Why Organize Your Home?

The holidays can be heartwarming and fun filled, but can also present a lot of unwanted stress. Starting out the new year by organizing your home can be a great way to bring some peace and calm and provide positive growth in your life as you move through this winter season. Here are some tips to organize your home and life and make doing so, a less daunting task.

“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
– Albert Einstein

First, look at the overall picture but don’t get overwhelmed. Start small.

Start Small When Decluttering

When jumping into reorganizing your home and life, start small to not get too overwhelmed. Don’t head down to your overstuffed basement of ill-fitting clothes, discarded couches from college and other castaways that didn’t sell at that last yard sale you held nine years ago.

Instead, try starting in your bathroom. Clean out the drawers and dispose of unused or expired products. If you don’t use it, you don’t need it. Getting rid of old medicines, hygiene products, broken hair dryers and other dust-covered clutter is a great way to get used to throwing unnecessary items away and will be a useful skill when getting into the depths of organizing.

Clean as you go. Do that dusting, vacuuming and scrubbing you’ve put to the side one too many times. You’ll start to add an extra sparkle to those rooms as you declutter, organize and clean.

Beginning this process in a small room like a bathroom will be much easier to complete and will give you a great motivational boost to move on to the next!

Moving On

After you’ve put that first room behind you, it’s time to move on. Keep in mind not to do too much at once, but keep pushing through while you have momentum decluttering your house.

Go through drawers. If you haven’t worn it any time over the last year, consider donating to a charity or to those in need. It’s a quick way to start opening up extra space for belongings that have never had a home.

As you lessen your load, look at the room like a Tetris puzzle. Find the best places to use containers for storing off season clothes and other items you can’t find the will to part with and still need to hold on to.

Visualize what places best suit each item, whether that be under the bed, stairs, tops of cabinets, between dressers, etc. Containers are made in all shapes and sizes. Not sure? Get out that tape measure and take the exact measurements needed to make your home an organizational masterpiece.

Keep It Up. You’re Doing Great!

You’re doing great so here’s another pointer. Open up your kitchen cabinets. Pull out and sort your cookware and appliances by those you use and those you don’t. Once again, if you haven’t used it in the last couple of years, it’s likely not worth taking up space in your home – and life.

There are many places like eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to sell items online. If it’s broken and you still use it on occasion, get it fixed. If it’s broken beyond repair, pitch it! Don’t be afraid to throw things away, and always recycle when possible.

Now that you’ve finished your bathroom, bedrooms and kitchen, let’s get messy and deeper into that hidden clutter. Yep, we’re talking about those boxes of tchotchkes and other miscellaneous debris.

That Box of Wires

Psst … yes, you. We’re talking to you with that box of wires, cables and technological oddities sitting in the bottom of a closet or in a basement corner! When was the last time you actually needed that obsolete adapter? Can you find the appliance that once used it – or is it broken and collecting dust on the shelf?

It doesn’t have to be boxes of cables. Think of any box or container of old toys, gadgets, clothes, knickknacks, etc., that you haven’t touched in years. Get in there and sort through it. Keep only items that you use frequently and that still work, and toss items you will never use again.*

*Remember to properly dispose of electronics, batteries and other items that could be hazardous to the environment.

Go Paperless

Paper can easily build up around us, and before we know it, the surfaces of our furniture are towering with paper. Deal with any paper right when you get it. When you walk in your door, don’t procrastinate. Open up and keep what’s necessary and recycle what’s not. Don’t pile up your kitchen table and dressers with unnecessary paper products.

After you get into that useful habit, go through all of your accounts, bills, memberships, etc,. and then get online and switch to paperless billing and notifications. You will slowly start to see less and less paper bulk show up at your home.

There You Have It!

We hope we’ve provided you with a few simple tips to organize your home and life. Once you get started, you will start to feel a stronger sense of peace and calm, and you will be able to face other tasks with more confidence and ease.

The key thing to remember is to keep at it. Don’t get overwhelmed. Work at your own pace, but be disciplined and diligent. Making use of these pointers will create more room for more important aspects of your life and mind.

Feel free to check out our blog for other articles that may be useful.