Home Organization - the Basic Organizing Principles

By Jude Wright

The real purpose of organizing your home is not just to have it clean and tidy, but to give yourself more time to do what you want. You will be more likely to find what you need when your home is organized and you know where items are supposed to be.

There are many benefits to being organized. You will feel more self-confident because you will be in more control of your surroundings. You will love the feeling of being able to complete your tasks. There is the added bonus of being proud of your home when visitors come to call.

Here are some easy steps to simplifying your home organization:

Think About It

Most people put their belongings wherever they happen to be when their hand touches them. A better way would be to think about where an item is going to be used and how it will be used before putting it away. Items should be put where they are going to be used the most often. If they are used in another area frequently, such as scissors, buy another of the same kind of item and choose another home for it.

It may seem easier to put something in a nearby drawer rather than in a designated area. But, it's not so easy when you are looking for it and can't remember where you put it. Having a specified "home" saves a lot of frustration.

Throw Away What You Don't Need and Sort What You Have Left

Everyone seems to have lots of stuff. Much of it is never used and just takes up valuable space. To truly have an organized home, every part of your house should be gone through, discarding everything that has no real value. There should be one area reserved for those things that are important for sentimental reasons. Be ruthless. Give or throw away anything that you have not used in the past year.

Using the three box method, start in one area of a room and look at every item. Put it in the appropriate box: things that belong in another room, things to give away or sell, and things that you are not sure about. Also keep a trash can nearby for things that are not usable.

Now, look at your room, and decide on its function. Determine the proper place to put things according to how and where it will be used.

Do I Really Need This?

While you are going through your house, you will probably come across things that you are not sure about. When this happens, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I really need this? Some people keep things because they think they might need it sometime in the future. Ask yourself, what would be the worst thing that would happen if I lost this. If you are keeping things just because you might need it in the future, do you think that you would be able to find it then?

2. How long has it been since I use this? You may have clothing in your closet that you are keeping because you might get back down to the weight that you were when you wore it last. But, are you being realistic?

3. Why do I need so many of these? Sometimes we buy an item then we need when we can't find one that we already know we have. Pretty soon we will have three or four of them spread all over the house. Decide which one you really need and get rid of the rest.

4. Take the box that contains the items that you are not sure of and put it away in the attic or garage. If you don't need anything in that box within the next few months, you can probably live without it.

Keeping It Organized

Now that you have your home organized, you need to find ways to keep it that way. Whenever you are going to buy something, ask yourself where you are going to put it. Be sure that you are really going to use it. How much work is it going to take to keep this item maintained? If you buy something that is replacing a similar item, get rid of the original item.

Using a bit of common sense and thinking every day about where things should go will help keep your house the organized home that you want it to be.

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