Simple Tips for Keeping Your Home
Organized

Having an organized home means that you are always able to located your stuff right when you need it, without the added time of trying to figure out just where it is.

Just because a home is organized does not mean it is clean. It also doesn’t mean that you don’t have collections of just about everything it your home. It just means that all your belongs have their own place, and that you know where that place is.

You can have a cleaner home by combining home organization with cleaning up the clutter in your home. Cleaning up the clutter at the same time that you organize allows you to not have all your stuff scattered around the house. An example of this would be placing a shoe rack in the foyer as opposed to storing all your shoes in a pile in the entryway. Following are nine great tips for home organization that will also help you clean up the clutter in your home.

Place Like Items Together – For example, when you organize you office storage cabinet you will place all the paper products together, copy paper, envelopes, etc. Next you may want to place in all the writing implements such as pens and pencils. Keep them next to each other, and close to the paper they are used with. Another great idea for this strategy is to keep all your holiday items near each other, but in separate bins. This way you have a bin of Christmas ornaments and decorations, a bin of Thanksgiving decoration, etc. Placing like items together is also a great way to store sports or outdoor equipment.

Make it Easy – Put the items that are used frequently in a place where they are easy to access and to see. For example, kid’s toys should be put at their eye level and your most used kitchen utensils should be at the front of the drawer. Place items that are not used very often in all those hard to reach places, like the attic, the cabinets above your refrigerator, or the back of your closet. You can maximize the space in your entry closet by filling it will umbrella racks, shoe racks, and hanging baskets in which to keep your hat and gloves.

Label Everything – An inexpensive label maker will really come in handy here. You can label both items (such as CDs and DVDs) and the locations where they should be stored. One example would be to label the various shelves and hooks in the garage so that the correct tools get returned to them. This way everyone in the family knows where to find things, and where to return them when they are done with them.

The Don’t Keep Rule – Don’t hold on to papers that have information that it is easy to locate in other places. There is now a wealth of resources available on the Internet for all kinds of research, forms, and other paperwork you probably have stored in your home. It takes up a lot less space to keep a list of the web sites that you have found most helpful.

Once and Now – This is the general rule for all incoming mail or desk work, whether it is personal or for your home office. You should also create a tickler file for upcoming events for those items that will need to be handled at a later date.

Make it Yours – There are some people who like their organizational systems to be very specific, for example placing labels inside all your pantry shelves so you know exactly where to store your canned beans and corn. Placing the label at the back of the row of items is a way to see that you need more of a particular item. While some people might think this is an excellent idea, it will seem way too detailed for others. The truth is that your home organizational system needs to match your personality so that it can work for you. While it is good to read tips complied by others, such as this list, be sure to only use those ideas that make sense for you and your family.

Flexibility is Key – Don’t be afraid to change a home organizing system that is just not working. You can start by just placing things in different spots. Be aware of the organizing schemes featured in home magazines and in other people’s homes. Try incorporating those ideas that seem like a good match for your home. There is no sense sticking with something that just doesn’t work, so feel free to change your system as often as needed.

Patience is More than a Virtue – Other people can’t be changed to fit in with our new organizational system. You can’t expect your family to simply fall in line just because you have created this new system for your home. A better strategy is polite requests matched with a spirit of compromise. If your spouse just won’t put his shoes in the new shoe rack, as if there is a way that will work better for him or her that still enables you to keep the entryway clear of clutter.

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help – Different people have different skills and talents. For some, clearing clutter and organizing just comes naturally. But for others it definitely does not. One idea for those who just don’t think along the analytical lines required for home organization is to hire a professional organizer. Even having them in your home for a few hours, or maybe just one day, can help you develop a system that you will be able to implement on your own. Of course once the system is in place the real challenge of keeping to it begins!

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