Teach me the art of organization

[arelyn]

Give me your best tips, tricks, resources and ideas. We aren't THAT busy, we don't have THAT much stuff. There's no reason for our home to be this disorganized!

[Tuesdayschild]

Labeled boxes.

---------- Post added at 09:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 AM ----------

Oh, and a clean laundry basket per person / bedroom / storage location. Fold straight into the correct basket - much easier to put it all away :mrgreen

[Indigo]

"A place for everything & everything in it's place." Throughout the day, as I am moving throught the house, I pick up what is out of place & return it. (Mainly things off of the kitchen table & countertops, stuff left laying around.) The kids are taught to put their things away & w/reminders do pretty well. I am a "clean as I go" type of person, so if I see something that needs attention, I try to take care of it then.

Every morning I start off the day w/my "morning housework" - all beds made, dishes done, laundry caught up (at least folded & put in individual baskets), house tidied. Often I add at least a quick wipe down of bathrooms. W/this foundation done, it is easy to maintain the house the rest of the day.

HTH.

[Kiara.I]

"A place for everything & everything in it's place."

:up That's where I get stuck. How do you figure out where something should live? Especially when, at the moment, things *don't* have places? Not a skill I grew up with... :sigh

[mamaeffie]

baskets and bins, of all sizes. and vigilance to put things where they belong. it's habit training, really.

[Indigo]

:up That's where I get stuck. How do you figure out where something should live? Especially when, at the moment, things *don't* have places? Not a skill I grew up with... :sigh

I would start by organizing closets, cupboards, basement, attic. Like pp said, baskets & bins are helpful. I also like to use under the bed storage bins - ours currently hold 1. hats, scarves & gloves in one, 2. dress up clothes in another, 3. the kids bags and throw blankets in another. (That last one is a good example of "a place for everything". We had a lot of carry bags & snuggly blankets around, but no where to store them, thus the bin!)

Also, if we don't have room for something, we don't bring it home. We have a pretty small home for 6 people, so we need to be creative about storage, as well as continually be decluttering.

[houseforjoy]

:cup

[Saphirah]

Make a home close by to where you would use it. Master bed sheets in master closet. House hold tools in a drawer in the main living area. No mixing the kids clothes together to wash. Each has their own basket toss in the washer when full.

Homes for things can move if they aren't working for you. I have scissors stashed around the house cuz I don't want to find them in "the scissor home" half way across the house. I'm constantly rearranging homes for stuff, drives dh nuts but I'm the one who puts stuff away so my rules.

Sent from my Nexus 4

[crunchymum]

When I have time, I can discribe a little bit of the process I was taught- CLEAR.

Catagorize
Letting Go
Elected Homes
Appropriate Containers
Revisit

[MegMarch]

I'm learning to work with my own mojo. A lot of organization tips are just not for me. I can't deal with micromanaging. I get overwhelmed and give up. So I can deal with keeping all my shirts organized by sleeve length but my hangers don't match and I don't worry about a rainbow color order. DD's pjs are in their own drawer but not folded. I like to be able to see stuff easily. So bins with locking lids aren't favorites but drawers are.

Throw stuff away. A lot. Donate stuff. A lot.

Experiment. You can try to find homes for things and if they don't work, so what? It was some wasted time but that's all. You can give another home a go.

[Mother of Sons]

That's where I get stuck. How do you figure out where something should live? Especially when, at the moment, things *don't* have places? Not a skill I grew up with...

The homes should be where you use the item. All of my baking stuff is all together, all of my cooking stuff is all together. All of my gift wrapping stuff is all together. All of my sewing stuff is together (and yes that means multiple pairs of scissors etc)

A great book that is very easy to read and not too stuffy or over done is called the house that cleans itself. it has tons of great ideas to make your home more functional. For example even though we have a closet right next to the front door the coats were always tossed somewhere and shoes were in a pile by the door. So I built a row of hooks next to the door and because its just as easy as dropping the coat on the couch, the coats are always hung up. I put a storage bench under the hooks and now the extra shoes go there and there is no more shoe pile.

I moved all of my sewing stuff into the front closet and made it a sewing desk with storage so now when I want to sew I can just sew instead of dragging it out to the living room (which always equalled a mess)

Every family's habits are different. Observe your messes and see what you could put there to solve the problem.

[jenny_islander]

I fight a continual battle against piles. Some of my tips:

0. An apron with big pockets is excellent all-day indoor wear.

1. Never go from one room to another without taking something from one room to the other. If you can't find something that belongs in the other room, pat yourself on the back!

2. Never stand around waiting for things to cook. If you are microwaving soup, you can take the 2 minutes 30 seconds to put away clean dishes or wash some dirty ones. If you have 9 minutes until the pasta is done, wipe the counters.

3. Never leave the house without something that belongs outside it. It could be outgoing mail, a library book, or a bag of something: trash, recyclables, donations, whatever. Don't worry about using "too many" bags. If it's a choice between using more bags or having piles, get rid of the piles.

4. Make little pick-ups and clean-ups part of your routine. The wet towel from your hair goes on the stickiest stain on the table or floor after your shower. Swishing your mouthwash = time to wipe around the faucets with yesterday's hand towel and put in a fresh one. Etc. Just make it automatic and keep it short!

5. If you haven't touched it in more than a year, think about why it's still in the house. Did everybody just forget about it and also forget to get rid of it? Do you think you ought to do something with it, or that you might be able to someday? "Might" and "ought" and "I forgot" can create a heck of a lot of piles--get rid of them. Keep the things you are using right now, the things that will be used at a definite date (such as seasonal items or baby clothes), and the things that really mean a lot to you. Everything else needs to go away.

6. If you keep picking it up to get to something behind or beneath it, figure out where to put it or get rid of it. If you need it and you also need the thing behind or beneath it, move it all to a cupboard, box, bag, bin, basket, or shelf. List everything on or in that spot and keep the list in the front or on top. Update the list as needed. This will save time, money, and clutter, because if you are pretty sure you're out of duct tape, you don't have to guess (and possibly buy what you don't need) or unpack the whole fix-it cupboard; just check the list.

7. Sometimes we stop seeing the things we walk past every day. If you have a camera, take pictures or videos of the most cluttered rooms. Stand somewhere that is not on your usual traffic path. Does anything make you go, "Hey, wait, how long has that been there?" Then you just found something to take care of.

8. Keep all of these projects small unless you're the type who loves the feeling of tackling a big task. Even if you do like accomplishing big tasks, small children tend to derail them. Eat the elephant a little at a time; it'll keep.

[librarianjojo]

oooo....goody! An organizing thread! (If I lived close to you I would totally be at your house right now asking you if you really wanted to keep something. :shifty) The thing to remember is that you need about 3 "layers" of storage:

1. Everyday stuff. You will touch these items several times a week. These need to be very accessible, easy to find and easy to put back.
2. Weekly/Monthly stuff. This is what you will pull out fairly regularly, but not daily. A crockpot, feather duster, extra sheets, etc.
3. Long-term/Deep storage. You use this stuff occasionally. Your roasting pan, Christmas decorations, tax documents, etc. This stuff needs to be relegated to the far reaches of closets, attics, and garages.

Here's how you know if an organizing strategy isn't working: when you procrastinate getting something out or putting it away because of the work involved doing so. If you find yourself balking at putting away first aid supplies, it is time to revisit that organization strategy.

I would definitely start in the kitchen. It is the heart of the home and as the kitchen goes, so does the rest of the house. If you provide some pictures, we can all tell you where to put things. :shifty :heart

Good luck! :heart

[ArmsOfLove]

:up That's where I get stuck. How do you figure out where something should live? Especially when, at the moment, things *don't* have places? Not a skill I grew up with... :sigh

I forget where I read this, but it suggested getting those bankers boxes (at least 10 of them) and starting in a room and going through everything and putting "like with like" in the box. Have a bag for trash, and a pile/box/bag for donation.

When a box is full, look through it and see whether you need everything in the box. If you have 10 of something, get rid of at least 8 ;) And then decide where it makes the most sense to put that item/stuff. So if it's for crafting, figure out where you want to have your crafting stuff in the house. Then put it all in that place. Maybe a piece of furniture with drawers that will be organized with everything, maybe a whole room, maybe clear boxes stacked in the closet with labels :shrug3 Whatever suits you :)

The thing I have a hard time with is the "regular maintenance". I want the organization to be the end of it - but it just makes life easier and takes a ton of the stress out of everything. It does that regular maintenance to reevaluate, re-de-clutter, etc.