How To Be Better Organized

This might be one of my top five favorite topics. Organization is something that I’ve long time worked on and (not) surprisingly have still not perfected haha. Nonetheless here are some of my favorite tips and tricks at being organized and staying that way.

Labels
I like to be honest with you guys so I have to say, I definitely don’t have everything labeled in my house but I do have somethings, that majorly help keep me and my husband together. Labeling helps make sure that you know where things are at almost all times along with helping keep others on track for where things should go. I even suggest labeling a junk area if you have one. My husband and I don’t have ours labeled but we do both know exactly where it is haha and that’s what matters here.

Clear Bins
Another great way to avoid frustration and clutter is to use clear bins. This might even keep you from having to label everything since you can see right into them. The important part here is to still make sure you’re grouping like items. For example, if using clear bins in your pantry make sure you put together all of the spices, all of the starches, all of the canned items etc… you don’t want to just throw things in a bin because it’s clear.

Map Out the House
One of the things I did when I was first moving into the house was figure out a purpose for everything. Much like financial gurus tell you to do with your money, I’m telling you to do with your space. Even if a space is to be kept clear and with nothing in it, that should be part of the plan. Each room, closet, drawer and cabinet should have an intended purpose. If you can find a copy of your house plan that makes this much easier but if not, just draw one as best you can and go from there. Give each area in your house a designated purpose.

Flow With The Seasons
This one probably applies to most people already because most of us do “spring cleaning” and a little in the fall but it’s still worth mentioning. Staying organized is a little more complicated than cleaning in my opinion. When the seasons change and I’m switching out my summer closet to my fall/winter closet, I always make a point to reorganize the main areas in my house. My front closet is cleaned out and reset with winter jackets and shoes and my kitchen appliances are switched out ( I make a lot more crock pot recipes in the fall so I put it somewhere more accessible) and obviously my closet is cleaned out and refreshed. Like I mentioned, put items that you’ll use more in one season in a place that’s easier to find and put away items that you don’t use as much.

Keep a record
Much like labeling and mapping, it’s important to put things in a place that they won’t move from then right that down somewhere. For me it’s an electronic copy of what all is in our attic or under the house and in our storage room. This helps me quickly locate things if we’re looking for something that we can’t find anywhere else. Keeping a notebook or an electronic copy that is accessible to your entire family also cuts down on those phone calls asking where last years pajamas are that no one can find 😉

Stick to Your Routine
I think the hardest part about being and staying organized is picking places for things to go and then sticking to it. Part of why I’m still mastering the art of being organized is because I decide that something “makes more sense” to go somewhere else and the next time I’m looking for it I’ve totally forgotten that I moved it. The key here is taking a little time to decide where things belong and where they are going to make the most sense for you and your family and then sticking to that spot.

Don’t Over Clutter
Basically, don’t buy things you don’t need! This is so much easier said than done, trust me. Keeping your house organized is the first step to a LOT of things including organization in other areas of your life. One of the biggest steps to that is to make sure that you’re not cluttering up spaces and making it impossible to categorize areas. Believe me when I say that this is incredibly challenging for me, but it’s so good for you. Our brains actually don’t do well when they’re over stimulated and walking into a closet full of 60 pair of shoes lying around is just going to overwhelm you. If you’re like me, you’ve started to clean up and organize an area of your house a million times and just get overwhelmed and stop.

Tips and Tricks To Organization

Move things out
Like I said above, having TOO much stuff can be the biggest adversary to organization. If you’re trying to clean out and organize your kitchen, move every single thing out and into another area of the house.

Organize and Compartmentalize
Now it’s time to start putting like items together. This is always the kind of fun part for me. It’s the chance to make this process more like a game and put like things together.

Get Rid of Stuff
Again, one of the hardest parts for me is getting rid of items. But make a pile for keep, donate and trash and then fill each area up.

Decide their New Home
Now it’s time to decide what is going where and start moving things back into their new home.

EASY AS THAT! (insert sarcastic laugh). No honestly this is a lifelong process and one that has to be done continuously. You don’t just organize your home one time and then you’re done. As we grow and change, our needs wants and interest do to. That puffy sleeved sweater that I was obsessed with 5 years ago? Yeah she’s gone. I wear more colors than I use to so a lot of my black clothing has been given away too.

Make this process fun for YOU. Figure out the method that works best for you and your family and then go from there. This is not one size fits all nor does it have to be the way I’ve listed above. Just make sure that you’re doing what works best for you.

Let me know your favorite ways to organize below!

XOXO,
Camille