6 Home Organizing Tips For Beginners

If you want to get organized at home, but don’t know where to start, I’ve recently gone through a home organization obsession of my own, so I have a few tips I want to share. These home organizing tips will be especially helpful for beginners aka people who have no idea how to organize their homes.

In all honesty, until very recently I was the type of person who thought trying to be organized at home is pathetic. I thought it’s for people who have no fun in their life.

My mom was never that mom. She never stayed home to take care of us or her home. She was working from early in the morning until late at night. And she taught me and my sister we’ve got to work hard as well since we were children. Child labor it is then, mom.

Grandmas, same thing. Having a nice, organized home that wasn’t cluttered with everything you’ve ever bought OR found somewhere because you might need it one day – not a priority. Not on the agenda.

So I grew up like this. And I loved it. I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I loved being free, working hard, eating a slice of pizza whenever I got hungry and not thinking about my environment and my home too much. Being adaptable enough to do what I want to do, what I need to do, even if I’m standing next to a trash can. Seriously.

BUT as time goes on, and I’m sort of getting my life together (or getting old!), I find it very fulfilling to create my own environment. A nicer one, a more calming and beautiful one. A place where I can relax and think bigger, dream bigger, not only deal with everyday “problems”. There’s something about having your space neat and clean, something about being able to find everything in no time that brings me SO MUCH peace. It really does free up mental space. Well here are some of my favorite tips when it comes to getting organized at home.

Getting Organized At Home: Key Ideas

From all the articles I read, pins I pinned and videos I watched (YES, I WATCHED A LOT OF BEFORE AFTER ORGANIZATION VIDEOS AND THIS IS ALL CAPS FOR NO REASON) three key points stood out to me:

Give them a home. Everything you have laying around needs to have its own home. Otherwise – get in the trash. So yes, that mascara that expired last year can go into the garbage bin, those scrunchies that are EVERYWHERE can get together in a small box with a label “scrunchies”. This was the most overwhelming step for me. Finding a space, a home for each item was a pain in the brain. It’s all these tiny decisions you need to make that make you want to take a break before you even get started. But get over this phase and you’ll so happy!

Easy access. Things need to be easily accessible. Especially those you use more often. Moving all the glasses and cups around to get my favorite coffee cup is not a lot of fun. I needed to change that.

Visibility. This is of course tied to the points above. I need to see the things I’m looking for. When I open a drawer in my baby’s dresser I need to see at first sight where the pants I’m looking for are, as I don’t have much time with that baby moving around.

I found that when you follow through with these three tips, you can save so much space in your home. And of course, you also save time, money and energy, because you aren’t looking for things and aren’t buying the same things over and over again, just because you can’t find them.

Home Organization Tips For Beginners

Now here are some more specific tips that will help you follow through with getting organized at home.

1. Use Jars / Glass Containers

Jars give a more uniform look to your stuff. Instead of having 20 different plastic packages for your toiletries, use jars to organize them beautifully. You can use jars to organize your:

spices
baking supplies
cookies
granola
(everything in your pantry!)
utensils
make up brushes
your pens
paperclips
drawing pins

2. Bins And Baskets

Use bins, baskets, boxes – anything that has storage potential, to sort similar items together. From small to big, they’re easy to stack, you can put labels on them and find everything really easy. Towels? Go together in a bin. Toiletries? Go together. Batteries? Get them a small box. You can then put all of these boxes in drawers, cabinets or in bigger boxes. It’s like a game for adults. (don’t hate me). And if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on bins and baskets, get to the next point.

3. Use Trash To Make New Stuff

You can make beautiful boxes and bins out of really cheap stuff. In fact you can use the things you were originally going to throw out. Any type of carton or box can be transformed into something beautiful with storage potential if you wrap it in simple wrapping paper. I’ve used milk cartons, diaper boxes, shoe boxes, formula cans…all of these are great. If you’re looking for some inspiration, all you need to do is get on Youtube or Pinterest and search for a tutorial. Here’s one I like.

via DuckInYellow

4. Fold your clothes the right way

Yes, there is a wrong way to fold clothes and it turns out, I’ve done it all my life. Then, a few weeks ago I watched a video, and I don’t remember which one because there were so many of them, but I saw how someone folded their clothes and put them up. Like you would do with files.

via HGTV

At first I thought it was weird, but then I tried this and now I can’t stop. Now I want to fold everything that comes to my hands this way and touch it in a very weird and caring way. What have you done to me? Brainwash? I even shared this tip with my mom and sister and now they’re also folding like crazy.

Best part? You see all your clothes at a glance and can access them easily. You just pull out whatever you need without worrying you’ll have to organize everything again after. This tip saves me so much time.

5. Use Dividers In Drawers

This is great for your desk, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, wherever you have small stuff rolling freely in a drawer or a bigger box. Use a divider to group similar things together, so you know where everything is. Then, when you take something out, bring it back to its place. Dividers are pretty inexpensive, but can make such a huge difference.

6. Use Labels

Some might find this unnecessary, but I think it’s awesome. When you use labels on your jars, baskets, boxes and drawers, you can find everything even faster.

And if you’re living with somebody else, then they also know where to put things away. This also has the benefit that you know when you’ve run out of an item and need to restock. If that jar labeled quinoa is empty, I know, I need to go buy quinoa.

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Getting Organized At Home: Key Ideas