Does your home look like a tornado just came through, with things all over the place and no sense of organization? Do you find yourself struggling to find the things you need, or constantly distracted because of the clutter around your home? If so, it’s probably time that you took some steps to organize your home. Doing so will help you to feel a lot better about your home, and it isn’t that hard to do. Here are the three keys you need to keep in mind if you want to have a more organized home.
Get Rid of Stuff You Don’t Need
The first thing you need to do is get rid of anything you no longer need. Chances are your home is filled with things that have accumulated over the years, stuff that you haven’t looked at in ages. It’s all just sitting in your basement somewhere or clogging up your shelves. In order to get more organized, you need to slim down the number of things you have.
There are a few ways that you can do this. Your first option is to put some of this stuff in storage. You can rent a storage unit if you have a lot of stuff, or you could do something like build an outdoor shed. The goal is to take all of the stuff you want to keep, but don’t necessarily need that often, and put it somewhere safe.
Your next option is to sell your extra stuff. You probably have some things lying around that are in perfectly good condition, but you just don’t need them. Maybe you have some old clothes, an old television, or some toys from when your kids were younger. If you’re going to get rid of this stuff, you might as well make a few dollars from it. A garage sale is great in situations like this.
According to Livible, a company that provides storage units in Boston, “there will always be people who might want or even need the items you were planning to throw away, so a garage sale (whether virtual or in person) can be a great option to shore up space and make a positive contribution.”
For the items you’re unable to sell, consider donating them. Donating your used items not only provides you with a tax benefit, but you get the good feeling that comes from helping people. Finally, if all else fails, simply throw your unwanted items away. The goal is to declutter your home, so whatever method you need to take in order to do that, do it.
Create an Organizational System
Now that you have fewer things in your home, it’s time to create an organizational system. Everything in your home should have a proper place. Designate the shelves in your basement for board games and holiday decorations. Decide which utensils and cooking tools go where in your kitchen. Arrange the books on your bookshelf in an order that makes sense.
The goal is to create a system that you can turn to over an over again. If you just store things wherever you have room, you’ll end up moving things around a lot, and you’ll be back where you started before long.
Once you’ve decided where something goes, consider labeling it. Grab a label maker and designate what goes on each shelf or in each bin. This will be a helpful reminder when you go to add new things, or when you can’t remember what you had in mind when you first set up the system.
As you’re organizing, you may find that you don’t have enough room for everything. In this case, think about getting yourself some storage items. Put up some new shelves, grab some plastic storage draws, or get some bins you can place under your bed.
Stick to Your System
The reason so many of us have an unorganized home is because we don’t stick to the systems we initially set up. We get lazy in our habits and start keeping things we don’t need or storing things in the wrong place. To keep this from happening, you need to remind yourself to stick to your system.
Designate a time once a month in which you’ll go through your home again. Put everything back where it belongs and make a pile of the things you want to get rid of. By doing this once a month, you’ll keep the job smaller than if you wait until you can’t handle the state of your home any more.
Organizing your home isn’t difficult, but it does take some time and persistence. But if you can set up a good system and stick with it, you should find that you are living in an organized home more often than not.
