Tiffany Raiford
Aside from weight loss and bettering yourself in the New Year, many people resolve to become more organized. It’s a wonderful concept. I can tell you as someone who has always been a bit anal about organization that it makes life so much simpler, so much more manageable and so much less stressful. When we have a moment of disorganization in our house (when we moved, for instance) things tend to get out of whack, make me grouchy and cause havoc in my life, and getting back to organization is the ultimate peace of mind. Whether you are looking to organize your home, your office, your social life, your family life or just the chaos that manages to ensue each morning when you are trying to get a start on the day, you should take some tips from some of the most organized people in the world. We have 10 tips for organizing your home that will make you wonder why it took you so long to decide to organize in the first place.
Tackle One Project at a Time
If you’re looking to organize your home, do one thing at a time. The likelihood that you can organize your entire house at once is ridiculous and it’s doing to do nothing more than cause you undue stress and anxiety. Pick one aspect of your home and start there. Perhaps starting small, organizing one closet, your pantry or a bathroom, will help you get in the groove and boost your confidence so you can tackle larger projects next (please do not start with the garage).
Use Glass Jars
Do this all over the house. Put cotton balls, q-tips and anything else in them in the bathroom. Put sugar and flour and cereal and pasta in them in the pantry. Put nails and screws and whatnot in them in the garage. When you can see what you have, you know what you have. This makes you more organized. It also makes your house look a little bit chicer since you don’t have unattractive bags and boxes all over your counters and in your pantry.
Put Grocery Bags in a Tissue Box
Instead of balling them up and shoving them inside one another and eventually ending up with dozens of grocery bags floating around your pantry, shove them inside a tissue box. This keeps them hidden and out of the way, but still allows you easy access to what you need so that you can get to a bag when it’s necessary without making a mess.
Buy a Chalkboard for the Kitchen
There is no better way to get organized than by putting a pretty chalkboard in the kitchen. It’ll help you keep up your grocery list, it’ll help you keep up with reminders, and it will help you stay organized. At the end of the day, clean it off so you start fresh each and every day. It’s a simple way to keep you on top of everything in your household.
Use Shower Curtain Hooks
Do you have scarves or belts or handbags? If so, you need shower curtain hooks in your closets. You can hand these items from these so that they’re not piled on shelves, jumbled in corners or tossed on the floor. It’s a simple solution to finding more space for things you need and keeping your closet more organized than ever before. Use them to hold these things up, as well, so that they stay intact and last much longer.
Get Rid of Clutter
You know where it is, and you know you need to get rid of it. Do it now. You don’t need all that stuff that’s crowding your junk drawer or all those magazines taking up space in your coffee table drawers. Get rid of all of it now and you will find that your life feels a bit more organized and enjoyable. We love to have clean drawers, clean closets and clean cabinets. It makes it much easier to keep your life organized since you will not be dealing with a ton of ‘stuff’ you no longer need in your life.
Keep a Calendar
Believe it or not, a calendar is going to make you more organized. It’s going to remind you of things that are coming up so that you can get insurance cards, directions, gifts or whatnot in order before you find yourself scrambling at the last minute. It’s going to give you a chance to keep track of all schedules, know where everyone is in your house and plan out your time in advanced. Your home is better organized when you are better organized.
Organize Your Pantry
It’s time to get in there and get rid of stuff. You know what I’m talking about. You probably have so many things in your pantry that are taking up space, wasting space and making you completely miserable. How many cereal boxes are in there that have nothing in them? How much of your food is disorganized and in the wrong place? You can actually save money and time by organizing your pantry so that you know what you have at all times. And we can tell you that if you have kids who take lunches or snacks to school, it’s a great idea to organize those for the week in advance so that packing lunches becomes that much simpler.
Get a Desk Organizer for Cabinets
Your cabinets are probably a mess, like most of ours. Desk organizers, those metal things you use to hold your files on top of your desk, can be used in your kitchen cabinets for your pans and your pot lids. This means you’ll have more organization and won’t have to dig around (or make a huge noise) finding that one cookie sheet, or that brownie baking pan each time you are in the kitchen.
Check Expiration Dates
Half your house is probably expired. From your food to your makeup to your lotion, check every bathroom and kitchen cabinet and drawer and throw away anything that has passed its date of expiration. You don’t need that in your life. It’s part of your clutter, and it’s serving you no purpose. This means it’s time to get rid of it.
Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
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