The One True Secret to Keeping an Organized Home
The Oxford Book of Quotations dates this phrase back to the 17th century, but this bit of wisdom has aged well!
Home organization revolves around one simple commitment: specify a place for everything, and keep it there. But when you google “how to keep your house organized,” you’ll likely find long lists, daily tasks, and off-topic suggestions. What’s up with that???
Many of these articles are actually discussing how to keep a clean home, which is related but different from keeping a tidy home. Cleanliness comes after organization, which is what we’re discussing today. Ready to make it happen? Follow these three steps to GET and STAY organized!
1) Purge and Make Space
Beware of “clutter creep” that happens when your belongings start piling up in places they don’t belong.
The first step to any home organization project is clean up and purge. It’s common to think you don’t have enough space, when really, you might just have too much stuff!
Empty all those drawers and cupboards, discard any junk, and donate items you don’t use. This is the hardest part and it may take several passes, but stick with it — it’ll be worth it.
As you purge, be thoughtful about what to keep, and realistic about what you’ll use. And from now on, commit to keeping things where they belong, and think twice before bringing new things your home. (Do I really need this? Do I have a place to put it? If I buy this item, what will I have to let go of?)
EXAMPLES (expand to read!)
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Dedicate one cabinet or shelf to your collection. Any cups that don’t reasonably fit in the designated space get donated or gifted.
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Dedicate one bookshelf (or similar) to your books and sift through them regularly. Keep only your favourites and new reads; donate, swap, or sell the others.
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Gather all your pens/pencils/markers in one place and test them all! Discard any that don’t work or that you don’t like, and place the rest in a little drawer organizer (or several, if you want to separate them by type). Commit to not buying anymore pens, or taking anymore freebies!!
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This one is a doozy! Sorting through clothes can be emotional and time consuming (or so I hear… I’ve never been a woman of many clothes! #tallgirlprobs). So grab a drink and put on your favourite playlist cause this could take a while.
The best time for a closet cleanout is at the end of a season. E.g., sort through your winter clothes just as spring is rolling in so you have a fresh and accurate idea of what still fits and what you actually wore this year.
If it doesn’t fit anymore and won’t realistically fit again, part with it. If you didn’t wear it this year or last year, part with it.
Have one or two spaces designated for your clothes, e.g. a closet and a dresser. Resist the urge to buy more dressers and stuff more under-bed bins — try reducing your wardrobe instead!
2. Put Away and Label
Baskets increase the functionality of your shelves, and additional organizers will optimize your drawers and cupboards.
Once you’ve decided what’s staying, assess how you can optimize the drawers/shelves/cupboards where the items will be stored.
“Having a place for everything” is pretty specific business. It’s usually not good enough to simply place something in a drawer — the idea is to place it in the same spot in the same drawer, every time.
Drawers almost always require organizers or dividers to be truly useful.
Shelving can be improved by adding woven or fabric baskets to corral smaller items.
Cupboards can be optimized with shelf organizers, pan organizers, and under-shelf baskets.
Finally, consider LABELLING all your new organizers and baskets. This may sound like a make-work effort, but labels will remind you (and others 😉) exactly where things go, so everyone can see the place for everything, and keep everything in its place!
3) Be Realistic
It’s suuuper unrealistic for most people to pristinely fold their clothes like this everyday! Or any day. Test out some more relaxed folding or hanging systems that you can reasonably commit to.
It’s great to get swept up in the thrill of home organization, but make sure you’re not inadvertently over-organizing your spaces. Home organization is only worth the effort if you can realistically and reasonably commit to your new systems!
The general rule: don’t overstuff your drawers / cupboards / shelves. Leave some “white space” — give things room to breathe.
For example, it’s HIGHLY unlikely you’ll be able to maintain a drawer full of perfectly-even rows of tightly-rolled shirts. Instead, let some drawer dividers maintain the rows, and settle for a loose, half-hearted roll. 😉
I could go on and on about home organization, but it really boils down to having a place for everything and keeping it there (and ONLY there!).
A) Dedicate (and label) a specific space,
B) don’t overfill that space,
C) maintain realistic and reasonable expectations.
There are many ways to get organized, but if you start from a clean(ish) slate and keep your methods simple and maintainable, you’ll be ship shape in no time.
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