How to Organize Your Home

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  Stuff as much as you can in the closet.

  That was my idea of cleaning my room when I was a kid. It was a philosophy that I carried with me throughout my childhood into adolescence.

  When I was 5, I would crawl into the closet on a heaping mound of toys and dig for treasure.

  When I was 16, my answer to “clean your room” was to pile action figures, blankets, clothes, magazines, and VHS tapes up to my waist in the closet. Then, I would push the sliding doors in, and pull them shut. Sure, the floor looked clean, but the doors bulged out like a swollen belly.

  Often the closet was stuffed so full that the doors fell off track.

  The worst thing was that it didn’t take long before I wanted something, but couldn’t find it. Usually it was at the bottom of the closet.

  That meant dumping everything out on the floor again, and repeating the cycle of stuffing it all back in again. To say that my room was disorganized would be an understatement. Most of the time, it was a complete disaster.

  As I grew older, I realized how ignorant I was when it came to organizing. I began looking at my accumulation of stuff and said:

  This is ridiculous.

  Something needs to change.

  So, I began organizing my living space.

  Here’s the three most important things I learned:
  

  Every space has a purpose.

  For example, the floor is for walking on. The floor is not for storing dirty clothes, video games, video game systems, water bottles, books, or DVD’s.

  Video games and DVD’s go in their cases and on the shelf. Water bottles go in the fridge or in the trash. Books go on the bookshelf. Dirty clothes go in a laundry basket or hamper. Game systems are put up on the T.V. stand.

  Closets are for hanging clothes. Each area of the closet should be used for hanging a specific type of clothes in an orderly manner. Dressers are for folded clothes. Each drawer should be planned with what will go in it, organized by type of clothes.

  This is simple. But, it amazes me how so many people, including myself, have overlooked the power of organizing space by purpose.

  For instance, the kitchen counter is for preparing food. The kitchen counter is not meant to store important papers, clean dishes, pictures, staplers, incoming mail, dog treats, magazines or broken knick-knacks.

  The kitchen counter is for preparing food, and as such, should be clear of all non-appliances, and utensil or spice racks.

  On the same token, the dining room table is where you sit to eat. That’s why they call it the dining room table. The dining room table is not meant to store anything on top of. Many times, the dining room table becomes a catch-all. The reason: either the items don’t have a space to go to, or the person forgets or doesn’t care about putting the items where they go.

  This brings me to my second point:
  

  Every item needs a home, and needs to find its home.

  The biggest part of organizing your home is putting things where they’re supposed to go. Once each space has a purpose, then it’s our job as the leader of that space to make sure that the space fulfills its purpose.

  For example, if the remote control goes beside the T.V., it needs to go back when someone is done watching T.V. Don’t leave the remote on the arm of the chair, or on the floor beside the couch.

  If t-shirts that belong in the dresser, put them in the dresser as soon as the laundry is done. Don’t wait and let some other area of the house suffer.

  Which leads to my third and final point:
  

  Eliminate the clutter.

  Get rid of what you don’t need or use. Box it up in storage. Give it to charity. Have a garage sale. It doesn’t matter what you do, just make sure you lead it out the door.

  If it’s something that you’re never going to use, or its taking up too much space, then it needs to go.

  It all goes back to keeping the winners, and ditching the losers.

  Keep your house looking neat and organized, and get rid of all the unnecessary items that are just taking up space.

  When you plan purposeful spaces, put items where they go, and eliminate clutter, you can organize your entire home into a comfortable living space.

  And – you won’t have to worry about your closets collapsing on you.