Organization is something that is VERY important to me. If my home, car, and workspace aren’t organized I feel off. Do you ever feel like that? I wanted to share my 5 best organization tips, so that if you ever feel like you just need to get your life together you can turn to these. I promise they will change your life!
- Put stuff away as you are done with it: I am a big believer in having stuff in its place. Sometimes this means I won’t sit down and relax until the kitchen is cleaned up after dinner, or laundry is put away. Honestly, I think it makes life easier to clean up messes right away. The more and more I do this the more I realize our house is almost always tidy. I know once we have kids this may get a bit harder but I hope by getting in the habit now I can continue it.
- Throw out/donate one thing at least a day: Everyday I try to tackle small areas that I see a lot of clutter in. This may be my office desk, a drawer in the kitchen, or one of the rooms upstairs. Make it a mission to find one thing in your home that is beyond repair and throw it out. This may be that stack of old bills or papers that needs to be shredded or that junk drawer in your kitchen with expired gift cards. Also if you have a ton of stuff to shred most UPS stores have a flat fee for shredding. I do this all the time!
- Fold things/put laundry away the correct way: It can be so easy to get frustrated when folding sheets, or realizing at 11PM your dryer is full of clothes that need to be put away. This can lead to hurrying around and shoving things in drawers and closets or leaving things in laundry baskets. It adds up fast and no one wants to deal with piled up laundry or sheets thrown in a closet. My advice: it only takes 10-15 minutes to put away laundry the right way so do it right and you don’t have to worry about it. I tend to organize mine into piles first of socks, t-shirts, shorts etc. It helps!
- Organize one area in your home a week: This is somewhat of an elaboration on number 2 above. If you take one area a week like one closet, one drawer, one cabinet, or a full room like one bathroom, office, etc a week and organize, throw out, shred papers, donate, etc it makes your home a lot more organized. Once you finish every space you just start over because of course the other spaces will get messy. One area of ours that always seems to need organization is our pantry! I try to do that one once a month!
- Less is more: Ask yourself this: Does it make me happy? If not then why have it? If it’s not helpful or bringing you joy (shout out to my fav book) get rid of it. Donate what you can and throw out what is beyond raggedy! I did this on New Year’s Day this year. Seriously, I went room by room in one day and got rid of boxes and bags of stuff. Great way to start the year. It also helps when you are at places like Target or HomeGoods (my weaknesses) to ask yourself if what you are about to buy is necessary. Coffee mugs and notebooks are always appealing, but do you really need it? Living by a more minimalist/less is more philosophy will keep you far more organized.
A few odds and ends:
- Ikea has amazing storage solutions for things like makeup, tools, small items such as nails/bolts/tacks etc. Drop some money on good organization ideas and then make it a point to always put things back in their place.
- If you can’t fit your car in your garage, it may be time to clean the garage out. Plus, having a garage sale gives you money to put towards something fun like a vacation, a fancy date night, or a home project!
- Spare bedroom closets are where items go to die. Seriously I look in ours and think “where did all of this come from!?”
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These are the best organization tips I am always using for our home. It’s how I stay less stressed and more organized. It is why I am never rushing around before company comes over or if someone unexpectedly drops by. Try them out for yourselves and see what you think!
What best organization tips do you use?
I agree, in order to organize you have to put money into it. I like bins and labels so there is a place for everything. We have a 2 year old and the best thing we ever did was buy a storage ottoman where we keep all of his living room toys!
These are definitely the most important things. I’m bad about putting things away when I’m done with it. I think it’s very important to stay on top of organization. Once you get behind it’s difficult to pick up the pieces.
Awesome tips! I recently read “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and I’ve been much more organized since then–I got rid of anything I didn’t need or didn’t make me happy and now I follow that mindset when buying new things.
Less is more is so true! I am so sentimental though, my drawers are an absolute mess because I hide all the things in them that I should really throw out!
I am an organization freak! haha But I truly think that what helps he most is the fact that I do put things away when I’m done using them and that everything has a home because of that.
“Spare bedroom closets are where items go to die. Seriously I look in ours and think “where did all of this come from!?””
^^^^ This! When we moved out of our house, I found so much randomness in our guest room closet! I honestly wasn’t even sure what it all was!
I so agree. Having to much even if it is organized it looks cluttered. Love that book – it is a game changer…
These are great tips!! Organization is always a work in progress since once I move on to a new area, something else always seems to get messy…
I need to start that throw out/donate one item a day. That’s a great way to stay on top of clutter.
My coffee table becomes a nightmare a couple days after cleaning. LOL. I also need to do some spring cleaning soon and go through my closets and get rid of stuff!
I love to organize, and love learning new ways to be better and faster. I love the ideas and tips here, will print this out and share as well. Decluttering can really release so much stress
I definitely need to get rid of more stuff. I just gave away one big box and it helped, but I know there’s plenty more! The less stuff the more organized I can be.
I love your tips – a trip to IKEA is definitely in my future! I just moved into a new place so organization is going to be paramount!
These are great! I definitely need to get organized and donate some things from my closet.
Yes! I am an organizational freak. I love breaking it down room by room so I can really get rid of stuff and organize. Great tips!
Yes! I agree with all of these, I just need to get better about doing them. I’m a huge believer in putting things away when you’re done with them. That is a huge time saver and something I always try to get my husband and son to do, too!
Putting stuff away when I’m done with it is probably the one that keeps me the MOST organized because it declutters right away! xx adaatude.com
Great tips! Putting stuff away when I’m done with it is a big weakness of mine… I’m the worst when it comes to just leaving things lying around. I recently realized that my mom is just as bad so maybe I inherited that bad habit! Either way I’m trying to change…
Nellwyn | http://www.thecardinalpress.com
These are great tips! I’m always thinking these things when I end up cleaning the whole house…Why didn’t I just put that away after I was done? Or why do I still have this? If you do a little at a time, life doesn’t seem so cluttery and it’s not so overwhelming to clean!
Great tips! I’m so guilty of leaving the laundry forever and not putting things back when I’m done with them. That’s when the clutter really starts to pile up!
OMG the garage comment! YES! We can fit 2 cars and 5 bikes in our garage along with a ping pong table and shelves. Having less is how we do it. I should be better at keeping the boys closets organized though. Im pretty sure I could take half of the clothes out of their closets today and they would still have more than enough left. Maybe I can get to it this weekend 🙂
I definitely agree that less is more! When we moved to Norway we purged a lot of stuff and live very simply now! Also if everything has a designated space it is much easier to put things back up!
Great tips-especially in organizing one area a week. I struggle with trying to ‘do it all’ in one day!
the container store has been a lifesaver for me as far as getting organized. i still wind up with a messy room almost daily but everything has a place it eventually winds up in
I like things to be nice and organized. Just ordered new files for my filing cabinet and a new storage box for the dresser. The dresser is in my office (dining room) and is very much a working dresser. My son has the main display area for school work. Now he’s hit his GCSE years he’s got almost double the amount of books etc and they always look messy now. So the extra storage will help get that area nice and organized again. Grea tips. Thanks
I totally agree with the less is more thought…I am trying to embrace this to clean out my closet of many clothes..hard task for a fashion blogger!
Thanks for sharing great tips
Valerie
I definitely need to try out this tip : “Organize one area in your home a week.” I never know where to start and stop 🙂
I feel like I have cleaning ADD. As I am putting something away I see something else that needs to be taken care of and I immediately go to that and take care of it. Often I forget to go back to what I was originally doing. And then I feel like nothing got done. I have been trying to put things away as soon as I use them or else they will stay where ever they land for days.
The one tip I live by is put everything back where it belongs when you are done with it. It seriously prevents clutter and saves times 🙂
Less is more has been my mantra lately! I hate having useless stuff laying around, especially when it comes to my closet. Great tips!
Shannon
Clothes & Quotes
The folding the laundry is an important tip to remember. I always just stuff things in but they never fit as well!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
#4 seems like a great idea! Great list of tips! 🙂
Great tips. My worst is laundry. I feel like its just ALWAYS there. That I always have loads to do. Or loads to put away. Or loads to fold. LOL its never ending.
Lol so right about the spare bedroom closet! Mine became an overflow for my clothes and it was just way too much stuff for one person!
Great tips! I need to be a little more organized.
My husband and I each have racks in the closet – one high and one low. At the beginning of the year, I hang all the clothes on the top rack. If they are worn, I put them on the bottom rack. By the end of the year, anything on the top rack goes to charity.
I love organizing! These are such great tips, I don’t do the one thing a day though. Maybe I can start that? I am all about less is more!
I just KonMari-d my closet 🙂
We have been working on downsizing the past couple weeks. I agree less is more, I swear my wife is always reorganzing our house!
Great tips! Decluttering is very high on my list. 🙂
Awesome tips! I find it so hard to have motivation to clean after a long day at work =[
xoxo, Jenny
I easily get tired, so the best tip for me would be organizing one area of the house at a time. It may seem like a simple task but in reality, it is not. Folding the laundry is also something I tend to put off, and I agree, it gets frustrating when you find out you already have a huge pile of clothes to put away. One little task one day at a time is the best.
My dryer has dual purposes. It’s both an appliance and a storage center for towels and socks. It’s just me and my teen boy at home, and neither of us has the motivation to fold these items. So we simply pile them on top of the dryer while it’s in use, and reload it when the actual clothes are dry. Easy peasy (and lazy schmazy). But we (I) am pretty damn organized in other areas of my home. And l do enjoy Ikea items! Good tips here. Thanks for sharing.
I’m transfering to a different college next year which means moving. I’ve been slowly cleaning out my room and things. I can attest how important 2 & 4 are. I think I also add when shopping for things always weigh wants and needs. Ask yourself I’m I really going to use this or do I really need this. I can say I’ve bought tons of things I didn’t need and ended up selling on Vinted or donating.
I like the idea of organizing one area per week so that I don’t get too overwhelmed. I think reorganizing the entire house in one shot can seem like a daunting task.
Great tips! Laundry is my biggest downfall. I do a good job of getting it in the washer/dryer but then miserably fail at putting it away so they don’t get all wrinkled. The struggle is real!
I think it is easy to get behind if we don’t put things away as we go I know I struggle at times. I need to help my kids to get in the habit of doing it right away.
1, 3, and 5 we’ve tried to do these adn it’s really helped out sooo much on helping out with having a claner house. We’ve learned that having less pieces in the rooms help make them look so much larger.
I’d also add that every piece of furniture should try to have a double use. to help create more storage while looking nice or shelves.
liz @ j for joiner
Good tips! We are getting ready for a big move at the end of this summer so we are totally hoping to downsize all the stuff we seem to have accumulated.
But why is it still so hard! haha, I haven’t caught onto the less is more movement yet! 😉
These are such great tips! Doing a little bit each day is seriously the key!