10 steps to organize
a plan to action
In my industrial world, I am always straightening, cleaning, and re-setting spaces. Technically, I am an inventory specialist and buyer in very dirty spaces for people who keep the world working.
But mostly, I organize, clean, and keep things up to date.
If you think my house is this organized, I would laugh like this is the world’s funniest joke.
Over the years that we have had a household, we just gradually filled in the spaces, but never had much of an organizational mindset. We didn’t have anything to organize in the beginning! But as life grew, so did our stuff. Now we are looking at the point where we want to reduce. The more stuff, the more time it takes to take care of it. It either needs dusting, washing, or put away. We want to move someday and I don’t want to put all of this in a box. It can take forever to find the item I need because of all the other stuff in the way.
10 steps to an organized space.
Start Small - Organizing a space is messy. The bigger the space, the bigger the mess in the important middle of your project. An example of this is I recently organized my spice cabinet. So when I say small, I mean it.
Pull everything out and sort as you go. Put like with like. Put trash immediately in your garbage bag. You wouldn't believe how many empty containers and boxes or random product garbage I have to move in my work life. Happens at home also.
Pull out items that you won’t use or are parts and pieces for things you don’t own anymore. Donate or sell what is useful to someone else. If you have hobby supplies you aren’t into anymore or sports that you don’t play, send it out to create more room for what interests you now.
Get rid of items that make you feel bad. I used to have a beautiful colored glass vase that was given to me by a horrid aunt. I liked the item, but the sight of it would bring up memories of the times she was just awful to me. I am so glad it is gone.
Evaluate what broken items you are storing and ask yourself if it is worth fixing or if a replacement is cheaper or easier. Ask if it is really necessary to have as it hasn’t been fixed and stored on a shelf somewhere. Is it realistic to keep holding onto the item and are you going to fix it in a timely fashion?
Re-examine your sorted out keep piles. Do you have a category that is excessive? I recently went through my jeans. Just my jeans. I had 19 pairs. They all still fit. Most in relatively good shape. I wear work pants all week. I can make 1 pair of jeans last a week for all the use they get. As much as it pained me, I made the decision that 10 pairs of jeans is all that I really need. The rest all went off to the charity shop or hand-me-downs to others.
Now is the time to measure the space the items are going back into. Measure the items that are going back into that space. Armed with those numbers, it’s time to shop! Actually use a measuring device. Nothing is more disappointing than getting bins into a space and you are a ¼ inch over what will fit.
Get creative with those organizational supplies. There are so many options from stack dividers to square containers to round baskets. I like to group the same shape together for aestetics.
Label what should have a label. If you are one person it might be easy to know that this item goes in that space. If you live with others, a label will go a long way into preserving your newly organized system. Invest in a label maker or get printable pre-made or custom labels.
Know this isn’t one and done. Go back through on a timely basis to clean up those organized spaces. Reset items that have crept out of place. Throw out any garbage. Wipe down items to remove dust build-up. Do an inventory count of needed items to replace what has been used.
That’s it. These are the steps to get you started. I think I will work on a space today. Linen closet here I come!
Final Step - When you are done, step back and look at that beautiful space you just created in your home. Be proud!
