Organized Home Storage Tips

When it comes to all of our stuff in our homes, finding ways to store everything can be a challenge. From our daily use item to hobby supplies to those things we only visit once per year. While decluttering your home and belongings is always the first step to begin creating organized systems, you will always have items that require space in your home. The key is finding storage solutions that allow you to easily find what you need and create an organized system in which those items have a home…in your home.

Seasonal Storage

This is a big one as you may have a lot of holiday items. Whether you only deck the halls at Christmas or love to keep your home seasonally decorated all year long, finding space to store these items is essential. A free standing or built in shelf in your garage or attic is a great option if you have that space. Alternatively, you can use under the bed storage or high and low shelf space in your closets. This works especially well if you have a guest room or bonus room.

You will want to use large bins with tight fitting lids for seasonal storage. This helps keep your items clean and dry. Depending on where everything is stored, this also helps keep the critters out. If possible, choose clear bins so you can easily see what’s inside. Use bin dividers (or good, sturdy cardboard) to create sections in the large bin. You can also find organizing storage products made specifically for different types of products like tree ornaments. This can be especially helpful to keep fragile items safely tucked away. Finally, add labels or an inventory list on the outside of the bin to help you quickly find what you need without opening all the bins and sorting through Halloween items in the spring.

As each season approaches and you dive into the bins to begin decorating, declutter as you go. Items wear out, get broken or you may simply no longer love the color or style. Trash anything that doesn’t work and donate anything that’s in good shape, but you don’t plan to use. This keeps your bins free of clutter and leaves plenty of space for the decorating items that bring you joy!

Hobbies & Crafts

If you enjoy crafting or love woodworking or any other type of hobby, you already know these activites generally come with a lot of needed supplies. And those supplies can quickly add up into a cluttered mess. Whether you have a dedicated room, a corner in the garage or a rolling cart you pull out when you have time, you can keep your supplies organized.

Stackable, clear bins are a perfect starting point for organizing craft or hobby supplies. They are available in many sizes making them a good solution for items that often come in a varitey of sizes themselves. Organizers with pull out drawers are work really well and can be great for smaller items. Stackable paper trays are a good option if your craft requires vinyl, cardstock or something similar.

Another great option for organizing craft supplies is a pegboard. This makes good use of often unused wall space. You can add bins and hooks to create a hanging space for a varitey of items. You can also consider an over the door organizer. Same concept as a pegboard with taking advantage of vertical, often unused, space. Many of these are customizable as well with bins and hooks.

The product options are seemingly endless for organizing your craft and hobby supplies. Creating an organized system you can easily maintain will be well worth the effort. When your hobby space is organized, you will be able to better enjoy your time creating!

Daily Use Items

Creating organized storage systems for daily use items is particulary important as this helps streamline your daily routines. Everything from toys to shoes to bulky paper products to mail and paperwork. We have a lot of stuff to manage in our day to day. The main objective here is to consider how your family lives in your home before beginning to create systems.

1. Do the kids enjoy playing in the living room? Add a toy shelf with open top bins or baskets to store their toys and games. This keeps their toys easily accessible, easy to clean up and out of sight when not in use.
2. Do you love a good Costco run to stock up on all the things? Find an out of the way space for paper products. A high shelf or open floor space in the pantry works well. Decant and unbox all of those food items and place them in labeled containers in your pantry. This reduces the amount of space they take up and makes it easy for everyone to grab and go for breakfast and snacks.
3. Do shoes, handbags and bookbags tend to land anywhere and everywhere at the end of the day? Optimize your entryway to creat a designated space for all of these items. This keeps the clutter to a minimum and makes it so much easier to get out the door the next day.

If you are just getting started with decluttering and organizing your home, start with your daily routines and the spaces that have the highest impact on how your day flows. Once that’s streamlined and stress free, move on to the other areas.

If you need a hand decluttering and organizing your home, we’re here to help! 
Are you local to Winston-Salem, North Carolina and surrounding areas?
Contact Organized Jill for a complimentary consultation.