Keeping your house organized can be tricky. The minute you clear off one surface, another becomes piled in clutter. The key to staying organized is finding a home for each and every object in your house and making sure every object makes its way back to its home after you're finished using it. Plan your organizational needs before heading out to buy storage products, or else you may end up with bins and organizers you don't need. Does this Spark an idea?
Magazine and Catalog Storage
Catalogs and magazines often seem to reproduce like bunnies and can easily take over your living area if you don't corral them properly. Unless you order from a catalog regularly, there's no reason to hang on to it after you've flipped through it. You can recycle magazines and catalogs in most areas. Set magazines you've yet to read in a bin tucked neatly under a side table in your living room or in a bin next to your nightstand. You can also get a wall-mounted magazine rack. Toss or recycle the magazine when you're done reading it. If you must save the magazine, store it in a magazine file on a bookshelf.
Pegboard
Pegboards make use of vertical space that would usually go to waste. A pegboard is a great way to hang and organize your pots and pans in the kitchen, especially if you're short on cabinet space. You can also hang a pegboard in the garage or basement to store tools or sports equipment on. It's also a good solution for hanging laundry items, such as irons and ironing boards. Trace the outline of the item you're hanging onto the pegboard, so that you can remember where it goes. If that doesn't appeal to you, simply write the name of the object in the space it goes in.
Kitchen Organization
The kitchen can be a magnet for clutter and disorganization in your home. Make things simpler for yourself by only allowing objects that have something to do with cooking and eating in the kitchen. Keep office products, your children's artwork and other miscellany off the kitchen counters and dining table. Go through your cabinets and donate or discard any kitchen equipment you don't use or any redundant equipment you have. You most likely don't need six wooden spoons, for example. Label food you're storing in the refrigerator or freezer with the name and date it was opened or made, so you know exactly what it is and when it'll be past its prime.
Organizing Drawers
Although drawers offer you a place to stash items, they can also lead to clutter, as you develop an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality. Whether you are organizing drawers in the office, bedroom, bathroom or kitchen, assign each drawer a role. For example, you may have a sock and underwear drawer and a sweater drawer in the bedroom and an office supplies drawer and a computer equipment drawer in your office. Try sorting clothing by color in your drawers. Use small inserts to keep office supplies such as pens and small notepads in their own sections.
Tags: every object, office supplies, your house, your living
