Are you as obsessed with organizing as I am? I love to read about it and find new tips to try. And while I’m not always so happy to actually do the work, I do enjoy the results.
One thing that I read recently said that you can’t organize your home unless it’s clean. I don’t agree with that. How can you possibly clean your home with all that extra junk around?
And before we get to the tips, here is my #1 rule: you can’t organize your house if it is cluttered.
I guess the beginning step to organizing is to get rid of the stuff that you don’t use or need. You know what I’m talking about.
Once you do that, you can put these great ideas to use:
1. Use binders for organizing papers. For instance, you might have a binder for monthly bills and statements. Get some dividers and sheet protectors to organize and protect everything. I also have one for manuals and purchase information on any big purchases we make, like appliances. I organize these by room, so the refrigerator’s information is filed under kitchen.
2. Make use of over the door shoe organizers. Shoe organizers (the fabric kind with pockets) are great for organizing all kinds of things. You could use one in the bathroom for makeup or toiletries or hair styling supplies. A see through one in your closet could hold your jewelry and scarves. One in the garage could hold small tools or gardening supplies.
3. Discover the versatility of plastic zip bags. When my kids were younger and we went camping or on vacation, I would store each day’s outfit in a ziplock bag. Everything was included except shoes. Easy to make sure you have enough outfits and easy to pack. You can also use ziplock bags in the kitchen (who knew?) to make food prep easier. For instance, put the ingredients for your morning smoothie in individual bags, one for each day. When buying chicken in bulk, divide it into serving sizes and put them in ziplock bags with some marinade. The snack sized bags are good for corralling like items in your junk drawer and making them easier to find.
4. Use clear plastic containers in your pantry. And before you go out to buy any, think again. Archer Farms from Target offers a huge snack selection packaged in clear plastic containers that are quite nice. The rice I buy from my grocery store also comes in a clear plastic container. If you shop at Costco or Sam’s Club, you may find many products packaged this way. The beauty of this over the original packaging is that they make the pantry more organized, make things easier to find, and lets you quickly see when you are running low on something. They are also better at protecting your food from critters or spilling.
5. Use baskets for storing like things. I have baskets everywhere! There’s a few in my pantry – one stores things like small packets of salad dressing or dip mix, onion soup mix, and things like that. Another one has pudding and Jello boxes. In my bathroom, I have a basket for my hair products and one for my husbands toiletries. I use one in the living room for holding books and magazines I’m reading. In the fridge, I use one for lemons and limes, cause we use a lot of them and I use another to hold sandwich supplies like lunchmeat, cheese, etc. It’s so much easier pulling that basket out than finding everything!
There you have it. 5 simple organizing tips. Just remember, get rid of the clutter first!