7 Easy Home Organizing Tips

No outfit is complete without coordinating accessories,so why store purses, scarves, hats, and belts on a separate shelf or hanger in the closet? Cut clutter and save yourself a daily rummage through the closet by arranging matching tops and bottoms on a single hanger, then drape the perfect accessories for that outfit on the same hanger.

If you’re a diligent record keeper, you no doubt have a box or kitchen drawer overflowing with carefully saved receipts. Cure drawer disarray and make it easier to retrieve the receipt you need for a return or exchange by taking your receipts digital with an app like Shoeboxed. Simply download the app on your smartphone, use the phone’s camera to take a photo of your latest receipt, and recycle the physical copy. The app will let you search for and pull up any of your uploaded receipts in seconds.

The garage floor is one of the most cluttered surfaces in the home, primarily because the storage potential of the garage walls is so often overlooked. Line the garage walls with shelves, racks, slat walls, or pegboards to keep paint cans, tools, and bicycles safely stowed but accessible. Set up a pulley system to keep seldom-used garage accessories like ladders hoisted high and out of the way of everyday garage activities.

Get your anemic air conditioner or flaky fridge up and running again in a flash by keeping both the appliance manual and warranty close at hand. Make it easier to find what you need by keeping all the manuals and warranties for the appliances in a given room in a single folder or binder that you store in that room. For example, put the documentation for your fridge, range, dishwasher, and coffee maker in a folder that you keep in a kitchen drawer or cupboard.

Whether your collectibles of choice are vintage barware, model planes, or trinkets from your travels, putting too many of them on display can take up valuable space on end tables, bookshelves, and mantels and clutter an otherwise charming space. Instead, take the half-in, half-out approach to organize your collection: Stow half of the collection in bins or trunks, and put the other half on display. Your space will be tidier, you can switch out pieces when you want a change, and visitors will love this curated expression of your personality and interests.

Jamming hand soaps, cotton swabs, and other grooming supplies in drawers and under-sink cabinets can lead to chaotic clutter that forces overnight guests to dig through everything to find what they need. If you have space to spare, buy bargain apothecary jars, fill them with frequently used grooming supplies, and display them attractively on the countertops. This strategy will free up your closed storage for cleaning products, toilet paper, and beauty supplies, while keeping items that guests may need in plain sight.

Are you constantly dealing with stray socks or giving socks to the wrong family member on laundry day? Next time, wash and dry all of the socks and undergarments for each family member in a separate mesh bag. When the dry cycle is finished, each person’s socks will be clean and sitting in his or her respective mesh bag, ready to be sorted and worn.