42 Brilliant Ideas To Make Your Home Really Freaking Organized
Inspiration for every room.
1. Attach an empty tissue box to the inside of a kitchen cabinet for easy-to-grab storage.
Read more here.
2. Sort your pantry into easy-to-identify sections using magazine organizers.
Besides being a handy way to store potatoes and onions, they’re also great for boxes of long pasta. Read more here.
3. Hang an office file organizer on the inside of your Tupperware cabinet to keep up with the lids.
It makes them easy to put away AND easy to grab. Read more here.
4. Create an “eat me first” bin in your fridge or your pantry (or both!) to help cut down on food waste.
If you notice that food is getting old, put it here. That way, 1) you know what’s about to go bad instantly, 2) the food actually gets eaten, and 3) you can start to figure out what (if anything) you tend to overbuy. From here.
5. Divide up your drawers with mesh organizers from the office supply store to make sure every utensil has a spot.
They’re affordable, and because they come in so many shapes and dimensions, you can always figure out how to customize what you need for your drawers. Check out more well-organized drawers here.
6. Stash under-bed storage bins in your deepest cabinets to make everything accessible, even in the back of the cabinets.
Labels are optional, but they can be very helpful! You will lose a little bit of storage space this way (much like you would with more expensive pull-out cabinet organizers), but depending on your set up, you could be taking better advantage of the space you’re using.
7. Stock your fridge with bins, baskets, and maybe a lazy Susan or two.
You don’t have to go all out with the bins, but having one designated for, say, condiments (because let’s be real, your full condiment collection is NOT going to fit in your fridge doors), another for beers, etc, can make it easy to find what you need. And it can help you spot spoiling food so quickly.
Lazy Susans are great too, although you do lose a small amount of space on the sides (I use one in my fridge for my jellies and nut butters). Read more about how this fridge is organized here.
8. Cover empty 12-pack soda boxes in pretty paper, then use them to organize your canned soups and fruit.
Organized pantry space, here I come. Here’s the full tutorial.
9. Divide the top drawer into individual toothbrush-sized spots using a silverware holder.
Everyone gets their own spot; everyone’s happy. Read more about it here.
10. Or if you have your own drawer, repurpose a flatware organizer.
It just depends on your personal living situation. Read more here.
11. Adapt Ikea’s Fintorp kitchen organizer into over-the-toilet organizers.
It doesn’t take up any valuable floor space or require shelf installation, which makes it super easy to use. If you already have towel rods installed here, you could just buy the baskets! From here.
12. Make your shower look neat even when you buy oversized bulk bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash by refilling pretty pump bottles.
It goes beyond the aesthetic of having matching bottles — it lets you save money over time, especially if you have a small shower where those giant bulk bottles don’t really fit. Read more here.
13. Instead of dealing with the shower head organizer slipping down every day, hang your shower organizer on a hook at the back side of the shower.
It will look neat, let your bottles and sponges last longer without growing mildew (because they’ll dry out better), and stop that avalanche of bottles when you have shampoo in your eyes. If you rent, you can substitute a heavy-duty bathroom removable hook, like this one that holds 7.5 pounds for $5.78. From here.
14. If you share a bathroom with several people, assigned plastic drawers can give everyone their own space.
And prevent the dreaded toothbrush mix-up once and for all. Read more here.
15. Put a small wine rack on your bathroom cabinet or under your bathroom cabinet to hold all of your hairstyling tools.
You’ll never have to dig for your straightener again. Read more here.
16. Make a magnetic makeup organizer to mount on your wall to make your morning routine fast and easy.
Learn how to make it here.
17. Tame your linen closet with the help of a few bins and pretty labels.
You will probably have to get rid of a few things, but matching bins that actually fit on your shelves go a long way. Read more about this transformation here.
19. Find more closet rod space with a double-hang closet rod.
21. Prevent any annoying clothes hanger slippage by wrapping your hangers with pipe cleaners.
Plus, you can pick a color scheme (and MAYBE even color code them). Read more about it here.
23. Cut dollar store pool noodles into quarters to keep your boots upright in the floor of your closet.
Use a serrated bread knife to cut them. From here.
25. Use your nightstand’s drawer as an easy place to hide all of your charger cords.
Read more about it here.
26. Keep a big basket next to or at the foot of your bed for tossing throw pillows and other decorative items when it’s time to sleep.
This basket is sold out at Pottery Barn, but you can get a similar one for $59 here.
27. Screw casters to the bottom of an old bookshelf to make a sturdy under-bed pullout storage space.
Perfect when you don’t have tons of closet space. Learn how they did this here.
29. Put together an easy-to-build stuffed animal zoo so all of the kids’ favorite toys have a place to live.
Awww. Also a cool place to crawl into if you’re a kid yourself — so much fluff! Get the tutorial here.
30. Fill labeled drawers with each day’s clothes so that they can dress themselves in the morning without ending up in a completely inappropriate outfit.
Defeat poofy-pink-dress-on-zoo-day syndrome, and make weekday mornings go so much more smoothly. From here.
31. Strip all of the restaurant crayons, leftover school crayons, and whatever else crayons there are of their boxes, then pour ‘em into a cheap candy jar.
Read more about this art shelf here; get similar jars for $9.99 each here. If you’re worried about the glass breaking, try clear plastic candy jars like this one, $6.99.
32. Or if your kids have just too many craft supplies to handle, corral them all in a Raskog utility cart.
33. Then make an art wall, so they have someplace to hang all of their creations.
From here.
34. Give everyone a crap bucket (or basket) to hold all of the stuff they need to just freaking deal with already.
AKA stuff they need to bring upstairs, put away, or whatever. Read more about the system here.
35. Start a system for organizing your papers if you don’t already have one.
This tutorial can help get you started, if you’re not sure what system would work for you.
36. Hang up an oversized cork board so you can easily pin things you need (and want!) to remember.
You can also Mod Podge some of your favorite fabric to the front of it, to make it ~fancier~ — here’s how.
37. Cover empty aluminum cans with washi or fabric tape to make pretty pencil organizers on the cheap.
That is, if you even use old-fashioned writing utensils anymore. Learn how here.
Looking for even more home office ideas? Get more here.
39. Don’t underestimate the power of a simple metal shelf (and lidded bins).
Sometimes classic, simple organizing solutions are the easiest. If you don’t have built-in storage wherever you need to keep your holiday decor and out-of-season clothes, buy some — shelves like this can start at $24.95.
40. Color code your circuit-breaker box so you don’t have to hunt for the right switch when the breaker flips.
This tutorial shows you how to do it with paint chips (so you get the prettier colors), but you could also just use sticky color coding dots like these, $14.99 for 38 colors. It might also be helpful to velcro a flashlight to the side of the fuse box, in case all your power goes out.
41. Turn an old pallet on its end to instantly organize everything in your garage.
Without having to install anything at all. Read more about how to do it right here.
Renae Walker ~ Realtor 