled recipes on them? I don’t even care if they are printed from your computer, time to come into the 21st century people. “Evernote” is a free app, where you can take photos of each recipe with your phone or tablet, add them and even organize them into folders. (Thanks to reader Karen for this tip!)

33. Have a whole closet full of plastic grocery store bags? Tuck 10-20 into one or two bags to hang onto, then recycle your plastic bags folks!

34. Keep your fridge clean. Every time you go to the grocery store, make sure to clean out the old food and toss. Rotate older food into the front so it is used up first. Try these 7 steps to an organized fridge. Jessica at ‘Four Generations, One Roof‘ uses containers to hold containers in her fridge. Love this idea!

Kid’s Room:

35. Hang a hoop over a laundry basket for slam-dunking dirty clothes.

36. Or, place a two-compartment hamper in your kid’s room so he or she can sort light clothes from dark clothes as they undress.

37. Use poster putty in your child’s room and have your child display his or her favorite artwork all on one wall, gallery style.

38. Hang a net from the ceiling to store stuffed animals, dolls, or action figures.

39. Add wall mounted bookshelves and help your child organize their books. Make sure you remember if you place a large bookshelf in a child’s room, bolt it to the wall for safety. Need ideas? Try our post at DYSS on creative bookshelf projects.

40. Buy the kids their own alarm clocks and teach them how to get up on time. By themselves. Without you.

Misc.

41. Make sure everything in your house has a home. Teach all family members to mind their own messes. For example, if you take it out, put it back; if you open it, close it; if you throw it down, pick it up; if you make a mess, clean it up; and so on.

42. Put wastebaskets in every room and place several unused trash bags in the bottom of each one. This will eliminate countless trips to retrieve new trash bags and give all family members a place to throw away their trash.

43. Make sure the remotes have a drawer, basket or shelf to live on. How often have you found it under the sofa?

44. Use a plastic caddy to store cleaning supplies in and tote it from room to room.

45. Use a plastic laundry basket for quick pick up and transport of toys to their proper homes each evening.

46. Make a designated area for homework, crafts or sewing. You can create a very organized space in a small area, and that prevents you from having projects strewn all over the house. Photo of this craft area by ‘Country Living‘.

47. Each night before bedtime, have all family members pick up clutter for 15 minutes. Make a game out of it and see who can pick up the most things in the shortest amount of time.

48. Have one designated spot where kids are to leave school flyers, permission slips that need to be signed and school photo envelopes. Make this part of the nightly “laying out for tomorrow” habit.

49. Make a master grocery list on the app or website of your choice. Categorize the groceries into sections such as frozen, dairy, and so on. In each category, list the most frequent items that you buy. Organize the grocery list according to the way your favorite grocery store’s isles are set up. Make sure each adult or teenager has the app loaded on their phone as well. If they forget to add Pop Tarts to the list, then they are eating oatmeal.

50. Don’t leave things ’till later. Procrastination is the number one cause of clutter and mess. Take care of it right then and there.

Make sure your home runs as smoothly as it can, and that you can take the time to enjoy it, instead of always dealing with clutter and chaos.

Image Credits: Country Living, BHG, Good Housekeeping, Container Store, Interior Design Inspiration, HGTV, House of Wood, Four Generations, One Roof

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Original Entry Source: http://www.thebudgetdecorator.com/50-ideas-to-organize-your-home/

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myfairolinda · 8 years ago

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3 Steps to Clear Clutter from your Home Today

Have you reached the point of overwhelm? Are you finding that you have STUFF everywhere? Do the stacks of papers, baskets full of clean and dirty laundry, random crap on tables and counters, toys on the floor, never seem to end? Why do you have all this clutter and where is it all coming from?! And how do you get rid of it once and for all?

Part of the overwhelm of clutter is that we don’t know where to start and even when we do we don’t know what to do with all our STUFF. #firstworldproblems #amiright

I’m here to tell you, there is hope and you can clear the clutter. Let’s go room by room to tackle the clutter and create spaces we love being in!

3 Steps to Clear Clutter from your Home Today

Step One: Purge

There is no sense in organizing or keeping a bunch of stuff we don’t need. So RIGHT NOW go grab a trash bag and spend 10 minutes going through your house and purge! Seriously, don’t overthink this one. Just do it. Grab that garbage bag and throw out all the junk that isn’t worthy of goodwill. I recommend tossing old partially used things. Toss outdated or seldomly used condiments in the fridge, old beauty care items like makeup, nail polish and lotion. Get rid of old magazines, papers, broken gadgets and toys. If you haven’t touched it or used it in the last 3 months chances are you aren’t going to.

Seriously – GO! I’ll wait.

Okay! Are you back?

Doesn’t it feel so good to free yourself of crap you don’t need.

Step Two: Donate

I know you purged, but that’s the tip of the iceberg. Now we are going to start a box for goodwill. Go through your closet and bag up any clothes and shoes you haven’t worn in a year to giveaway. Toss anything with rips and holes. Go through your accessories getting rid of old purses, bags, belts, scarves and jewelry. Continue going from room to room! If you don’t love it, donate it. Movies, books, knick knacks, if it’s cluttering up a space, this is a great time to get rid of it. To avoid overwhelm go through a room or space at a time.

Freed from more crap! Woohoo. We are on a roll. Now that we’ve purged and donated we can move on to my favorite part: getting organized.

Step Three: Create Systems

We need some systems! In fact you may already have some organizational systems in place. Grab a notebook and pen and let’s make a list. How are things currently organized?

1. Create Designated Spaces: Everything in your home should belong somewhere. A hook, bin or dish, whatever it is, designate spaces and places where things go. A hook or dish by the door for your keys, a bin or basket for all your electronic cords and remotes, and a tray on the coffee table for magazines. Label your bins or baskets and group similar items together for storage. Put anything you don’t use regularly away.

2. Sort Like Things Together: I have a drawer in my desk where all of my phone chargers, usb flash drives, sd cards, cords, and headphones go. It’s the only place I keep them in and it’s the first place I go to look for those things. All of my keys go on a little side table in the entryway of my home.

3. Destroy Procrastination: Build up comes from the mentality that you will deal with a task later. We leave ten seconds tasks to do later over and over and over again until we have hours of clutter piling up! Most of our clutter is a result of the habit of procrastination. With a little intentionality we can overcome this habit! Put things away immediately as often as possible to avoid clutter build up. Spend 5-10 minutes at the end of each day putting any remaining random items lying around.

We’ve purged and tossed a bunch of junk. We’ve donated old stuff we aren’t using anymore. We’ve designated places and spaces for everything!

Does your home feel less cluttered now?

Do you have any decluttering tips or tricks? Please share them in the comments.

xoxo Naomi

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