Home Organization Ideas - The Best Tips (You Need Now)

Home Organization Ideas – The Best Tips (You Need Now)

This is the top guide for home organization ideas to make your entire house feel like it was done by a professional organizer.

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Why Read This Article On Home Organization Ideas?

Look, I’ve been there…

  • ​Does it feel like you can never truly clean because you’re always picking up stuff?
  • Do you constantly feel like you’re cleaning your home and it’s never clean?
  • When you open cabinets or closets do items topple down?
  • Do you feel like you’re chasing after messes in one space so they can pop up in another?
  • ​Does it feel like you have to spend an entire day cleaning every weekend just to stay on top of things?
  • Do you feel like you can never find anything?
  • Is life especially hectic right now and you need an easy solution fast – a new job, new baby, new pet, new health issue/injury?

If you feel like you just need to go through your home with a giant trash bag and clear out stuff or spend a fortune on home organization items… hang on a second…

The truth is that it actually all comes down to rules.

By rules I mean the systems you set into place and practices you keep for your home.

If you cleaned only yesterday and by the next, you feel like it couldn’t even be possible that your place has already gotten so messy I know what’s going on…

See the truth is, organization is really just about keeping a simple set of non-negotiables for keeping up your entire home.

And you don’t have any systems in place for cleaning or organization.

You might have some “rules” but they probably aren’t working for you.

You might think… 

  • I always load the dishwasher before bed
  • I wash clothes once a week
  • I always do a big cleaning on Sundays…

Let me ask you this,

  • I always load the dishwasher before bed … but do you empty it first thing in the morning?
  • I wash clothes once a week … do they sit in laundry baskets that have been unfolded or half-folded on your couch or bed?
  • I always do a big cleaning on Sundays… that’s great, but do you clean at all (even just small amounts) during the week to prevent excess messes?

Your rules aren’t working… 

What I mean is that your rules aren’t helping you!

It can be so easy for a home to become a “disaster” if you don’t have rules or the rules you have don’t make sense.

​In this article, I am going to help you create quality home organization rules and share the best tips and ideas for each room of your home.

The Best Home Organization Ideas

As mentioned above, your rules (if any) for keeping your home organized aren’t working.

The first step before we dive into the best home organization ideas is to determine where the issues lie.

Don’t skip this part!!!

​Now it’s time to ask yourself, where do you see the biggest issues in terms of organization in your home?

For example,

  • Does your countertop or table become a “dumping ground”?
  • Can you never find anything in your bathroom cabinets?
  • Do tons of items fall over or out of your kitchen cabinets when you open them?
  • Are you always tripping over shoes in your entryway?
  • Is your kitchen sink or counter constantly covered in dirty dishes?

Identify a few spaces in your space that you often find become the biggest and most disastrous.

In these spaces, it’s clear you don’t have any systems for keeping them organized.

Let’s dive into some organization ideas for each room of the house.

Don’t jump around because some rules follow a helpful order. 

Now let’s dive into some helpful rules for keeping your spaces organized…

When creating a rule or system for home organization you need to determine:

Helpful Home Organizing “Rules”

What the issue is

For example, “The couch is always so cluttered, I can’t even sit on it”.

Identify the main problem area in the space so you can build a rule around it.

What the effort is

This will help you determine the frequency of organizing it.

Typically if it’s an easy thing to maintain (usually this is the case) you should keep this up daily. 

Most things should be kept up on a daily basis to prevent having to spend an entire day organizing your garage for example.

The simplest solution to all of this is the golden rule of organization…

If you use it… put it back when you’re done.

I know it can seem impossible to do if you’ve never done this before… and it can seem overly simple, but that’s simply because it is. If you’ve never done something like this before, you’re often going to forget to do it.

If you never put your shoes away when you first come in the house, of course, it’s going to be hard at first to remember to put them back.

How To Create “Rules” For Home Organization

Now build and maintain your rule. This means actually “practicing” the new rule and training yourself to follow it!

That’s why you literally have to practice/train yourself to follow these rules.

For things that are a more intensive undertaking you can’t do on a daily basis such as cleaning out your bathroom drawers or organizing your closet, those would then be organized weekly monthly, or annually (depending).

Create simple games for yourself to keep up with messes.

For example, you, your kids, your partner, your roommate(s), etc. agree that at 5 pm each night for a week you count up the number of items that have been “left out”. Then by the end of the week run a tally and the person with the least number of items left out wins a prize!

It might sound silly or simple or childish, but I promise you, it’s a great exercise because it “trains you” to look out for items and want to put them away when you finish using them.

You’re literally practicing cleaning as you go.

Now let’s dive into some good “rules” to follow in a living room to keep it organized and prevent clutter and messes.

Keep Clutter Off The Couch

As a general rule, your couch should not be a “dumping ground”.

It can be so easy for it to feel like an extra space for things like folding laundry because it’s an easy place to put things since it’s large and clean and not the floor lol.

However, just like a table, items shouldn’t live there for days and days other than items that belong there. It should be ideally removed as soon as you are done, and again the easy way to keep it cleaned is to put the item away as soon as possible.

Routinely Re-Shape Your Sofa

What I mean by this is to physically put together your couch each day.

Most couches have items like throw pillows and blankets, and many need re-fluffing or smoothing depending on the couch.

It might seem silly, but folding the blankets and replacing pillows each night before bed for example makes such a huge difference in the look of the space.

Baskets Of Laundry Don’t Live In The Living Room (or Bedroom)

Trust me, this is a hard one for many people.

If you don’t fold laundry in the living room, the same rule applies to whatever room you use.

It’s so easy for laundry to build and build and build.

I get it… after a long day the last thing you want to do might be fold clothing and then put it away, but this is a key thing to do to keep your living room an organized space.

Set up a rule for yourself… fold laundry as soon as you get a new basket of clean laundry, fold laundry on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, fold laundry once a week while watching a movie, etc.

Just remember that whatever the rule you create you have to stick to it… and that folded clothing doesn’t live on the couch either.

Clear Your Tables At Least Once Per Day

Many people eat dinner or work on their couch or at their counter, many people dump items when they walk in on their counter, and complete projects sitting at a table, such as puzzles and crafts, etc.

Essentially, some of the biggest messes are counters, tables, and coffee tables.

It’s so important to clear off your tables and counters at least once a day.

If it seems overwhelming just remember that it’s actually a comparatively smaller space than say, a whole room, so think of it as a “quick cleaning” that once you complete it can feel accomplished.

Use Baskets For Like-Items

Baskets are a great organization tool, especially for small items that you don’t want to display typically dog toys, puzzles, games, toys, and supplies.

Baskets also hide messes if they aren’t see-through which makes them great for making a room look less cluttered. 

The important rule to remember is that a basket, unless used for quick dumping items on a counter to sort later should not be used for a million different types of items.

They should just be used for like-items only so they have a “home”.

A good rule of thumb is that all items in your house should have a “home”.

Display Only A Few Decorations On Open Shelving

Open shelving is a great option for storing items such as pictures, plants, and books. 

They are also great for preventing other spaces such as table tops from getting overly crowded.

However, don’t allow your shelving units to become a catch-all for random items. Rather, treat them with almost a respect of sorts such as a display to prevent putting random items mixed in with nicer display items.

​Your Desk Is Your Sanctuary – Not A Dumping Ground

Trust me, I’m certainly guilty of this. It’s easy to use a desk space as a place for putting items you don’t feel like you have time to sort.

However, it’s important to treat your desk as a place with reverence lol. 

Think of it like this… 

  • This is where to make money
  • Your desk is where you provide from
  • This is where you create
  • Your desk is where you will write your book

… whatever the reasoning your desk should not act as a catch-all place for messes.

Make Your Bed

There is so much scientific evidence out there supporting the benefits of making your bed.

It’s good for your brain, it prevents you from wanting to get back into bed, it looks more welcoming, it makes your room feel like a safe and calming place… the list goes on…

Simple, just make your bed. It takes only a minute or two per day and it’s a great way to take care of you and your home.

See Your Clothes, See Your Shoes

I know this is a hard one, especially if you’re living with limited space.

However, being able to see all your items is a great way to help stay organized.

If you have a small closet there are racks you can set up in your space and with a little organization you can use it to create a capsule wardrobe.

Of course if you have a huge closet, creating closet systems for organizing is really key to keeping it from becoming a looming pile.

If you have a lot of shoes, investing in a nice shoe rack is such a game-changer for storage space.

Trust me, after years of experience with piles of shoes in corners of closets or rooms this simple idea can save you a lot of space, make it easier to see your items, and is a great way to keep a tidy home.

​These rules apply in many spaces of a home. 

I hope you enjoyed these home organization ideas for keeping your space, whether it’s a big space like an entire room or a small space like kitchen drawers organized.

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