11 Pro Tips for Organizing Your Stuff Into a Space
Getting things to fit in a space is much like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Here are 11 of my pro tips for organizing your things into a space. While it’s much like doing a puzzle, there’s no one solution. The key with any organizing is to do what works for you and the way you live.
Before you begin, if you haven’t already, wipe down or clean the containers and spaces they will go in.
Find a home for absolutely everything. Choose options for where to put things based on whether you like things to be visible or hidden. Whether that’s in a bin in a closet, out on a hook on a wall, or in a tray on your desk. Everything needs a home because you can’t keep a home tidy if you don’t know where to put things away.
Start with priority items and anything oversized and heavy. Make your way through decreasing levels of priority until everything is put away.
Question how things have always been and consider new ideas. There was a reason why you’re organizing so think about what will work best for how you live in the space.
If possible, move shelves so you don’t have wasted vertical space. Alternatively, you can attach a drawer or basket to the shelf above or place a free-standing shelf on it.
Place categories of things near similar categories so you an easily find the area where the category was put.
Combine categories or divide them further as needed for the space, but also for your preferred organizing style — whether you like small, detailed categories so you can find things easily or if you prefer larger categories that make it easier to put things away.
As you organize, you may need to make adjustments, kind of like doing a jigsaw puzzle, especially when you’re doing drawers. As you work to fit things in, don’t be afraid to move containers around or move things into different containers to make the puzzle of everything fit together.
Leave room for items you are missing, such as pantry items and back stock you need to buy or clothes in the laundry. Make space for full packages, not the half-eaten or half-used packages that are left. Don’t forget furniture or lamps that will need a home as well as storage solutions you have ordered.
Don’t pack items in. Leave some wiggle room to make it easier to get stuff in and out. For things like food and household supplies, leave even more room to accommodate changing needs and products you might have forgotten.
Make the system easy to use. Fix any difficulties such as something that is difficult to open so there’s no friction to keeping things tidy and putting things away.
