Want to organize your home? Make space
The Problem with Home Organizing
Organization is all well and good, if you have the space. The problem is, most people don’t have the space to be truly organized. Household organization isn’t about creating more space—or it shouldn’t be. Organizing your home is about creating places for your things and then always putting those things back into those places. How can you do this effectively if you don’t have any space available? You have to make space.
The Home Organization Solution
It’s really a simply stated two step process you have to follow any time you want to organize something.
- First, you make space
- Then, you organize that space
Making space to organize
If you’re not one for giving things up once you get your hands on them, this is going to be hard on you. If you really want to organize your space, though, you have to do this part.
Get rid of everything you don’t need, want, or have room to store. Sometimes this can mean making hard choices. I’ve already written about how you can use three quick questions to help you cut clutter. Start there. Ask yourself those questions and then move on to the tips below.
The first and easiest step to creating more space in your home for organizing your things is to do away with duplicates. Getting rid of duplicates will cut clutter, save space, and give you more time to put things in their place.
Yes, you love your electric can opener. But does it work for all your cans, or do you find yourself using your hand held can opener at least once or twice a week? If so, you might as well get rid of the electric space-hogging can opener and use only the hand held. The hand held is multifunctional, and it’s much easier to store in a much smaller amount of space than your electric. Apply this thought process to all your kitchen gadgets and see if you don’t end up with a lot more space (or a lot less overflow) than you started with.
To get rid of even more junk around your home, cut out the clutter. How do you make room in your bathtub for clean, clear water? You drain out the old. You’d never dream of leaving that old used water in your tub after it had outlived its usefulness. Why do the same with household clutter?
Next, immediately throw out anything that’s broken or not working properly. It might not be clutter, but it’s useless. If it’s something you use a lot and really need to have around, then why haven’t you replaced it yet? Only sentimental items should get a pass on this step, and then only if you truly want to have the item around.
Finally, take a close look at everything you have. Do you like it? If there’s stuff lying around that you’re hanging on to because of guilt or family pressures, but you don’t really like, get rid of it. Give it away or throw it away, but don’t let feelings stop you from living an organized life.
Organizing your space
You’re going to love this part. Organizing is nothing more than designating a place for each of your belongings and then putting those things in their place.
How you decide what goes where is really up to you. Some people like to alphabetize books, others just want to know there’s an empty spot on the bookshelf for the book they’re reading. It makes sense that you do it however you like it. You’re more likely to put your things away if it’s easy to do.
I keep my like items grouped together, and I make sure there’s room for those items where ever I’ve designated they should go. Always try to keep some spare room. You’d be surprised at how much easier it is to put things away when you know where to put them and that yes, there’s enough space there. Your family will love it when you can tell them exactly where to find something.
Look around you, make some space, and get organized!
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