I am not naturally an organized person but I LOVE being organized. I love having my home in order. It lends to a sense of peace and ease. The fact that this does not come easily or naturally for me makes me the ideal person to share with you what I have learned about creating simple home organization. Here are some tips I have discovered:
- Clear out clutter. We’ve covered this in a couple of previous articles but it can’t be emphasized enough if we are seeking a home that is simply in order. Block off a few hours, grab some boxes and/or large garbage bags and do a massive sweep. Collect all the paper and items that can be recycled, donated, sold or thrown away. Clear it out!
- Function then style and sentiment. It’s important that 95% of the items in your home have a function that you actually use and need. 5% of the items can be purely for decoration or sentiment. For example, you might have a couple of awesome fat candles flanking your dining room sideboard that look super stylish but you also might light those candles for ambience during special dinners.
- Be selective with sentiment. Too many baby photos or too many art projects you saved from when your kids were little can end up cluttering your home environment. Select one or two special items per child for display. If you can’t part with the others, at least pack them away in the attic.
- Daily sweep. Every morning and every evening make a quick run through the house looking for papers, mail or other items that can be either tossed of filed.
- A home for for everything. When you take your earrings off at the end of the day, put them in the jewelry box. Kicking your shoes off at the door? Set up a shoe cubby. Dishes should either be in the cabinet or in the dishwasher.
These are just a few of the tips I’ve discovered work for me since we recently moved into the house we are living in. The key to simple home organization is ongoing effort to release what you don’t need and be conscious about how you interact with the items in your home so you don’t get lost in the stuff and stacks!
