I truly believe it is possible for everyone to have an organized home. If you’re a typical American, your closets and garages are packed to the ceiling. It happens to most of us! No matter your situation or personality, you can have an organized, uncluttered home.
Home organization works best when divided into small projects. Start with one closet - or even just one drawer! Who doesn’t want closets that look like this one from The Container Store? Here are the four steps I take every time I approach an organization project.
Four Basic Principles of Home Organization
1. Get rid of clutter
Sort through everything in the space. Make three piles: keep, throw away and donate. Make sure you follow through with the things that need to be tossed or donated. Relocating your clutter does nothing for you in the end.
2. Give everything a place
This step requires some logistical thinking! Find or purchase containers to house your items. Target, The Container Store and even Dollar Tree are all great places to pick up organizational bins. It’s a great idea to label those bins, so that anyone who uses that space is able to find and put away whatever they need.
3. Leave room to grow
I find that this step is easy to forget when organizing any space. Here’s why it’s important – imagine you just reorganized your closet to perfectly house all of your summer clothes. What happens when it is time to switch those things for your larger, bulkier winter clothes? Two pairs of jeans will not fit in the same space as two pairs of shorts! Leaving room to grow helps the organization system to remain effective for a longer period of time.
4. Maintain the organization system
Now that you’ve created a beautifully organized space that’s easy to access, you will want to keep it that way! Organization always requires maintenance. Communicate the new system to your family. Take a few minutes as needed to straighten the space - because we all know things aren’t always put away in the correct place. Periodically evaluate the space to see if it still meets your needs, and make changes if it doesn’t. No system works perfectly forever.
I hope you’re motivated to get started toward an organized home! What space will you organize first?
Whitney
Visit me at my blog, Come Home For Comfort, for more posts like this!
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