There are obviously some exceptions to this rule. If you have a costume in your closet that you only use at Halloween or decorations you only break out during the holidays, the 6-month rule doesn’t apply to these items. Mementos and items with strong sentimental value, like things that your children made for you, also don’t fall under this rule. However, if the item only has a weak sentimental value, consider tossing it.
This sounds harsh, but this is the best way to keep your kitchen organized and free of clutter. If there are food items that are about to expire, make a plan to use or eat them that day or the next day. If you don’t think you’ll eat them before they expire, throw them away.
If there are clothes you come across that still fit you but that you haven’t worn in a long time, toss them out as well, unless you strongly feel that you’ll wear them again. If you have younger siblings that wear the same kinds of clothes as you, consider giving them your old clothes as hand-me-downs.
Those items that you take off of the counter can either be stored under the sink or on the backs of the cabinet doors, or simply thrown away if they’re things that you know you won’t use. Use small, rectangular trays to hold any items that you leave out on the counter and to keep them in an orderly arrangement.
This method is best if you declutter your home in the spring or summer; it’ll be a lot harder to get people to come to your garage sale if you hold it during the cold weather months.
Command hooks work great for storing cloth items like hand towels and washcloths, as well as utensils and accessories that feature hanging loops, such as oven mitts and spatulas. In the bathroom, store items that you only use once or twice a day on the insides of cabinet doors, such as toothpaste. This way, the rest of your bathroom looks neat and clean for most of the day! You can also technically use over-the-door organizers on the back of your bathroom door, although the door may be too tall for this method of organization to be terribly useful.
It will also make your rooms more organized to store similar items together. For instance, place all of your bowls and plates in one cabinet and all of your cups and glasses in another.
If you use these containers in the kitchen, make sure the containers are dishwasher safe so you can clean them before and after you store food items in them. If the area under your bathroom sink has a lot of empty space, use see-through modular drawers that stack on each other to store bathroom items and add labels to the front of each to describe what they hold.
Long, thin storage containers are the best to use under the bed since they will stretch all the way to the back of the bed while still being long enough to be easily reached. If you don’t have thin containers, you can also use cubbies, baskets, or bags, or make your own containers out of repurposed dresser drawers.
If you have any items that are too big to fit in these drawer organizers, such as very long spatulas, store them separately in their own drawer or in a jar on the countertop. If any of these items have hanging loops, see if you can hang them on command hooks on the walls or cabinet doors.
For added convenience, keep a collapsible stool behind the shelf or somewhere nearby so you can reach the items on the top shelf. You can also go with a coffee table with drawers if you want the things you store in it to not be visible all the time. If you don’t plan to keep anything on top of your coffee table, or don’t plan to use the stuff you store in it all that often, consider going with a lift-top coffee table.
For example, make your bed every morning or clean your kitchen counters at the end of each night.
For best results, try setting aside a particular day each weekend to devote to cleaning and organizing your home. That way, keeping your home organized will just be part of your ordinary weekly schedule.
If you find you’re always leaving your dirty clothes on the floor when you take a shower, it might be an issue with the way your bathroom is arranged. Make sure you have a hamper for your dirty clothes and put it in a convenient location in your bathroom.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, keep shirts and pants in your drawers organized horizontally instead of vertically to make them easier to sort through.
