General Home Organizing

 If you find yourself looking around your home feeling lost in the clutter or like you just don't have enough space, you're not alone. 

No two spaces were created equal, and if they were, they're most likely not used the same way. 

So I'm here to offer some basic organizing tips to you stressed out ladies and lads in hopes that even if you don't use them, they'll inspire other ideas to get you on the road to taking back your space!

Let's go!

1. Think vertical

Use that wall space. It's valuable real estate! Shelves, baskets, spice racks and hooks will be your best friends; especially in small spaces. Here are some examples:

🌸Over-the-door shoe organizers for the bathroom (makeup, perfume samples, deodorant, etc) and the pantry (grab & go snacks, spices, mixes, etc)

🌸Decorative leaning ladder shelves for shoes & books

🌸Mount your TV

🌸Decorative towel bars and S-hooks for almost anything. These are especially useful in the kitchen and closet outside of their normal bathroom use. 

🌸Command hooks!

🌸Floating shelves

🌸Tension rods in large shelving units, the opposite side of the shower to hang extra products and multiple caddies, under the sink for cleaning supplies, in linen closets for just about anything

🌸Hang baskets on the sides of bookcases, cabinets, kitchen islands, etc. These can be file organizers, mail sorters, anything you need them to be. Point blank, they'll maximize your space. 

2. Compartmentalize drawers

Just grab a couple of little dollar store drawer organizers & go to town. Keep like with like. You may want to use some shelf liner to keep things from sliding when the drawer is opened & closed. Here's one of my favorite products for this project.

3. Use shelf risers and tiered shelves

Both of these products create more space and allow you to see what you have so you're not double-buying and adding to your problem. They're not just for the kitchen! They're perfect for just about any cabinet or closet where you need a little extra storage for small to medium sized items.

4. Clear bins

Let's face it; there are just some situations in which we're not going to have everything 100% accessible. There are also situations in which we don't utilize certain items even half the time. For those situations, clear bins. This allows you to store and stack the items while still easily finding them when you need them. I do also recommend labeling, just in case, whether you're using tiny acrylic bins or huge plastic ones (usually more frosty than clear). You don't have to have a fancy label maker, either. Grab some index cards (use the plain side if you want to be bougie) and a sharpie. Make your label and just slap it on with packing tape. That tape protects the paper for a good while. 

5. Sort by color

Some people prefer ROYGBIV. It's typically the more aesthetically pleasing and easy to maintain technique, but you do you, boo. We have to figure out what doesn't work for us before we find out what does. Whichever way you go about it, when items are grouped by color, the area appears more uniform and organized.

6. One in, one out

So this technique is great for kids, but really we should all be practicing it as a rule. It's simple; when you get a new toy, stuffed animal, piece of jewelry, item of clothing, book, pair of shoes, or quite literally anything, donate or trash one. 

Look, some things just aren't that easy to dispose of just like that, we all know. But even following this "rule" as close to always as possible will help tremendously. 

7. Designate a "drop zone"

If your family doesn't start dropping things the second they walk in the door and throughout the house like Hansel & Gretel in the woods, then you must teach me your ways, wizard.

A drop zone is exactly what it sounds like. This is a place/bucket/basket/shelf/hook for the backpacks, uncomfortable/dirty shoes, umbrellas, school papers, mail, whatever it is that gets dropped without fail. Get creative with it. There's no right or wrong way to do it. Just tailor it to your family and your home, and make sure that everyone knows this is the only acceptable place for the shenanigans. 

8. Use decor to block clutter

Think of the main places that things get dropped and scattered. I think of the dining table, coffee tables, tops of short bookshelves, bathroom counters, and end tables. It's harder to drop junk if there's a pretty something there already. That's it!

9. Make hidden spaces pretty

Areas like under your kitchen and bathroom sinks may not be seen by company, but you see them. When you get a good handle on getting them organized, use colorful contact paper, rods or shelves (even if they're spray-painted. I said what I said) to make them pretty. The theory here is that if it's really nice looking, that will serve as motivation to keep it tidy. 

10. Label your junk drawer(s)

We all have one somewhere. Mine just happens to be the bottom drawer of my dresser. I don't know, it just happened. But if you have to have a junk drawer, remember those little organizers we talked about? Grab some of those and label them. You can buy labels, use a label maker, or even use a sharpie or paint pen. This way everything has a better chance of going back where it "belongs" after use. 

11. Store bulky board games in a hanging closet organizer

That's it. That's the tip.

I hope these have been or will be helpful for you. Please let me know if you try them!

As always, if there's any content you'd like to see here, you can text 615-787-3388, message on social media, or email orchidzorganizing@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!