Effective ideas on How to Start Organizing Your Home for best results.
I’ve received a lot of e-mails from readers throughout the years about them wanting to know where to start when organizing their homes. That’s what we’re focusing on today. Where do you start organizing your home?
Ask yourself these questions to get started:
What area is bugging you the most?
Where does it take you the longest to find what you want?
What’s slowing you down in the morning?
Think about how you want a problem area to function. If it’s a room, what are you going to be doing in there? In a closet, what needs to be stored? In a drawer, what needs to be kept there because it’s used close by?
I would recommend starting small when organizing your home. Start with a small closet or a few drawers instead of a whole room. You are less likely to get overwhelmed and just quit. Deciding how an area needs to function is unique to every household. Do what works for you to be able to keep your space organized.
Take everything out of the area. By taking everything out of the space you have a clean slate and can look at the area from a different perspective. Maybe the reason why the area is disorganized is because storage containers aren’t right or shelves are in the wrong place. Maybe shelves or rods need to be added.
This is also a good time to remove things from the area that don’t belong there or that need to be thrown out or donated. If something needs to be repaired, do it now or pass it onto someone who will. If you haven’t used something within the last year, you’re probably not going too. It’s just taking up valuable space, so get rid of it. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have room for things you really use.
Think of the spaces in you home as prime real estate. Make items earn a spot in your home. Also, while everything’s out of the area clean it well. Wash the drawers or walls, clean the floor and maybe paint the area with a splash of color. There’s nothing wrong with making a space look pretty even if it’s just for yourself.
Before you start putting anything back, take an inventory of the items that will be going in that space. How do they relate to one another? Is this the best place for an item to be kept? What kind of containers do you need? Look around your home for containers. You might already have some that can be used. Shoe boxes covered with pretty fabric or scrapbook paper work great because you can coordinate the colors and patterns. There’s no reason to spend a lot of money on storage containers.
Once you start putting things back use this rule: Put the most used items right in front for easy access. The next most used items go below or above that, and the least used items can be stored out of reach, on a high shelf or behind other things.
Once it’s organized use labels. Label, label, label everything. You might know where things go, but does the rest of your family? Believe me, labels work. Kids even like labels, so they’re more likely to use them. You can even have them help you make them.
By having things organized you’re going to be able to find what you want faster and in the process save yourself a lot of time. Keep things organized by putting them back where they go instead of just opening the door and throwing them in. The space isn’t going to stay organized itself. It does take some effort, but it’s worth it. I’m all for hide-and-seek but not when I’m trying to get out the door or find something in a hurry.
Once you’ve organized a space in your home it’s time to move onto the next space. I would suggest completing a whole room before moving on. Whether it takes you a day or month really doesn’t matter. Work at your own pace and bask in all your progress. Once you start seeing progress it’s easier to continue throughout the rest of the house. Good luck and have fun organizing. I’m routing for you!
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