A Quick Guide to Organizing Your Home (Part 1 of 2)

Getting organized is no small feat. It’s hard enough to maintain order when you live alone—add in a spouse, a couple of kids, and a pet or two, and you have a truly Herculean task on your hands. If you’re wondering how to organize your home when spare time seems like it’s perpetually in short supply, keep reading for our easy room organization tips for almost every space under your roof.

Today, we’ll cover the foyer, the kitchen, and the living room. Check back with us tomorrow for tips to declutter bedrooms, bathrooms, and the garage.

The Foyer

Entryways are notorious dumping grounds for mail, shoes, backpacks, umbrellas, and all the other items we carry with us on a daily basis. Foyers vary in size, so if yours is on the small side, make use of the wall space. Hang hooks for keys, bags, and outerwear, and install shelving—perhaps adding small bins or boxes—as a landing spot for mail, spare change, sunglasses, and other small items.

Making these storage solutions accessible to all your family members will help keep the clutter under control, but it might be helpful to take five minutes every evening—as you check that the front door is locked before heading to bed, for example—to tidy up the area.

The Kitchen

Preparing and cooking meals is easier and more enjoyable in an organized kitchen. There may not be a quick solution for getting rid of kitchen clutter, but tackling the room one drawer or cabinet at a time will make the task much more manageable. Organize your kitchen for the way you cook to make maintaining order simpler. For instance, you should keep your most-used pots and pans easily accessible rather than buried deep in the cabinetry. Consider similar tactics for your pantry. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to kitchen storage. Plenty of everyday items can be repurposed or reused to make your culinary life easier.

The Living Room

Keeping a common space organized can be difficult, but it’s certainly not impossible. A measure of cooperation from your family members will be helpful in preventing clutter from taking over. Similar to tackling a mess in your home’s entryway, your living room will be easier to keep organized if everything in it has a place. That means finding a decorative tray or caddy for television and stereo remotes, bins or baskets for extra throw blankets and pillows, and storage pieces for toys, games, and books. Choosing furniture designed with built-in storage, like ottomans and occasional tables, can help keep infrequently used items completely out of sight.

Clutter is an almost unavoidable reality of everyday life, but it doesn’t have to take over. Think carefully about how you and your family use common spaces, and choose organizing solutions that fit your lifestyle. Stay on top of any messes that pop up by taking 10 or 15 minutes each evening to pick up stray items and return them to their proper place.

Try out a few of these tips tonight, and check back with us tomorrow for more organizing ideas for the rest of the house.