I am not the tidiest person and I will be the first to admit that I do not enjoy cleaning, per se. However, the object of organizing is an entirely different story. There is something oddly satisfying about redecorating and designating specific spaces for your belongings. Organizing helps me clear my mind and allows me to be productive in a different sphere of my life. Especially now, when we Ohioans are under stay-at-home orders during this pandemic, there is plenty of time on our hands to organize around the house.
Here are a few recommendations for simple ways to organize around your house, plus a few specific tips on what to do for each room.
- Take it one room at a time
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Looking at your house as a whole can be incredibly overwhelming, especially if it’s been awhile since you’ve last organized. Take the project room by room and section by section, setting goals for the hour or the day to allow yourself a manageable accomplishment during the time period.
- Be heartless–get rid of what you don’t need
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I’m a sentimental person and I tend to get attached to items even when I know I don’t use them anymore. The first step to organizing is weeding out the objects that you are no longer using, eliminating them from the final product. Make specific piles of your stuff–things to keep, things to throw away, and things to donate. This will get the hardest parts out of the way and will help for some minimal decluttering before advancing to deeper organization.
- Find the right container
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Sometimes, the biggest hassle when organizing is figuring out where to put everything. A great way to begin organizing is to find the right containers to place your belongings in. I’m a big fan of clear tubs, trays, and jars, where everything is easily accessible and can all be in the same place.
Bathroom: Put clear tubs underneath your bathroom sink to access all of your health and beauty products.
Office: Place clear jars and trays in your office for paper clips, post-it notes, and pens.
Kitchen: Clear tubs can also be placed in your kitchen pantry, where you can put all of your everyday cooking utensils.
- Categorize
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Categorizing your specific items can help you out significantly–plus it pays off in the aesthetic look that your rooms will now withhold.
Bathroom: Color-code your nail polish and place similar makeup items together
Kitchen: Some easy kitchen categorization would be to label your spices and put them in a specific order. Similarly, organize your coffee–from k-cups to creamers. Alongside this, organize your refrigerator by the types of food and packaging, allowing each shelf and drawer to have designated groups.
Bedroom: Go into your closet and organize your clothes by color/style, that way it’s easier to pick out your outfits and your closet will look cohesive.
Office: Place your books in alphabetical order so they are easy to find whenever you feel like actually picking up a book during the quarantine.
Many of these tips may seem meticulous, but they can be therapeutic during these stressful times and are certainly rewarding once completed!