You most likely landed here because you’re currently looking around wondering how the heck to get past the clutter and organize the mess once and for all. Am I right?!
I’m here to tell you that I understand! I am constantly looking for ways to keep ‘the things’ in my house under control.
- Your house may be small with limited storage.
- You might own WAY too much stuff.
- Or, you’d really just like to see the kitchen counter again!
Either way, it’s time to get this item off the to-do list and take action.
To help with this process, I reached out to a friend of mine who is a pure minimalist and asked her to share her top tips to help those in need (you and me!) to get our messy homes organized.
The one important note to make here is that when you declutter your surroundings, you declutter your mind. It’s honestly like therapy.
When you declutter your surroundings, you declutter your mind. #minimalism #organize Click To Tweet
QUICK TIP: Start with baby steps. Decluttering and organizing can be overwhelming to people. Remember that you are doing this to relieve stress so find a path that brings you joy.
Related: 10 Benefits of Minimalism to Improve Life
Related: Time Blocking Your Way to a Balanced Life
Let’s jump in…
Top Tips to Organize Your Home
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#1 Organize and Downsize Your Closet:
Step 1: Take everything out of your closet and I mean EVERYTHING! Go through each item and get rid of clothing you don’t like, clothing that is damaged or has holes and other items that simply don’t belong in the closet.
Step 2: Put remaining items back in and turn all the hangers in your closet backward. As you wear each item of clothing turn the hanger back the right way. After one year (all four seasons), see which hangers are still backward. Remove these items and donate.
This means that you’ll be saying goodbye to clothing you haven’t touched for an entire year. These clothes either don’t fit you, you don’t like them or you may just own far too many clothes!
Other tips for your closet downsizing:
- Do you fluctuate in size and keep many sizes at home? Solution: Arrange a clothing swap with your friends.
- If your closet is small (like mine) you can use these stackable hangers for your pants and/or accessories. I personally love mine as it means I can keep everything in my closet and still maximize the space.
- Thinking you might fit into your fave jeans from high school, but been ‘trying’ for years? It’s time to let go!
- Organize your shoes so you can see them. I like to use a clear shoe hanger, which you’ll have lots of space for once you clean out your closet. If your shoes are uncomfortable or don’t fit right, get rid of them.
Why is this step of downsizing your closet important? Your closet should bring you joy. It’s that simple. Owning too many clothes that you don’t wear means that at least once a day you’re not feeling great about getting ready.
#2 Tackle that Kitchen:
Pick one drawer (or cupboard). That’s right, just one (to start), as I know the kitchen can be overwhelming.
- Take everything out of that drawer and put duplicates to the side. Do you really need 4 spatulas?!
- Remove gadgets you have NEVER used… You know that wine opener that ended up in a Holiday gift basket?!
- After putting your unwanted items aside, add them to your donation pile.
Tip: Consider purchasing a kitchen accessory that does a lot (so you can get rid of the other gadgets you don’t need). There is one kitchen utensil, the Microplane I have given to friends and family over the years because I simply LOVE it. Use it to grate lemons, limes, oranges, parmesan cheese, garlic, whole nutmeg, cinnamon, fresh ginger. It is such a powerful, high-quality tool and so affordable. You can pick one up here.
As mentioned above, just start with the one drawer or cupboard and when you’re ready to do more continue. It’s not a race and no one is judging if you can’t complete all at once 🙂
Tired of the constant mess in your house? Here are 8 easy ways to organize your home - straight from a minimalist. #minimalism #declutter #minimalist #organize Click To Tweet
#3 Digitize and Organize Your Photos:
It’s time to get out those albums collecting dust in your cupboard and make digital copies.
If you feel comfortable, you can digitize everything and dispose of the old photos (this is a pure minimalist move). For those who are hesitant, you can focus on making a digital backup. This way you can look at your photos more and share with family.
Step #1: Scan your photos. You can do this on your home printer/scanner or from an app such as PhotoScan by Google Photos, which you can get at the Apple Store or Google Play.
Step #2: Organize your photos by uploading them into relevant folders on your computer, plus make sure to back them up on an external hard drive.
Step #3: You can try a photo sharing service like flickr, you can upload to Facebook or keep in a photo app.
Tip: Once all your photos are digitized you can take advantage of this by sharing with your family, and even making some gifts (calendars for the grandparents, framed photos for the family room and other cute gifts).
#4 Downsize your CD’s/DVD’s:
Yes, I know many of you are still holding on to SO many CD’s and DVD’s despite the fact that you most likely haven’t used them forever! Yep, I did the same until I finally organized them all. I had over 500 CD’s and at least 200 DVD’s – which were taking up a large shelf in the basement.
My solution was finding this CD/DVD binder which holds 400 discs 🙂
First things first:
- Go through all your CDs or DVDs.
- Decide which discs you want to keep. Don’t keep duplicates or bad music and movies please!
- Remove the disc and the sleeve from the CD/DVD case.
- Dispose of the cases – many cities recycle these cases, but make sure to look up the details of what’s recyclable in your city/town.
- For CD’s the paper sleeves easily fit in the binders pocket along with the disc.
- For DVD’s I didn’t keep all the paper sleeves but I did on my fav movies. I simply folded the paper sleeve and slide it into the pocket with the DVD disc.
The result: You’ll be able to clear out entire bookcases, shelves and boxes, plus you’ll end up with only one or 2 nylon CD/DVD cases. Win-win! This is the exact CD/DVD binder I used for my discs.
Thinking of trying minimalism but don't know where to begin? Here are 8 simple organization tips to get you started. #minimalism #declutter #organize #minimalist Click To Tweet
#5 Don’t Buy, Rent!
For Home Fixer-uppers: Instead of buying that small appliance or tool you’ll only use one or two times, consider renting.
Big box stores such as The Home Depot and Lowe’s will rent TONS of tools for you to get the job done. For example, check out The Home Depot’s variety of rental tools.
For Fashionistas: Did you know you can rent designer dresses from companies like RentTheRunway.com (US) and RentFrockRepeat.com (Canada). Renting from these companies is ideal for a wedding, a big event and even just for fun. This is a great way to save money, save space and still look top notch!
#6 Clean Out Your Wallet Every Month:
My minimalist friend said to do this weekly, but if you are not a minimalist (like me) I think once a month is a good start! This is especially important for those that have “mom wallet’s” that they can’t close, at all.
This is pretty easy. DUMP everything out of your wallet. Get rid of old receipts and strange odds and ends that end up in your wallet! Only put back cards you use regularily, some cash and that’s about it. Anything else you need to refer to, you can always take a photo with your phone and delete later.
Other things to do with your wallet:
- I said to clean the wallet out monthly, but one thing you can do weekly is empty your change and put it in a piggy bank. Save it up and treat yourself to something later.
- Tip: DO NOT carry your SSN or SIN cards in your wallet. If you can’t remember the number you could take a photo of it with your phone.
- If you have a lot of gift cards that you don’t think you’ll use, consider swapping them out. There are companies that will take them and let you trade them for gift cards you actually want or they’ll send you a cheque. Not bad! Here are some companies I found that you can check out: CardCash.com (US), CardSwap.ca (Canada), CardYard.co.uk (UK).
#7 Use the One In, One Out Rule
Before you purchase anything, ask yourself… Why am I buying this?
Then you must say YES to one of these questions and ideally to both…
Do I need this item? Does it bring me joy?
If you don’t need it and it doesn’t bring you joy – WHY ARE YOU CONSIDERING BUYING IT? Put it down!
If you do purchase, follow the one in one out rule…
- You bought a t-shirt – get rid of an old one.
- You bought socks – throw out your holy pair.
- Purchased jeans – say goodbye to the ones that are too small, too short or too big.
See where I’m going with this?
#8 Pick It Up
Every time you get up, pick up one thing and put it away. It’s a simple concept but it means that things won’t pile up (as much).
Some easy ways to do this:
- During a TV commercial pick things up until your show comes back on.
- Tell your spouse/kids about the pickup rule!
- Walking upstairs/downstairs? Take something with you.
- Talking on the phone? Put a few things away as well.
Some other ways to stay on top of the mess:
- Put the timer on for 30 minutes and pick a room to tidy up. Learn more about time blocking here.
- Recycle magazines, old notebooks and textbooks.
- Eat what you have in your fridge and cupboards – don’t buy more until you actually need it.
- Every 3 months go through your medicine cabinet and throw away everything that has expired.
- Vacuum bags help organize large items in the offseason – winter jackets, snow pants, duvets, blankets, etc.
- Don’t own a storage unit (unless you’re renovating, building or moving)! You don’t need that much stuff!
*BONUS TIP!
I am about to start a FREE organization course – The 5 Word Organization Challenge. This course is from Hilary at PullingCurls.com. She is passionate about helping people organize. I’m in! Go ahead and join and we can chat about how it helped us. I will post an update for you all once I complete it.
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All of these tips may seem a little overwhelming to some of you, but the goal here is to organize in bite size pieces and give yourself a reward like a little self-care afterwards.
Also, remember that clutter and a messy house can actually cause anxiety. You’ll notice once you begin to try some of these organization techniques that you’ll have a clearer mind and feel proud of yourself too!
Tell me:
What prevents you from conquering the mess and what organization tips are you going to try?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Related Home & Organization Articles:
- The Ultimate Resource to get Your Home Ready for Spring
- Tidy up your Paper Clutter in 5 Easy Steps
- How to be More Productive at Home – 7 Tips for Busy Moms
- 15 Tips to Create an Eco-Friendly Kitchen
For more inspiration and to get the latest post from Put The Kettle On, let’s connect!
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Oooo! I love your idea of picking up one thing in the morning when you wake up! That is a great one! I need all the organization help I can get. lol
I love the way this is laid out! I definitely need to get on acrid organizing my house 😭
Oh my goodness, this is perfect timing with my kids getting back into school…time to get rid of some stuff! My closets are at the top of my list. Great tips!
Awesome tips! I will be deep cleaning this coming weekend and I will use some of these tips to help me better organize my space.
Decluttering is a constant process-I’m always getting rid of things! I totally agree that a cluttered house can equal a cluttered mind!
I really need to organize our closet, laundry room, and pantry! I love that clean kitchen feeling 🙂
Love these tips. I’ve decluttered so much already in my life and home, although I feel ready to go a step further with my clothes. I’m currently in between sizes and need to lose a tiny bit more weight before I can get rid of a load more clothes. I love the feeling of cutting down on possessions. I also try to follow the one in and one out rule. It doesn’t always work this way but then I tend to be super strict on what comes in anyway.
We did a huge house cleaning right before school started back. I accomplished everything on your list except for my closet. It’s long overdue for a purge! I need to get to it soon, but I’m not looking forward to it!
I needed this!! I definitely have 15 spatulas I don’t need lol I will be tackling the kitchen this weekend for sure!
I think I do all of these things already. I am a minimalist and didn’t even know it. These tricks really work. I have been doing them for years.
I really like how you lay out the exact steps to declutter. I’ve been trying hard to find areas where I can do this in my home but sometimes just the thought of it is daunting.
This post was written just in time for me to do this! Yesterday the hubs and I deep cleaned our closets, and cleaned the entire top shelves of our closet…now it’s completely bare! We threw out EVERYTHING! it was so so satisfiying to do that, and to realize we were living with clutter. Now, I feel so much calmer as a whole too. Just today I reorganized my entire wallet, and it felt so good.
These are great organization tips! Definitely, need to go through our pantry and closets!!
So many good tips. I just went through the dvds over the weekend and it wasn’t something that was taking up a ton of space but it’s so much easier to go through now. I’m still not sure I need almost any dvds but there are a few series I can’t bear to get rid of quite yet! I also like to clean the cupboard, cabinets and fridge often to make the task not so insurmountable. My biggest area of excess is children’s toys. I have a harder time letting them go for some reason than anything else. Maybe because they’re not “mine”??? But, we definitely have a major excess there. Thanks for all the wonderful tips. I’m definitely doing all the right things- I just think I need to limit more what comes into the house than anything else. <3 Jamie
I love all your tips! You are so right, when you declutter your house you declutter your mind. We had a yard sale this year and I decided not to allow myself to put anything that didn’t sell back in the house. I felt amazing once all that stuff h and been given away and donated!
These are wonderful tips. I have been meaning to take some time to go through my closet again since purchasing some new dresses this summer. One thing I live by is truly buying something you need and love. Then I look at what I can remove that I haven’t worn and don’t love anymore. I’ve been living minimally for the last year or so, but it’s always a work in progress and you replace things, but new, sell old, etc.
Starting this today! We’re in the “own too much stuff” category, and really need to implement the one in, one out rule.
I’ve been slowly decluttering my house. We’ve lived here for 20 years and raised 5 kids, we have accumulated way too much stuff. I loved most of these suggestions, but I panicked a little when you suggested throwing out photos. Digital copies are great, but I much prefer the real thing, especially sharing a photo album with loved ones!
I’m actually currently downsizing my closet and decluttering! This is the inspiration I needed. Thanks for sharing your awesome tips 😊
I love all these tips! Setting a timer for cleaning always helps me accomplish more!
Oh my, these are SO good and so encouraging! I love that you remind us to start small!!
ahh i love this! I didn’t know you could rent tools! I use the one in one out rule and people think I’m nuts – especially with the baby coming. I don’t want any extra stuff or clutter since we will likely have to move in a couple of months and I don’t want 50 stuffed animals lol
I loooove these tips and it’s like you made them just for me! Lol we have a smaller home, but not too small, so we want to stay here as long as possible (even after we have a baby one day), so we’re constantly trying to declutter the home. Going through the closet just makes me feel better and my husband is amazing at keeping the kitchen organized! Pinning this to keep reminding me to stick to the organization. 🙂
My closet and kitchen are two areas I need to tackle soon! Thanks for the tips.
My husband and I just moved into a new house and I have looked over this post like 5 times. SO MANY really helpful tips. We are really wanting to start fresh in this new house and implement things we didn’t before. I loved how you broke it up into rooms, so so helpful!
Great tips! I love that there are always new tricks to learn to make decluttering easy and practical. Sharing with my followers!
I love the idea of picking something up every time you get up. I am totally going to have to start that new rule in our home. This post has some great ideas. Thanks for the tips!
I desperately need to do everything on this list. My closet is bursting at the seams. I’m hoping once the dust settles, I’ll be able to prioritize cleaning and eliminating items. Your tips will be helpful.
Hi Kimberlie – My favourite time to organize the closet is when the season changes. That could be a good time for you to tackle the closet too? 🙂
Wow, so many awesome tips!! I am a big fan of the one in one out rule, I definitely do this one! Love the idea of picking things up when you get up and setting a timer to get as much done in that set amount of time. That’s a great motivator to get a lot done.
Thanks Katie! Setting a timer and challenging myself is my fave too. It’s amazing how much you can complete – even in a short time frame.
Great tips! I turned my hangers around in January and have given myself until June 1st to either wear it or get rid of it!
Hi Melissa! Thanks 🙂 Let me know how that goes! With the stay home order I’ve been living in joggers and hoodies – how about you?!