Guide For Organizing Home Storage

September 03, 2021 | By: Jodi Ann Reid

If you feel like you are in a constant loop of organizing your home, you’re not alone. Home organizing may seem like an endless process since you constantly require more storage space. As we go throughout life, we naturally acquire more and more items. However, with proper planning, it is indeed possible to organize your home, and more importantly maintain, the perfect amount of storage space as you continually add to your belongings. All you will need to do is implement some tried and tested organization strategies and you will be well on your way to setting up your home storage system like a professional.

Getting Started

Whether you are trying to free up space for a move or simply just trying to make day-to-day life easier, the first steps towards getting your home storage organized are absolutely essential. We suggest that you aim to complete one room at a time. This way, you will get to determine a system that works best for you and then improve and replicate it as you go room by room.

While you are preparing to organize your home, it is important to have clearly defined categories to place items as you declutter. Here are some helpful categories to get you started:

Trash - everything you don’t need should be assigned to this pile. Many of us have items that we’ve collected and forgotten about over the years. This is the perfect time to lighten the load. Also, the more items you are able to get rid of, then the less space you will require for home storage.
Donate - this is as important as the ‘trash’ category since it will help to free up space around your home. When deciding which items to donate, it is helpful to ask the question, “Would I want to wear/use this?”. Never donate items that are dirty, old and worn out, or in need of repair.
Recycle - this is another helpful category that aids in creating more space. In addition to recycling items such as plastic, paper, and glass, you may also come across items that can be put to use around the house. For example, old clothing can be used for dusting.
Keep - the size of this pile will be a strong indicator of whether or not your organization system is working properly. This pile should be your smallest. If it is not, then you may want to reassess and determine what can be trashed, donated, or recycled.
Fix or mend - while completing this task, you may come across items that are not quite ready to be trashed. With a little TLC, they may have a second life somewhere around your home. Making note of these items can be a real time saver when you have to make these repairs at a later date.

Decluttering like a Pro

One of the best-kept secrets in the decluttering process can save you a lot of time if you learn it early - aim for the fewest number of steps with the least amount of effort. This is where categorizing comes in handy, Remember those five categories you laid out when getting started? It’s time to apply them as you go through your home room by room. During this process, you will find that those five categories will apply to just about every room. Here are some helpful tips on how to organize each room in your home of maximum storage efficiency:

Kitchen

This is one of the most challenging areas of the home to both clean and organize so it makes sense to tackle it first. If you get started on the tougher items first, then you will find that your organization task slowly gets easier as you move along. You’re more likely to stick to it if you find that you are making progress.

In getting the kitchen in order, cleaning is the first and most important element. Start with your refrigerator and empty all old items. Assign each shelf a list of items so that you can maintain order. For example, all leftovers can be stored on the bottom shelf.

For your cupboards and shelves, organize these according to how you use the kitchen. Place items that you regularly use to cook near the stove. Items that you only use seasonally can be stored in your pantry or in an area that is out of reach.

A great way to maximize storage and space is to keep dishes in the dishwasher instead of on the counter. If you currently have a dish drainer on your kitchen counter, consider getting rid of it if you already own a dishwasher. This will immediately open up some space. Don’t forget to regularly empty the dishwasher and put away items in the appropriate cupboard.

Bathroom

The bathroom is another major area of the home that is often difficult to keep organized. If you have children, it can be especially challenging to keep the area neat since it’s almost inevitable that there will be a toy or two laying around. However, implementing some organization techniques, such as getting rid of old medicine and makeup and putting away extra items, can help to improve the look and feel of your bathroom and keep it tidy.

Bedroom

Why do bedrooms feel almost impossible to keep neat and tidy when all we do is sleep there? If you find out the answer to one of life’s greatest mysteries, be sure to let us know. Most bedrooms are an endless path of clothes and toiletries strewn all over every available surface. It’s rare that anyone ever feels like they have enough closet space.

When organizing your bedroom, start with making your bed. It may seem like an irrelevant task. After all, why make it just to get back into it later that night? Well, there is a reason why Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life is a NY bestseller. It turns out that these little micro habits can have a profound effect on our daily lives. So, get started by making your bed and watch the entire organization process magically unfold before your very eyes. Well, not really, but we promise that if you keep reading this guide, we’ll make it so easy for you that it will feel like magic.

While still keeping the five categories in mind, organize your clothing by type to quickly and easily declutter them. As you go through each item, you can leave the clothing that you wish to keep in the closet and toss the rest in the applicable pile. Keep an eye out for dirty laundry that may have unintentionally been mixed into your wardrobe with your clean clothes.

Living Room

The good news is that this room is often the neatest one in the house, even though it likely gets a lot of usage. From watching TV to hosting guests, it takes a lot to maintain it. There is something about it being one of the first rooms in view when someone enters our home that makes us put a little extra effort into keeping it organized. However, your living room could always benefit from some extra storage space. Cluttered living spaces are a thing of the past. Instead, people now opt for a contemporary look that emphasizes lots of space.

Keeping commonly used items such as remote controls in a permanent space can do wonders for helping to keep this room neat on a daily basis. Practice putting away items regularly. If you are always practicing decluttering techniques, then there will be less need to repeat a big organization venture in the future.

Other Common Areas

For other areas in your home such as the laundry room, garage, home office, or basement, you can employ many of the same common practices that you used to sort through all the other rooms. Utilize storage bins for items such as pets’ or children’s toys, seasonal items, and items that you don’t use very often.

Before you purchase home storage items such as baskets and bins, it is important to assess how many you will need. You can save money or perhaps get a discount if you buy in bulk. Since it is likely that you will need multiple storage items, it is best to perform this process at the end, after you have gone through each room and determined which items you wish to keep.

Essential decluttering tips

Getting rid of items that you’ve grown close to over the years can be the hardest part about decluttering. However, to get over this obstacle, we recommend using these tips:

Don’t think about the sunken costs - if the only thing preventing you from getting rid of an item is the price you paid for it, consider if it is bringing any value at all to your life. These costs were already incurred and it is often not possible to recover them, since most common household items don’t appreciate in value. Instead of wasting valuable storage space, toss out these items in order to free up space to store things that you will use on a regular basis.
Keep similar items together - as you organize your home, it is likely that you will come across various items in different rooms that will fall into the same category. Group these items together as you go along to make them easier to put away later. Keeping these items together will also allow you to better assess how much additional storage bins and other items you need.
Think about the last time you used it - if it’s been a while since you last used a particular item and the chances of using it in the future is slim, then it’s best to let it go. It’s easy to forget about the various gadgets we collect. However, if they serve no other purpose than to occupy space, get rid of them.
Focus on clearing flat surfaces - it is extremely easy for these surfaces to accumulate unnecessary items. It’s very easy to haphazardly place objects that don’t have a particular place on these surfaces. Before you know it, you have more objects than space on your countertops and other flat surfaces. Focus on keeping these areas free from clutter and add space-saving items, such as little bins and baskets, to maintain the organization.
Start off with a few small projects - the process of decluttering can easily become overwhelming. If the size of the job seems too intimidating, then start with something relatively small, such as organizing a few drawers of clothing or cleaning up an area in the living room. A small win will inspire you to tackle even bigger tasks.

Remember, decluttering a little bit each day is the key element to maintaining the overall neatness of your home. After all, if you’ve invested time in organizing and freeing up storage space around your home, you don’t want to repeat this process every few weeks. Instead, spend about 20 minutes each day putting away items that you will likely have to clean up in the future - toys, mail, clothes and other items will easily become clutter if left to accumulate.

While organization can reveal some surprise storage space around your home, you may find yourself in need of extra storage space. USSelfStorage.com can help you quickly and efficiently find the perfect self storage unit to make your home organization task a breeze. We have convenient storage facilities in every major city, including:

There is an amazing sense of serenity that comes with having an organized home. Famous self-help guru Marie Kondo, having built an empire around helping people organize their homes and lives, says “A dramatic reorganization of the home causes correspondingly dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective. It is life transforming."