No matter where you live, from a tiny apartment to a massive sprawling estate, there’s always room for a little more organization. In fact, in those tiny apartments, you only have enough room when you commit to keeping your home organized.
So how do you get from your current state of clothes strewn across the floor, every inch of the kitchen counter covered, and pens spilling off your desk left and right to an oasis of organization?
Forget the home decorations and touch-ups for now, and let’s focus on the basics. Follow these three tips to get (and stay!) organized this year.
#1 Closet: Hanging Racks & Bins
When your closet is overflowing with sweaters, hats, socks, scarves, and more, you won’t get very far by stuffing everything back inside your too-tiny space. Unless, of course, you optimize that space for maximum closet storage:
- Vertical hanging bins – Use full-length hanging bins to hold your more casual clothes, like t-shirts and sweaters that you aren’t worried about wrinkling, or jeans and workout gear. If you’re lacking drawer storage, they take up a surprisingly small amount of space for how much extra organization they afford you.
- Totes up high or down low – If you have a shelf above your closet racks, this is the perfect space for a row of totes with off-season clothes. You could also stack a few bins on the floor beneath your hanging garments or buy a multi-level shoe rack. The key here is putting these items in bins, not just stuffing your ski jacket on the top shelf and hoping for the best.
- Door hooks and racks – Capitalizing on the available space includes your closet doors. This is the perfect spot for a vertical hanging hat or scarf rack, a set of hooks for your favorite sweaters and outerwear, or even a hanging shoe rack (there’s no end to the possibilities for shoe racks, it seems).
When you step back from your finished closet, it should look like a game of Tetris—and a good one at that. Virtually every square should be filled with racks, bins, or hanging organizers.
If you regularly wear a lot of jewelry and accessories, organize them in a Mejuri jewelry box for easy access. This compact carrier takes up a fraction of the space of other large jewelry trays (plus it’s way cuter).
#2 Kitchen: Containers Galore
You only have so much kitchen space, so use it wisely. The easiest way to do that? Stackable OXO containers that take up vertical, rather than horizontal, space.
You can hold your most frequently used items in small containers on the counter, with other less common ingredients like spices and nuts in your pantry or kitchen cupboards. Buying these containers in a set makes your life so much easier—you know they’re all going to fit together perfectly. Now, you can avoid the strange balancing act you usually have to attempt with your mismatched bins, jars, and boxes.
#3 Desk: In-Drawer Divider & Desktop Holders
If you’re working from home (or occasionally bringing work home from the office), you know how important it is to have a clean desk.
Here are a few easy ways to do that:
- Insert an in-drawer divider into your desk drawer or even filing cabinets. These convenient trays have spaces for pens, note pads, scissors, and basically everything else you need.
- Buy a hanging desk organizer to save valuable space on your desk. These attach to the edge of your desk with several horizontal slots to easily sort your papers and files.
- Instead of purchasing an expensive “pen holder,” repurpose an old mason jar to hold your colored pens, highlighters, and scissors.
All-Out for Organization
The easiest way to look and feel more organized is by keeping the mess behind closed doors (or inside closed drawers). Stacking a row of bins in your hallway is better than leaving the contents strewn about your bedroom, even if the bins take up more space than you’d like. The same goes for your closet space, office desk, and kitchen.
As long as everything you own has a home to go back to, you’re well on your way to an organized living space.