Plain and simple, a highly organized home runs more efficiently.  Imagine knowing at an instant where everything in your home is.  What a time saver! No more useless piles cluttering counters and tables, or drawers packed full of miscellaneous nonsense.

Organizing your home can be fun and relatively easy. Avoid feeling overwhelmed and take simple steps by tackling one room at a time. Crafting a less chaotic, more logical home environment is easier than you think.

Cut the Clutter

A basic “must do” when organizing your home is to focus on reducing clutter. Minimize décor to just essentials and favorites, and keep your home clean and tidy. Initiate seasonal or yearly “clean ups” where you discard unused, worn or unwanted items.

For spaces not regularly occupied – such as garages, attics or basements – ensure organization by utilizing plastic storage bins for seasonal clothing, old mementos or holiday decorations. Carefully sort the items and label the bins appropriately to ensure ease in locating them in the future.

Start With the Bathroom

Start on a small scale to ease you into your new organizing agenda by doing the bathroom first. Bathrooms serve specific purposes, so it’s best to incorporate function into your décor.

Here are three examples of how to accomplish this:

• Consider utilizing and displaying decorative apothecary jars in various sizes for storage of essentials such as cotton swabs, cotton balls, bath salts or hand soaps.
• Maintain order of skin care products, nail supplies, cosmetics and medicines that accumulate by carefully storing them by category in medicine cabinets or drawers.
• Establish further order to drawers by adding drawer organizers or dividers.  They come in countless sizes and shapes, and are a great way to keep nail polishes in one corner and hair products in another.

Maintaining this type of organization can save time and money by avoiding the repurchase of items you may already have that are buried at the bottom of a drawer.

When space is at a premium, or if you have an open vanity or pedestal sink, consider adding decorative baskets under the sink basin and open shelving for storing well-sorted essentials, extra toilet paper and cleaning products.

Bedroom and Closet Tips

Clothing is what comes to mind when tackling bedroom organization. Organize bedroom chests or dressers by storing like clothing together.  Separate socks from undergarments, and T-shirts from sleepwear.  Uniformity makes it a breeze to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Organize closets with seasonal clothing (when space is limited), and sort garments according to color, short or long sleeves, formal vs. casual, etc. Consider incorporating a closet organizer to maximize your given space, and also consider adding labeled bins or baskets for over-flow items such as scarves, swimsuits and handbags. Remember to sort through your clothing seasonally or annually to get rid of unnecessary or unwanted items that otherwise occupy precious space.

Kitchen Organization

A highly organized kitchen renders a highly efficient kitchen. Perhaps more than any other room in your home, the kitchen is function specific. Remove unnecessary knick knacks from countertops and replace with tasteful, useable items such as sleek knife sets, decorative utensil holders or oversized serving platters. When space is limited, think creatively and properly utilize what you do have. Consider overhead racks to store pots and pans, and magnetic knife or spice racks that can be easily mounted to the wall to save precious counter or drawer space.

Organize items such as dishware, glassware, serving bowls and Tupperware in cupboards, keeping similar pieces together and neatly stacked. Insert drawer organizers to store silverware, utensils, dish towels, storage bags, foil and plastic wrap; again keeping like items together.

Keeping food items stored neatly allows you to see what you’ve got on hand and helps avoid purchasing items multiple times.  Stack canned goods with labels facing forward, keeping soups with soups and veggies with veggies. Keep grains and pastas on one shelf and oils, vinegars and cooking sprays on another. Consider alleviating bulky boxes from your pantry and storing items such as cereals in stackable, air-tight containers.

A well-organized home helps establish an efficient, stress-free environment for all its inhabitants. If you’re seeking more organization and structure at your home, roll up your sleeves and get started with these tips. Embrace the fun in these projects as you clean, sort, pitch, categorize and rearrange one room at a time.

Sources:

http://www.marthastewart.com/866941/30-organized-kitchens/@center/276989/organizing#275188
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning-organizing/master-bathroom-organizing#slide-1
http://www.myhomeideas.com/healthy-home/organizing-cleaning/how-to-organize-closet