I’ve compiled 25 easy organizing tips that you can apply right away to make a difference in your own spaces. Almost all of these can be applied immediately and without any purchases. A few others require some easily available materials.
You’re sure to find something on this list that you’ve overlooked in your own decluttering and organizing project.
Sticky Grip Paper Rolls in Utensil Drawers
You can get the waffle grip rolls or upgrade to a grid mat that can be cut to size and dividers placed anywhere to hold your items in place. The grip rolls are affordable and easy to cut to size. They won’t stop items from moving when the drawer is slammed closed but work well in any soft-close drawer.
Utilize Sealable Food Containers for Tea Bags
Do you have leftover containers that are unused? Many of these containers are tall enough for tea bags and you can create your own dividers with index cards.
Command Hooks for First Aid Kits, Oven Mitts, and More…
Command hooks come in all sizes and stick well to cabinet doors and walls. You can add them to the inside of a door to gain storage for items with loops or edges.
Old Checkbook Boxes, Phone Boxes, and Plastic Cups to Micro Organize Medicine Cabinets
These smaller boxes work great in medicine cabinets. The shallow depth allows for easy access and small clear plastic cups are great for seeing smaller items.
Use Painters Tape or Packing Tape for Temporary Labels
Determining categories is a fluid process at first, so temporary labels are incredibly helpful. That way when you later need to resize, you pull the tape off and put new tape down and write on the new label. All of these can leave a residue if left on too long but work very well in the short term.
Always Declutter Before Sorting
There is always something easy to get rid of and sometimes it’s actually trash! There’s no point waiting the space and time if you don’t even want to keep the item. Pull out all trash anywhere you can find it without having to unstack or make a big mess.
Hunt for Items to donate
Do a quick hunt before you even begin to identify any categories you no longer wish to keep. If you can get to them, pull them out and put them in your car right away so they won’t get mixed back in.
Group and Finish Repairs
Often we put items we wish to repair aside and then forget to ever complete the repair. Some take very little time. Make sure you group repairs by the type of repair and complete any that can be completed in 15 minutes. It’s worth it to just do it now.
By grouping the other repairs you can nest the repairs together with the same tools out once you have the time.
Donate Items you Intended to Sell
Saving for a garage sale is a noble idea that never seems to go quite so smoothly. It’s a more effective tactic to donate regularly from your house, but if you’re a spring cleaner type that prepared items for selling, and the time has passed to sell them…please donate them.
You can list them NOW for Facebook Marketplace or just get them out of your life now. Several places will pick up large donations for free and other places will take all your smaller donations. Sometimes they’d take it all right from your house. Just call and schedule the pickup. You don’t even have to be home.
List 1 Item for Sale
If you’re so sure that your pile is worth money. Take the item that is most likely to sell and bring you “a lot” and list it. Find out if your assumptions about the item are correct and if you can even tolerate the resale process. Some people cannot stand being bombarded with questions about their items or no-shows. If you hate it, donate everything.
Use Trays to Make Many Items Appear as One
There’s a weird interior design trick that putting several items on a tray, makes those items appear as one. This is a good way to capture loose items from pockets or other small items and not have them appear too messy.
If your spouse wants some small kitchen items out like a bottle of oil and some salt and pepper, group them on a tray and suddenly they look like they were always supposed to be there. Additionally, we’re more likely to put them back there on the tray.
Put All non-action Paper in One Place
If you don’t need to do anything with the paper but you think you might need it later, put it into one bin. When the bin is full flip it over and discard things from the bottom that have expired or you’re not sure you won’t use them.
Act on Paperwork Requiring Action
This one doesn’t seem related to organizing but delaying action is often why spaces become messy, so take a few minutes to act on your paperwork such as opening and sorting the mail or making a payment to something. It takes only moments to act on a single piece of mail.
Make Sure that All Items Can Fit in the Space, Including Items that are Dirty at the Time
This is a big deal when sorting your clothing or linens. It’s very common to forget the volume of items that are not in the clean laundry when you reorganize a space. You don’t need to wait for the items to be cleaned, but make sure the items you are wearing often have dedicated space in your dressers and closets by leaving them empty space accordingly.
Display a Few Favorites and Put the Rest Away
If you have an entire set of China, that you use, you can put one favorite dish on display or a dish and a teacup. There’s no need to display the entire 32-piece set of China. Put your favorites on the display and keep the rest in closed storage so it’s clean and ready to use when you are ready to use it. Then you only have to wash one plate.
Create a memory bin for each living person in your house
Sentimental items really do require a boundary to help us cull down to a precious collection. That boundary can be as big as a cedar chest or as small as a shoebox. Either way, make sure to create a designated location that fits within the house where each member of the family can put their memories.
Let go of discount coupons unless you already planned to make that purchase
Marketing ploys work. If you weren’t thinking about buying the item before you saw the flyer or coupon, do yourself the favor of throwing it away. This will save you money and space.
Name your electronic files to be searchable
Electronic files are searchable but knowing how to name them is key in being able to search the files. If you aren’t sure how to name the file, use a short phrase and a date that could be sorted. You can also create year folders to dump things into but always rename the generic name with something you might have a chance of finding.
Create a grab-and-go red-sealed file for the most critical records
There are red zipper envelopes that important documents can be put into. Put them in your safe but if you need to abandon your house for a storm or oncoming forest fire, you will quickly be able to locate it to hit the road.
Store items close to where you use them
This one seems obvious because it is. If you use your coffee maker in the kitchen, keep it in the kitchen and designate a spot for it close to the counter where you want to use it. If you don’t use it often enough to bump something else out of that area, move it a little further away, but try to stay close.
Use easy-to-move containers when you often move items to various locations
Baskets of medium to small size are more convenient to move to tables or workbenches. Anything that you would use on a project is a good candidate for containing in a bin. In fact, they are great for tidying up ongoing projects as well. You can simply put your current project in the bin to bring it out again later.
Don’t use large bins to store small or heavy items
Do yourself the favor of not making yourself dig through a big loose bin or carry over 15 lbs in a heavy bin. It’s just not worth it. If you must use a large bin, break it up into smaller containers inside to make it less of a hassle.
Put light items high and heavy items low
We want to keep high-use items at waist height, but heavy items tend to be used less frequently than what justifies putting them at waist height. So put them at knee or thigh height. Lifting from the ground is not great for the back either but it’s far less stressful on the lower back to lift from below than from up high. Stay below the shoulders with heavy items.
Don’t waste valuable real estate on things you don’t use often or can’t wear now
You should not keep clothing that you cannot wear today in your dresser or hanging closet space. Designate an off-size bin for what you want to keep, but save yourself the stress and remove them from your day-to-day options.
Be cautious about what items you keep overstocked
This should go without saying, but it’s hard to resist a deal! If your home is tiny, don’t buy a 3 month supply of anything. You can’t store it. Use your space for living, not as a warehouse.
If you have any easy organizing tips, comment below. I’d love to read them.