Are you organizing your stuff or is your stuff organizing you? If the possessions in your Houston-area home are starting to spread out like the city’s skyline, it’s probably time to reign things in. Getting organized at home is easy with a few simple organizational tips and techniques from some area professional organizers.
If you’re wondering how to organize your home, check out these 9 tips:
1. Shelf Life
If a particular segment of your home has fallen into a sloppy tangle, chances are it’s because the storage structure isn’t appropriate for the size or quantity of goods being stored. Reconsider large bins and cubbies in favor of cute organizers like smaller dividers that can help keep everything in its place and easily accessible. Or if the small shelves jam up easily, open the space up to allow for bigger items. Either way, these shelf organizer ideas are sure to help you find organization bliss.
2. Don’t Get Boxed In
After a move or a redecorating project, it’s easy to let your things linger in boxes that get shuffled around from one storage area to another. Make sure you unpack boxes in a timely fashion and sort through your belongings—you may find that you don’t need all of them or that there’s an ingenious new way to use that wicker basket your mother gave you for your first apartment.
3. Think Small
If you assume some items are permanently doomed to jumble in a junk drawer, you haven’t visited an organization store lately. Batteries, Legos, cookie cutters, hair ties, tea bags—there’s nothing that can’t be micromanaged with a little imagination. Office supplies in muffin tins, anyone?
4. Color-Code Everything
Here’s an organization hack: color coding. One of the most effective way to put things in order is to use color. It gives you a system for tracking and finding items, whether it’s labels on bins, files in your filing cabinet or, if you want to get really detailed, your pens. Arranging clothing in your closet by a color scheme, working light to dark, makes it easier on your eyes, creating a sense of visual calm. Plus, you’ll spend way less time digging around for that blue sleeveless shirt you thought you bought last year on sale.
5. Don’t Trust Your Memory
You have a lot on your mind, and the last thing you need is to have to remember where you put the inherited photo albums the night before a family tree project is due. Labeling, whether toy bins, bean and rice jars or sweater boxes, only takes a few moments now but will save you time and angst down the road.
6. Can’t Lose With Clear Bins
Speaking of memory or lack thereof, just because certain belongings get doomed to the attic doesn’t mean they should be forgotten. Seasonal clothes, baby items and other things you’re planning to use again in the near-ish future are best stored in clear plastic bins where the contents can be immediately viewed.
7. In the Zone
Cleaning and organizing gets easier with a little planning. When dealing with big spaces with multiple storage purposes like the garage or shed, start by creating “zones,” or basic areas for categories of goods, such as tools, car supplies, sports equipment, etc. Designate a shelving unit or rack for each zone. This way you can organize a small segment at a time without getting the overwhelming urge to just shut the door and run away from the chaos.
8. Go Deep
There is no area of your home that can’t be improved by organization. Most people will expect your under-sink storage to be a hodge-podgy catchall, but you can surprise and delight by bringing order to a traditionally chaotic enclave. One tip for getting organized is strategically using a few well-placed bins and riser shelves.
9. Piles, Be Gone
Paperwork mounts constantly. Those piles of bills, contracts, school communications, mail and greeting cards can be very daunting, taking up space and making it easy to lose track of important deadlines. Organize the sprawl with a task-oriented system that prompts you to pay bills, sign papers, make calls or other calls to action to keep you on top of the pulp.
