Organize Your Home For 2020

One of the main things we focus on when rolling into a new year is setting goals and intentions. Our environment impacts how successful we are with our new objectives. We are all very familiar with spring cleaning and how this season of new life and beauty is lead by an intense cleaning and organizing marathon. Why, then, is it not more popular to clean and organize our spaces to set us up for success in the new year? We think it is! Read on for a list of our top tips for creating an organized and functional space. 

1. Start early in the day. The reason that organizing has become such a popular topic and one that has many different people providing advice on is because it is not something many of us do every day or keep up within our weekly lives. It takes focus and time. Start your organizing projects early in the day so that you do not run out of daylight or end up not completing the project before you head to bead. 

2. Don't bite off more than you can chew. This tip goes hand-in-hand with our first tip. Organizing can be overwhelming. That is the truth. Take time to think about your home and how it works for you and your family. What room is used the most? Where does all of the clutter end up? Depending on what space is most important to you, start there first. We do not recommend tackling your entire home in one day. If you can, we'd love to hire you ;) Set up your action plan: I will organize the living room starting at 8 am on Saturday. Then, get to work.

3. Declutter things you don't want and need. Before you start shopping for all of the beautiful drawer organizers (we will get to those later) or start trying to find new homes for your things, focus on purging. Create areas for things to keep, things to donate that will make someone else very happy, and things that need to be trashed. 

4. Keep things simple. The main reason our homes do not stay organized is that the systems we have set up are not simple enough. How likely are your kids to take their dirty clothes into the bathroom, open the closet, lift the hamper lid, and drop them in? Sounds simple, but is it simple enough? We were put on earth to find our purpose and the easier we make our systems, the more we can accomplish. Our advice - head to Target and buy a fun hamper that matches the decor of your kiddos room. Simple and functional. 

5. Remove the temptations. If you have spots in your home (we all do) that are places that continually collect clutter, eliminate them. If the counter right by the garage door ends up looking like more of a landfill than a counter by mid-week, this is exactly the type of space we are talking about. Remove all of the items from the space and place some type of barrier or obstacle in it so your family is less likely to dump clutter. On that counter, you may want to make it your coffee bar. We all love our coffee, why would we ever ruin the space with old mail. 

6. The more the merrier. Create as many storage solutions as you possibly can. Use the space behind doors and under beds. Maximize your drawer space with the beautiful dividers from the Container Store or Target and if you want to go the extra mile to make sure your family knows when they are putting something in the right place, label EVERYTHING. 

Bonus post-holiday tip - If you haven't already, do your holiday purging ASAP. Donate or trash any old coats, boots, clothes, or expired cosmetics and personal care products that aren't going to make you look like the person you are going to be in 2020. Be ruthless with the pantry and any leftovers hiding in your fridge. Trash and recycle any leftover boxes or wrapping that is not in great shape or doesn't have an organized space to live until next year. Let go of any decorations, cards or old toys that are not bringing joy to your family. 

Please let us know what organizing tips you have!