Best ways to organize your home

Declutter

Declutter first, organise later. Before starting organising, getting rid of a items you don't need can make a difference in the process of organisation your home. After all, the less stuff there is around, the easier to create practical storage solutions. The basic strategy to organise one space is to have 3 boxes: keep, toss and donate. One known strategies is organising one space at a time and having three boxes to put stuff in — keep, toss, and donate. In that way, you can make conscious decisions about how many items you are keeping and how many you are donating. After all you can’t keep it all and still imagine it will look like Pinterest.

Take inventory a.k.a editing

Do not keep any piece that you have not worn 12 months or older. Clean your kitchen and bathroom from any products that have expired.  The inventory is needed to organise kitchen space. 

Do not keep excess Tupperware. Use plastic wrap, zip close bags, or tin foil if you run out. Or eat your leftovers to free up more.

Get rid of different sized plates and bowls, and buy a uniform set. 

Assess your space when you finish organising

You should always aim to have empty shelves and drawers. Start with you bedroom, the playroom, and the kitchen and reduce. Start with floors then move to the surfaces and empty drawers and interiors. A bedroom will take two days, kitchens take three. It is always good to hire a professional the first time if you feel like you need help. You can then learn the skills needed to get you through the house as a first time.

Label everything.

Start labelling whenever you finish a room’s organisation. This will make your system sustainable by reminding everyone exactly where everything goes. And if someone needs anything, he doesn’t need to take everything out in order to find it.

Apply the one in, one out rule.

Shopping can be therapeutic and a fun activity for a lot of people. You can continue on do it however, to avoid overfilling your closet with new clothes you buy each week, keep this rule in the back of your mind.

Same concept is applied to your shoes, reduce the number of  shoes you own to a number that will fit in the back of the closet in one row. Then, when you open the door, kick the ones you're wearing inside. Simple and easy to maintain.

Prioritise the playroom

Same as the principle of the other rooms, put toys in shallow, wide and labelled containers so that your kid wouldn’t dump them all to find the one he wants. Donate excess toys. When they break a toy you buy a new toy (one in, one out, remember? ) you can also play games with them to tide the room. Set a timer of three minutes and see who can pick most of the toys and put them in the right place.  

Compartmentalise drawers.

Group your items by categories so you can find what you need in a second. For example, baking tools are kept together as well as make up brushes.

Place like things with like things.

How you organise your space is putting similar things together. Pull everything from the category you are working on together from everywhere in the house. This doesn’t mean that you should take the coats and put them all in the bedroom, however consider put all you jeans together for instance in one corner. Same applies to kitchen closets where you can put all coffee mugs together. This is how you can know how much of something you have and make it easier to get rid of extras.

 Tackle one space at a time.

No one can deny that organisation of a whole house can be stressful and overwhelming. That’s why, like very big task, experts suggest to divide it into smaller steps and actions. That’s why; tackle each space of your house at a time. Assess the space that is the most unproductive, make a commitment to organize and schedule a time for it.

Color-code your bookshelf.

This hack might not save you space or make things easier to reach, but it is definitely a fun, eye pleasing and aesthetic project. It is easier on the eyes. It is a life changing and talked about tip.  

Stop buying dressers with massive and deep drawers.

Repeat after me: Deep drawers are not your friends. The smaller the drawer, the easier it is to organise them and categorise them. It is also easier to find items from them without messing the whole thing around. 

Learn to make quick decisions.

The easiest way to decide where this can stay or this should go is by answering the following statement, if it is true about an item, then it must stay:

I used this item within the past year. Within a year, you have passed all four seasons, weddings and holidays. If you are not sure, put it in a “donate later” box, seal it and put the date on it. A year from now, if you haven’t opened the box, then the item must go.

I need it, or I love it. If you don’t, there is no need to keep it, needless to say. Resolve to keep in your space things you really need, work or give you pleasure for you and your family. Keep the space for things you love as you won’t enjoy it if it is in the dark corner of a closet.  

It fits into the life I want to live. We are talking here about exercise equipment, and self-help books. If it supports you and your future goals, it can stay. If it's a painful reminder of the past (think clothes that don't fit anymore or items that belonged to an ex), let it go.

Take 3 Minutes Each Day

No organisational system can work if it is not maintained.

We know it may be hectic on your busiest day, however, tiding a little bit every day can make wonders. After dinner, have a family teamwork where everyone pitch in with clean up. Before unwinding in front of the TV, walk around and tide everything so you won’t leave to before bed. Keep things in containers and make it easy to locate them when you need them.

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