Giving Every Item a Logical "Home"

As you declutter your home, and after you are done, there are several secrets that will help you to keep it looking spotless long after you have finished your task. One of these secrets is to give every item a logical home. Here is how to use this step to your advantage in your quest for clutter-free living.

Why Items Need a Logical Home

You may have all the items you could ever need or want, but if you don’t know where to find them, there is no point having them at all. Giving each item a home means that you will always know where to return something when you are done with it, and then when you need it again you will be able to find it easily and immediately.

Giving each item a logical home means that you don’t just choose a random spot for it to be stored, but rather store it in a place that makes sense. This way, if you forget where your item is, you can think about where it should be and find it without wasting too much time.

Starting Off with a Clean Slate

The best time to give multiple objects a home is when you have just done massive decluttering. Now that your home is purged and ready to be organized, find storage places for all your items that make sense to you personally. There’s no point in trying to organize anything at all when you have too many things around that need to be given away or discarded.

Giving Each Item a Room

Observe the items that you have chosen to keep. Decide what room you are generally in when they are in use. Things such as scissors, paper and pens will likely go in your office - or if you don’t have a designated office, your living room.

Things pertaining to sleep or clothing will likely be stored in the bedrooms of those whom they belong to. Kitchen items always belong in the kitchen. Continue on in this way until all your items are sorted into rooms.

Giving Each Item a Particular Spot in the Room

Now that you have a room for each item, choose a particular place for it. Your bedroom might have a closet and shelves for clothing, a section in your closet for jewellery, and one drawer chosen for odds and ends. Try to keep similar items like shoes all in the same place so that when you are in a hurry to leave home, you don't have to look through the entire house to find the pair you need.

As you take these steps, remember that wherever you choose should be fairly obvious and make sense to you and anyone else who lives there. For example, store your piano books in a small book rack beside the piano, rather than on the other side of the room. This seems fairly obvious, but it deserves repeating because this organization rule is broken so often.

If you are not a natural organizer, it can be a challenge to become one. With a little time and practice, however, you will get there. By using these simple steps, your organizational ability will grow in leaps and bounds.

Video Titled "Bathroom Organization & Storage Ideas"

Video Titled "Fridge Organization Ideas"

Video Titled "Kitchen Cupboard Organizing - Martha Stewart"

Video Titled "Junk Drawer Organizing - Martha Stewart"

A Calm, Clutter-Free Home Office Environment Conducive To Work

The home office is often the foundation of the modern day family. Moms and Dads routinely use the home office to pay the bills, plan and coordinate schedules, appointments and calendars. Moms may organize recipe files and family photo albums. These tasks can all be done on our computers or on paper. 

It is actually becoming very popular for one or even both of the parents to work remotely from home. Moms have become very savvy with their social media and blogging skills. More people of all ages are taking advantage of creating their home businesses.

Here are some great ideas for possible work-at-home opportunities: blogging, affiliate marketing, direct selling, data entry, freelance writing, medical transcription, medical coding, customer service, proofreading, virtual assistant, bookkeeper and more. Many individuals are make a living from home. 

It is easy to understand with so many different activities happening in a home office, it can become the most disorganized and cluttered area in the house. So, if you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed from a messy, disorganized office it can be helpful to develop a plan for making your home office clutter-free and conducive to work. A clean organized desk and home office can help you save time and stress, especially if you work from home. 

An accumulation of mail may be the biggest contributing factor to cluttered desktops. Get in the habit of sorting through your mail on a daily basis. You can easily place those items that may need to be shredded into a shredding bin and routinely shred them once per week. File items away properly. Make sure that you keep your own filing system updated with folders for current years or months. 

It is a good idea to keep certain computer storage media, such as CDs and DVDs properly labeled and placed in a protective storage cases. You can even categorize them for easy access. 

If your home office area is commonly used by all family members, it can become cluttered with coffee mugs, snacks and even a few dirty dishes. Since computer equipment can easily be damaged should something spill on it, it’s probably smart to impose a rule about no eating and drinking while using the computer. 

If you spend a significant amount of time during the day in your home office and your office space is roomy enough, you could create an area far enough away from the computer and other electronic equipment where food and drinks could be set down without the fear of ruining equipment if a spill would occur. 

If you use a bulletin board, take the time to keep the items posted up-to-date. Make sure your calendar is always current so you can see the month’s scheduled activities and appointments. 

An over abundance of office supplies have a way of cluttering up a workspace as well. Make time to clean out and organize desk drawers if needed and make sure all office supplies have a home other than the top of your desk. 

With some good planning and ongoing maintenance, your home office can become an organized and productive workspace that you truly will enjoy everyday.

Planning Baby Steps For Getting Your Home Organized

You can increase your productivity dramatically by simply organizing your belongings in your home. I will describe important tools to help you when deciding on your goals to organize your life. 

The first major step is to create a plan. There is nothing that is more essential to achieving your goals than having a good plan. Often times, people set nonrealistic goals when first embarking on changing any area of their life.   

In order for your organizing plan to work successfully you need to have understandable, realistic goals that are individualized and written out. It is a good idea to set long and short-term goals. For example, your long-term goal could be getting your total home organized in one year's time. Your short-term goal could be getting one room in order within a month. 

After you have your goals defined, write them down on paper and put that paper in a place where you can view it often throughout the week. This should easily motivate you to achieve your goals.

Lastly, you need to determine why you want your house to be organized. It is helpful for you to know why you have this desire. 

While the above ideas may seem simplistic, it is amazing how many people set out to achieve positive changes in life without knowing what they specifically want to get done. The simplest and strongest force to achieving your goals is knowing where you are going and the reasons why you are going in that direction. Hopefully, if you follow these tips you will organize your life better than you ever thought possible.