Home organization means being able to find your stuff when you need it, not after an hour or more of searching. But home organization doesn't necessarily mean you're neat or clean. It doesn't even mean you're not a pack rat. Home organization just means everything has a place and you know where that place is in your home.Of course, when you practice "home organization" and "clearing clutter" together you do inevitably get a neater and more organized home. Why? Because you can find your stuff when you need it AND you're not tripping over your stuff. So instead of allowing yourself, or your family, to consistently put your shoes in entryway (where you do know their location), you designate another spot such as a shoe rack in foyer closet. That's blending home organization with clutter clearing techniques. Here are 9 strategies for home organization that also may help you clear clutter in your home:
1) CLUSTER LIKE ITEMS - When you organize an office storage closet at home or work, put different types of paper beside each other on a shelf. And what goes with paper? Envelopes. Put different types of envelopes adjacent to paper. Adjacent to that you might put writing instruments used on paper like pencils and pens. And so forth. Organizing holiday ornaments? Keep bins of Christmas supplies together. Keep bins of Easter decorations together. Then put all of these holiday storage bins in one clustered area in your garage or attic. You can also use cluster mindset for toys and sports equipment.
2) MAKE THINGS CONVENIENT - This simply means put most frequently used items toward front of shelves or on shelves within arms reach or at eye level of user (whether that's you, your spouse or your children). Put infrequently used items in those hard to reach cabinets in corners, cabinets above your refrigerator, in attic, etc. Put shelving or other organizers in convenient places such as put shoe racks, umbrella stands and hanging baskets for gloves in a closet near entryway you use most often.
3) LABEL IT - Invest in an inexpensive label maker. You'll have fun labeling items (e.g. home recorded DVD tapes) or labeling places where items should go so they always get returned to same spot. For example, label specific garage shelf spaces for hand tools or power tools. That way nobody in your family will ever forget where they got an item they're using and they'll know where its exact "home" is.
4) DON'T KEEP AN ITEM IF... - ...you can find it elsewhere. So much research, forms and other paperwork is easily accessed these days through Internet. Just keep a simple list of Websites and useful phone numbers and then you'll always know where to return to or who to call in order to access that information again.