18 Home Organization Tips and Tools

2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

It’s a new year and time for a fresh start! If you’ve been following me for a while, you I’m not always the most pulled together person. Home organization is hard with four busy kids, an active schedule, taking care of lots of animals, and working from home. There’s just always something else I’d rather do than clean and organize my house.

But I am slowly learning that organization systems can save me big! I’ve put together my best home organization tips and tools for you here. I hope they help you gain a little order and control at home.

woman using dresser dividers full of colorful clothes for home organization in her bedroom

Basic Principles of Home Organization

We all have areas of our houses that tend to get more cluttered than others. It could be your kitchen counter, a mud room, or end tables. Things get dropped on them and then never put away.

There are a few key principles for home organization that work no matter which area needs the most attention.

woman with hands on her face staring at her cluttered and disorganized closet

Decluttering

Having fewer possessions is key to a tidy house. I can’t say I’ve got it under control, but decluttering is a priority in my life and I add things to my “get rid of” pile every day.

We donate, recycle, or trash things we don’t need. Old product boxes. Dried up nail polish. Greeting cards from 10 years ago. Keep the things you love, but you don’t have to keep every drawing your kids ever made you.

Start with one drawer or one cabinet at a time. All you’re doing is looking for things to get rid of. Clutter tends to hang out in products we tried but never used like cleaning supplies or craft suplies. You’ll be surprised how much clutter you can get rid of in just a few minutes every day.

Declutter Digitally, Too

Don’t forget to declutter your inbox, too. Have you opened a Walgreens ad in the last few months? If not – unsubscribe. Are you still getting emails from a freebie you signed up for 8 years ago? Unsubscribe!

I’m afraid my house would look like something out of Hoarders if I didn’t actively work on decluttering. I make choices each and every day about what to keep and what to get rid of. Having fewer possessions means fewer things to pick up and put away and keeps the daily crap shuffling to a minimum.

woman organizing items in her car such as snacks, drinks, sanitizer, small toys

Everything Has a Place

Is organizing your home expensive? No, but if you are starting at zero you might want to invest in a few home organization products to make your life easier. Make sure you have a place for everything.

Appropriate storage bins, caddies, and cord control make a huge difference to how well you stay organized. Keep frequently used items accessible. Less used items can go up higher or to the back of a drawer.

Quick Tidy Up Sessions

Once you have all the best storage solutions in place and you love the way your home looks, maintain it through simple tidying sessions. We often put less desirable tasks off because we think they are going to take forever.

Organizing your home can truly be done in 10 minutes a day. Get your family on board, set a timer for 10 minutes, and blast some music. In just a few minutes of laser focused tidying, your house will be organized just like it was on day one.

Focus on one area at a time. I usually choose the most lived in areas and the areas any unexpected guests might see such as the living room or kitchen.

gloves, scissors, tape, and twine on a cardboard box preparing for a DIY home organization project

Affordable Home Organization Ideas

I am going to share with you some of my favorite home storage and organization hacks. If you’re on a more restrictive budget, don’t be afraid to DIY it. A cardboard box covered in scrapbook paper is just as lovely as a more expensive bin from Target!

Look at some of that clutter you have and think of ways you could reuse it. Shower caddies, lazy susans, hooks, and magnetic strips are great for DIY home organization.

Consider how you can make best use of the storage space. For example, could you use a vertical shelf or attach something to a wall? These are great ways to save space.

Pin this now to find it later

Pin It
planner with post its and pens on a counter for family organization

The Ultimate Home Organization Tool

For some of us, getting our brains organized is the biggest obstacle to home organization. 🙂 In the past, I used slips of paper, post it notes, a variety of notebooks….. and then misplaced them all. Has that happened to you?

Having one place to organize and track our to dos is a huge step to keeping everything on track. For me, it works best to just have one notebook that I always put back in the same place.

I have friends who use “brain boards” to keep track of logistics, meals, and home maintenance tasks. We are all wired a bit different so find the system that works for you and stick to it!

Once your brain is organized and you have routines and systems, everything else will fall into place.

Home Organization Tips and Tools

Do feel like you're drowning in chaos and overwhelm? Organize your home this year with these tips and tools. Break your organization goals into manageable tasks and don't give up!

Get new posts sent to your inbox!
Don’t miss out! Subscribe and get all the new posts first.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Other Organization Tips You’ll Love:

About Michelle Marine

Michelle Marine is the author of How to Raise Chickens for Meat, a long-time green-living enthusiast, and rural Iowa mom of four. She empowers families to grow and eat seasonal, local foods; to reduce their ecological footprint; and to come together through impactful travel.

You May Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *