Detailed planner, seasoned shopper, & thoughtful creator of easy solutions for the overwhelming design projects in your busy life.
How about some easy organization ideas for the New Year? Nothing gets me in the mood to get organized like a fresh year laid out before me.
Well, nervous energy related to an impending hurricane gives me an urge to organize, too – but that specific situation can’t be guaranteed; January 1st can.
Is there a situation in your home that stresses you out? Does it feel insurmountable? Do you have to interact with it every single day? Then this is the perfect spot to tackle.
I’ve rounded up some of my most straightforward organization ideas below, along with some of my best product recommendations.
You CAN get your home in the order you want, quickly and easily – even if it’s merely one small area of your life. I can help.
Once you’ve determined which area you want to tackle, the very first step is to throw out any notion of right or wrong when it comes to organizing your space.
Everyone lives their life differently. Your entire pantry does not have to be alphabetized. The bookshelves do not have to be in the rainbow order. No one’s socks have to be folded.
A great example: when helping my sister with her enormous pantry over the holidays, we organized it by what they are looking for when they open one of the doors. “I want something salty, or something crunchy”. So those things each went into a separate bin. There were 3 different bins of just chips – but each a different style because that’s how they eat them. My brother-in-law eats a specific chip with a specific dip. So we did a bin with just those two things in them.
Things they only use once a year, like a dehydrator or the canning equipment, got put onto the highest, least accessible shelf. The things you use every day get the best real estate.
If you put your jewelry on in the bathroom in the morning, then it makes sense to find a solution to store it in there. Say your kids only read in the living room, then it makes perfect sense for their books to be stored there. If they like to get their own snacks after school, give them their own cabinet that they can reach themselves. When you feed the pets in the mudroom every day, then that’s where you should store their food.
There are no wrong answers here. If it works for you and it’s easy for you to maintain, then it’s what you should do.
I am ABSOLUTELY NOT going to tell you to go full Kondo on your house. Who can live like that? But what I will say, is that if your house is getting overwhelming, you might want to ask yourself a few questions:
More than 2 no answers will tell you the direction you need to go – and that direction is to donate it to someone who can get better use from it.
Seriously, don’t hold the item to your chest and ask if it brings you joy – but there are probably some things stacking up that you don’t really need to keep around.
OR, if you need absolutely everything, maybe it’s time to start looking for a bigger place or thinking about a reno.
Disorganization is usually a sign that something larger isn’t working. So figure out if the stuff you have is really needed, or if you need to find a better house for your stuff.
Walls are SO underutilized.
Look up! Look at ALL THAT STORAGE SPACE! Can you get all those pans out of a drawer and up onto a wall? Will hooks double your coat storage? Could you store extra soap on a shelf above the door of your tiny bathroom?
Not every storage problem is going to be solved with the floor space in your home.
Any project that you take on is only as good for as long as it lasts. So if you are cleaning out your office, or the kid’s room, or even just your medicine cabinet, make sure that you give yourself a solution that will adapt to your changing needs.
Don’t buy a bookcase that ONLY holds the number of books you own today. Give yourself room to grow, because there will always be more books (or toys, or serums).
I always think I can live with a one-in, one-out situation, but it always makes me too sad. Don’t be sad – buy another bookcase now for next year’s new releases.
So now that you’ve decided that you want to keep everything, the first thing I would do is determine if a piece of furniture would immediately solve your issue. There’s a 50/50 chance the answer is yes.
So here are some of my favorite case goods to get your stuff organized.
This is the EASIEST trick in this entire post. If you have a need for even one hook anywhere in your home, don’t do just one hook. Do at least 3, and 6 is better. Towels, clothes, bags, coats, bins with toys, dress-up clothes, folding chairs, cleaning baskets, tools, anything. A neat, level line of hooks is the easiest way to clean up your space.
Always check your measurements before you order – the photos online never give the real story when it comes to scaling. Some of these hooks are big, some are small. All are functional as hell.
Don’t let your walls go to waste!
Jars aren’t just for the kitchen. I love these in the bathroom for bath bombs & scrubs, in the bedroom for earplugs and hair ties, and in the kid’s rooms for the craft supplies. Even the garage for screws and drill bits. Everywhere!
There are lots of basic, clear glass options out there. In my tiny, pantry-less kitchen, I’ve found that 24oz Pint & a Half Wide-Mouth Ball Jars are a great tool that fits just about everywhere I want to put it. It’s how I store all my pasta, grains and baking needs.
Here though, I’ve rounded up some more interesting options that you don’t see every day: spice jars with unusual finishes, square shelf jars that maximize space and have air-tight lids, and counter jars that add a bit of style.
And no plastic, because it never lasts and can’t be recycled!
I have never lived in a house with a pantry. But my sister does – a big old western one with deep shelves that could probably double as a 4th bedroom. At the very least a dog hotel.
Big pantries like that have a dirty secret: they’re simply TOO big. Things get messy easily, you can never see what you have, and food gets pushed to the back of the shelves and expires unused.
But you know what solves this? A whole bunch of matching pantry bins, all lined up in a row, filled with whatever you think goes together. The key is that they have straight sides to sit close to one another on the shelf, and have handles or openings to carry to the counter easily.
So here are my favorites…and these all also work great in under-sink cabinets, in cabinets without doors, or open shelves anywhere.
While adding wall hooks might be the most effective tip I give you, matching hangers is the most satisfying. It makes it feel like you actually have your shit together somehow. And with the right hanger, you can double or triple the number of clothes you can fit in your existing closet.
So do yourself a favor and go ahead and order the fancy matching hangers. Live your best life.
So these are the cherry on top of a well-organized home. Totally not necessary, but so, so helpful. These are my favorite tools:
And that’s it my friends! Happy Organizing!
You can do this! You can have a house that works FOR you and isn’t annoying!
But, if you ever need help, let me know! I’m always here to help!
Quick & easy organization ideas for all the stuff in your home.
Detailed planner, seasoned shopper, & thoughtful creator of easy solutions for the overwhelming design projects in your busy life.
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