We all know the pain. You’re trying to keep your home free of clutter, but no matter what you attempt, it always seems that there is never enough time in the day, nor enough little nooks and crannies to hide all of the detritus that tends to have a habit of forming throughout our lives. This problem can also be exacerbated if you’re a busy parent who has little free time, and when you do find time, you’d rather spend it with your children and family rather than sweeping the mess under the rug. Fortunately, though, with a bit of lateral thinking paired up with some time-tested techniques, there can be light at the end of the tunnel. We are offering several practical tips that you can use to keep your pride and joy organized, clean, and tidy via the power of proper storage.
Consider Storing Unused Items Outdoors
Yes, you read that correctly, and no, we certainly don’t advise turning your yard into something that wouldn’t look out of place in Shameless! We often overlook our outdoor space, which is incredible, seeing as most homes typically have large outdoor areas that mostly sit idle throughout the year. But, instead of simply dumping your old bots and pieces out into your garden to fend for themselves against the elements, there is an interesting option you can take advantage of. By investing in something like an affordable storage pod, you can free up an enormous amount of space while ensuring that everything you’ve stashed away remains safe and secure. This is the perfect option for allowing you a bit more time to organize your home, without having to become overly aggressive in checking things out or donating to Goodwill. While some may think these are akin to a storage unit, they differ in terms of affordability and, more importantly, convenience. Where a storage unit, as useful as they are, can be expensive and far away from most urban centres (due to the cost of land, etc.), a storage pod that sits neatly right outside your home is easily accessible at any time of the day, and comes in a range of sizes depending on your need and budget.
Spend Some Time Purging Old Clutter
For most of you reading this, the primary culprit in keeping your house in an unorganized state is the sheer amount of clutter. Life causes us to accumulate a wealth of things over time, and while most of it is valuable and useful, some of it is simply excess to requirements, yet remains in the house for whatever reason. It can be painful to begin this process, as often we simply don’t know where to begin, but by breaking things down into bite-sized chunks, you can make the job far less challenging and avoid the dreaded procrastination that often stops us from achieving organizational bliss. You can use the following technique to help you break the cycle and begin:
- Pick one area to start: This could be something like a drawer or a room, but it’s best to choose something easy to tackle to avoid becoming disheartened at the process.
- Sort what you find: Take everything out and sort it into piles that make sense (keep/ donate/ trash/relocate).
- Be as merciless as possible: You must ask yourself whether something is worth keeping if you haven’t used it in some time. In some instances, it might be an heirloom, in which case you obviously want to hold onto it, while in other cases it might be a dodad you bought a long time ago and only ever used once.
- Record evidence: This final option isn’t entirely necessary, but seeing the before and after can be a hefty boost to motivation!
Maximize Your Vertical Space
Maximizing vertical space is a fan favorite among most publications that usually publish these types of posts, but for a good reason. If you look at how you store your belongings, it’s often that they are no higher than waist height. This is obviously perfectly acceptable for things you use often, but for other items that come out far less frequently, why not stash them away up high to free up space for more useful stuff? In practice, this means more shelving and storage units, but for the best results, you can add in additional floors in rooms like your garage, where you can place all manner of clutter like Christmas decorations or vacation gear that only see the light of day for about one week per year.
Tackle Each Room Individually
Reorganizing an entire home can be a stressful event, especially when you have many rooms and a lot of stuff to tackle. But by approaching the job on a room-by-room basis, you can break down the task and ultimately make the task much more effective and efficient. You can even implement the following “hacks” to make each part of each room even more effective:
| Room | Focus area | Hack |
| Kitchen | Pantry and cabinets | Install turntables inside your corner cabinets to increase storage without changing anything too significantly. |
| Kitchen | Countertops | Group daily essentials together while stashing away really used or bulky equipment. |
| Living room | Funrtiutre | Invest in multipurpose furniture that allows you to hide items inside while remaining a functional part of the room (great for storing kids’ toys) |
| Bathroom | Under the sink | Install sliding shelves that are easy to access, ensuring that you will actually use them (rather than stash items away and forget about them until it’s time for spring cleaning) |
| Entryway | Hallway “drop zone.” | Add in a multi-level unit where you can drop the various items you have in hand when you enter your house (keys, letters, etc.). |
Invest In A Variety Of Storage Solutions
If you really want to boost your storage credentials, you will have to spend some money on any of the multitude of stage solutions that exist. These can include:
- Acrylic bins
- Woven baskets (if aesthetics is important)
- Vacuum bags (for seasonal clothing)
e Mess
Even if you opt to use all of the tips in this post and more, without maintaining discipline and forcing yourself to stay on top of the mess, you’ll only find yourself in the same position a year or less from now. Come up with a schedule that enables you to really go through your home, and which ought to keep the space feeling airy and light, rather than heavy and weighed down with clutter you probably don’t need.
Utilize Labels To Keep You Sane
If you choose to keep a lot of old stuff and store it away in storage bins and the like, make sure to build a fastidious habit of labeling. This makes your life much easier when the time comes to sort through everything. All it takes is a small purchase of a cheap label maker and some time to keep everything in a constant state of organizational nirvana.
Your home is your castle and really ought to be treated thusly. By using some or all of the tips in this post, you should find yourself in a home free of clutter and mess, happy that you put in the effort to complete the job once and for all.
