Inside: Ready to organize your home? Learn 3 easy-to-remember steps to an organized space. It can be used to organize your entire home from the junk drawer to the garage.
Have you ever thought “I need help organizing my house?” Maybe you’ve watched an organizing show like Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. Or perhaps you’ve considered hiring a professional organizer to organize your home.
Having an organized space doesn’t have to be complicated or costly. In fact, using my simple Organized Home Equation I’ve been able to transform my home with small doable projects.
What is the Organized Home Equation
The Organized Home Equation is an easy-to-remember formula you can use to organize every space in your home. The steps in this equation will help you love your home even more. They will help you take your home from chaotic to calm.
This simple equation will help you remember the 3 things you need to have in place for an organized home. It’s not uncommon for people to overcomplicate home organization and decluttering by looking for unique steps to apply to various areas of their house. This formula be used in any room in your home, there’s nothing complicated about it.
Step 1 – How to organize your home with the “Right Stuff”
The first step in the Organized Home Equation is to make sure you’re organizing the right stuff. Right Stuff means only keeping the things you like, need, and or use.
No one wants to waste time on things they no longer want, like, or need. Having extra things will cost you time and space, and if you never or rarely use them, it’s a big drain on your energy.
In Step 1 of the Organized Home Equation, you want to be ruthless and get rid of as much stuff as possible before moving on to Step 2, Right Place.
Some organizing experts will say that you have decluttered your entire home at once or even an entire bedroom. Others will challenge you to declutter in a weekend. While these approaches can be effective for some, they can be overwhelming for others. They may not be practical for your life situation.
Where to Start When Organizing Spaces
When it comes to decluttering your stuff, I recommend starting with something small that will give you a quick win and help increase your motivation to continue.
You can start organizing spaces as small as a Junk Drawer, bathroom drawer, or even a single bin/shelf in your pantry.
Getting Rid of Unwanted Items
Be sure to quickly get your discarded items out of your house…specifically aim for one week.
You have several options for discarding things. Sell them if they are in reasonably good condition, recycle them if they are unusable, or donate to a charity or family that might be in need. Finally, if there are no other options, you can put them in the garbage. The key is to get rid of the items quickly and by quickly I mean within one week. Otherwise, they just become a clutter trap for the future.
Decluttering and getting rid of things is an important first step to an organized home. Keep the things you like, need, or use, and get rid of the rest.
Step 2 – Organize Your Home by Storing Items in the “Right Place”
Once you have the right stuff, you can move on to step 2 of the Organized Home Equation…Right Place. Right Place means your items are stored in a location that makes sense for you and your family in a way that makes the most of your space. This is important because you need to have both form and function in your home.
Professional organizers will work with you to understand how your home flows and ultimately store things in close proximity to where they are used most.
Home Organization Tips
Let’s look at specific things you can do right now to help organize your home.
- Make sure everything in your home has an assigned home. If there’s nothing defined, it will surely become cluttered and disorganized.
- Store things where you use them. You want to keep things close to where you use them.
- Don’t buy containers until after you’ve edited, sorted, and measured the space. Determining the right container is both a personal and a functional preference.
Making sure every item has an assigned home helps prevent clutter. Storing things in the right place help your home function properly. Creating zones helps you find things when you need them and keeps an area organized.
Step 3 – Keep Your Home Organized with the “Right Method”
Once you have the right stuff in the right place you can move on to part 3 of the Organized Home Equation…Right Method. Once you make sure you have the right stuff in the right place, the right method will help you [and your family] maintain your space and keep it in order.
After you’ve organized your house, it’s easy to think “I’ve decluttered, why isn’t my house staying tidy!?!” The main thing you need to do is put systems and routines in place to maintain your organized home.
Home Organization Systems and Routines
A system is your process for HOW you get things done. Let’s take paperwork for example. Do you keep hard copies and put it in a file cabinet, make it electronic, shred it or put it in the recycle bin?
The routine looks at WHO and WHEN you deal with your paperwork.
System = how paperwork is dealt with within your home
Routine = your process for who and when the paperwork is dealt with.
You could have a system in place, but if you don’t have a routine to support it, the system will fall to the wayside.
You want to create home organization systems for the things that expire, we outgrow, or have a due date. Paper, clothing, and food are the most common things coming into our homes and being shuffled around our homes. These are things you should create systems for.
Example systems include labeling baskets or shelves of where items go so that you know where to find or where to return them.
Routines will stem from the systems you put in place. A few common routines are:
- An end of the day pick up
- Clearing off counters and tables
- Mail sorting
- Cleaning out expired food
After investing time to declutter and organize, these small steps will protect the hard work you’ve done!
Take Steps To Organize Your House
It’s time for you to take action. Here is an easy way to start. Write down your answers to these questions and commit to taking action within the next 30 days.
- Right Stuff: What are the 1-3 small areas that you could declutter to get a quick win?
- Right Place: What are the things that frequently end up in piles around your home. Assign them a permanent home.
- Right Method: What is 1 system you’ll put in place to maintain and optimize your space?
I really like the explanation of system and routine. I’m going to use it to help my household get on the same page about homecare. Mail and groceries just stay where they land, which could be anywhere in our home. Being direct about what occurs will make our home cleaner. Thank You!