10 Tips for a More Organized Home

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By Kacie Ferrazzo

We are rolling through January. It's easy to lose steam on New Year's Resolutions. If you made a resolution to get a more organized home or if you simply desire to be more organized, here are 10 tips to help you achieve your goal:

Have a place for everything. Everything in your home should have a designated "home." Keep like items together. This makes pick up a breeze.

Get your kids involved. If you have children in your home, get them involved. Have them be responsible for household chores, such as clearing dishes from the table, picking up their room or putting away laundry. Make sure the area they are playing/spending time in is picked up before they move to the next area of the home. If they have friends over, have them pick up before they are allowed to watch Netflix or have a snack. Teach them that everything has a home and needs to be returned to its proper place.

Make your bed every morning. This may sound silly but I believe this one small routine makes for a more productive, organized day all around. If you don't make your bed daily, I encourage you to make it a habit and I think you'll find it sets the tone for the rest of your day. 

Go through mail daily and immediately. If mail is junk, don’t even bring it into your home. Recycle or toss it right away. Keep a Ziploc bag to store coupons. Don’t set down paperwork that needs to be filed. Take the 20 seconds to run it to the file. Have a designated spot (such as a folder or basket) for items that need to be processed such as party RSVP’s or bills that need to be paid and go through this regularly.

One in one out rule. Every time something new comes in your home, consider removing an item from your home. For example, if you buy a new shirt, donate one of your current shirts.  Not only does this method keep order in your house, it helps you keep a current tab on what you have. 

Designate specific days of the week for laundry. Perhaps make two days of the week designated laundry days. On those days, commit to finishing the laundry. The other five days of the week, laundry is not a consideration and you don’t have the mental clutter of laundry weighing on you. At the start of each week, be sure to check your calendar to figure out if anything specific needs to be washed for school, athletics, etc. Additionally, make sure all members of the household are in the habit of putting dirty laundry in its designated spot.

Have a donation spot. In our home, we have a spot in our garage with bags that are marked for donations. Every time we decide something is ready to be donated, we set it in the donation bag. See if there is a charity that will come to your home to pick up the donations and if possible, get on a regular pick-up schedule.

Go through the fridge and pantry weekly. Take a few minutes each week, to take out any food that has gone bad, needs to be frozen, etc. This will help you know what food you have and eliminate clutter and by doing this weekly, this will never be a huge task.

Go to bed with a clean kitchen. Clean as you go. Walking into a clean kitchen in the morning starts your day off on the right foot and ultimately you save time since you're not starting your day out behind and you can keep on top of dishes.

Pick out clothes the night before. Pick out clothes for yourself and have kids set out their clothes the night before as well.  Mornings always seem to be a rush and this small habit will help save time.

Incorporating these steps will help you toward your goal of having a more organized home. Pat yourself on the back for each organizational accomplishment you achieve, because the path to organization is not an overnight one, it's a continuous process.  Keep focusing on today, because the time to get organized is now.