How to organize your home once and for all - Part 2

If an item does not have a home - it is automatically clutter! Without a home, how can it ever be put away? Without a designated home for your items, cleaning up will always feel difficult and draining.

Psst … decluttering is always where you need to start when organizing a space in your home! If you’ve completed a solid, deep decluttering of the space you’re ready to move onto this step! (If you have not yet decluttered, go back and read this post.)

Designating a home for everything is the second of three key steps to achieving an organized home!

The truth is, it designating a home for each item and maximizing your space is not difficult if you break it down into a four key steps! You can apply these steps to any location you are organizing.

This is really the fun part of getting your home organized - you get to make things functional and beautiful - but don’t just run out and buy pretty bins and baskets quite yet. First, do some basic space planning - thinking through zones and taking measurements!

STEP 1 - SORT ITEMS INTO CATEGORIES CATEGORIES AND HOMES (zones)

Sort your items into categorizes. For example, in a kitchen, you may have the following categories: baking, food storage, dishes, cups, utensils, coffee & tea, breakfast food, snacks, etc

STEP 2 - Designate A HOME (zone) FOR EACH CATEGORY

Once you know how many categories you have and approximately how much space each category will need, you can look at your space and create homes for those items. You can do this with sticky notes if you think you need to “play around” with a few ideas or by simply placing the items in the location you want them.

Keep the saying, “location, location, location!” in mind when deciding where to place your newly categorized items. Items or categories that do not get used often should not be placed in the prime real estate of your space. Those items can go on high shelves or tucked toward the back. Keep the items you use most often in the easiest to access locations.

Here are a few zones that are often overlooked, but will help your space stay tidy:

• Outgoing Items - items you need to return to a friend or store

• Donations - designate a place for this so they don’t pile up

• Needs a Home - if you tend to have constant surface clutter, consider creating a basket or bin to corral items that come into your home that don’t yet have a designated space (go through this weekly and assign each item a home)

  • prevents these items from becoming clutter and/or getting lost in clutter

  • reinforces the habit of creating a home for everything and putting everything back in its home - even things that don’t yet have a specific home

Once you know where the various items are going to go, then you can measure and purchase any bins, baskets, or other organizing products that you want.

STEP 3 - IMPLEMENT ORGANIZING PRODUCTS

Organizing products are totally optional - you can have an organized space without organizing products as long as you have decluttered and assigned everything a space to live! However, bins and baskets can definitely help you maintain an organized space and can help create limits for the amount you can own. Once the bin is full, you need to stop buying more of that category and/or go through and declutter.

I always recommend using any storage containers you have first, but sometimes you want that cohesive, Pinterest look or maybe you realize you just don’t have enough bins or maybe you want products that will help you maximize your space. Whatever the reason, make sure you:

1. Measure before you buy.

2. Decide what type of bin/basket is best for you. This is a helpful test that will help you determine what type is best for you!

   • Some people need clear bins so they can see things to remember/use them

   • Some people need to remove the visual clutter with solid bins.

3. Maximize vertical space.

   • Organizing products like shelf risers, stackable bins, and door organizers will help you maximize that vertical space that is often overlooked.

There are so many, but here are a few organizing products that allow you to maximize vertical space. Always use your vertical space when organizing - it is often overlooked.

STEP 4 - Label, LABEL, LABEL

Labels are the finishing touch to any organizing project, but they are so critical in maintaining the organization. Labels help you remember where things go, keep you honest about space limitations, and allow others to find and put things away on their own! They can also give your project that finished, professional look.

There are so many great labeling products out there, and when you hire a professional organizer you have access to all the options! These are my 3 favorite options for a DIY approach:

• chalk labels - they’re easy to read, can be cut to any size, and can be changed quickly

• washi tape - this is a super affordable option that is so easy to have on hand and it can be cut to size and changed easily (I highly recommend MT brand - it is so much better than any other brand I’ve tried)

• bin clips - good to use with baskets where traditional labels won’t stick (come in white, black, wood, and silver)

If you find yourself stuck at any point in the process or totally overwhelmed, please reach out! As a professional organizer, I am a categorizing whiz and I know which products will work the best for your space and needs. Sometimes, asking for help is the best step you can take!