In any scenario, our eyes are the first to feast! This becomes the basis for creating first impressions. When it comes to our homes, we want to give the impression of an organised house, which is neat and beautifully laid out. Even though most people aspire to have the same, they rarely put in the required effort. They are reluctant to organize the house room by room as they lack guidance. Unorganized houses not only give off a bad first impression to someone who visits, but can also be troublesome for the people living there.
The mess creates confusion among the people as to where things are. The piling up of things can also bring in dust and insects of all sorts. It eventually becomes such a chaotic piece of work on its own that no one would want to move it or clean it. Taking small steps every day to ensure that everything is neat and in place saves you time searching for that one sock, or shirt. It also makes a great first impression to have your home always ready to welcome unexpected guests. To solve all your problems Gharpedia shares some amazing tips on how to organize your house, room by room.
Why Are Our Homes Unorganized?
The number one reason why a home setting is unorganized is that the people living there are in a constant rush. With everything else being prioritized first, organizing one’s own house seems like the last thing anyone wants to get to.
Furthermore, this repeated procrastination becomes a comfortable choice to make every day. This way the task of getting the unorganized pile of things segregated would not add to the routine things that need to get done. If timely home organization and cleaning are done, such a mess can be avoided.
An unorganized mess can also happen if every element in an interior space setting doesn’t have a designated location. This makes it difficult to find things when you need them the most. Also, with the growing pile of unorganized things, it becomes difficult to know where to start and what to do.
Even if someone does take the initiative in the house to start a home organization and cleaning, there needs to be an understanding among the members of the family to move forward with the same as well. If only one member of the house is bothered, then the space can easily go back to being unorganized. So, it’s always better to work in co-operation and organize the house room by room.
6 Tips to Start Getting Things Tidied up for an Organized House
Once you have decided to get it done, organizing can become easy. If you are not sure where to begin, here are some pointers to help you achieve the organized room you always wanted.
Following are a few tips on how to organize your house room by room:
01. Go Through it One by One
Start by selecting the one space out of the many you might have to organize. You can’t begin in one corner of a room and switch to the next room halfway through. The result of this will only keep you shifting from one place to another and not getting anything done. So, it’s wise to organize room by room rather than leaving one room midway.
02. The Biggest Mess Gets the Most Priority
The one space you will never want to start with is the one with the most things to organize. Instead of pushing it away for the same reason, you can opt to get it done first. That way, you will have less work moving forward with each room. So, to organize the home, start with the room which has the bigger mess.
03. Categorize and Conquer
Each room has its own set of different categories of things. To organize rooms, divide them up according to the work that needs to be done. Select the one that needs the most work. Continue with each room accordingly.
04. Prioritize Items According to Need and Use
To organize the house room by room, sort each category of things into piles based on how often they are used. This will give you an idea of what you need and what you can give away or throw out. This saves you space for things that you may want to get in the future.
Things you need and use regularly can be organized and displayed. The more you see them, the more you will end up using them. You can also choose to label the items or storage bins/spaces to make them easier to identify.
Things you rarely use can be donated, sold, or repurposed to serve a different purpose. If none of this works, you can discard them. Keep in mind that the motive here is to get the space cleared out of useless things and not purposely find a new home for them there.
05. Organizational Tools to Elevate the Aesthetics
Using organizational ideas to arrange everything into place can help you stay organized for longer. That is because it always looks better when you do so. Using shelving units, bins, and containers to stack and categorize things and increasing the storage space in your house is a tried and true method to organize the room.
Other tools include adding that extra hook for towels on the door, folding clothes in a filing manner, colour coordinating, vertical storage ideas for every function to save space, etc.
06. Clean up and then Move to the Next
Once you are done organizing everything in the room, you can clean up everything and then move to the next messiest room. Categorizing becomes easier as you now need to only follow the same steps as in the previous room.
The mantra for decluttering your home is to ‘reduce’,‘reuse’, and ‘refrain’! Well, reduce what you have. Whatever is not put to good use, give it away! Reuse the things in the house in more than one way and ultimately refrain from buying too many things that you may never use. Think before you invest in clothes, shoes, or even appliances. These home-organizing tips can make your home more welcoming.
Guide to Organize House Room by Room
01. Organized Living Room Ideas
As a family room, it gets more crowded than any other. That means it will get filled with all different kinds of things that belong to each person.
Following are a few of the organized living room ideas:
- Make it a point to use the commodities and take them back to their respective places once you leave the room.
- Create smaller storage spaces for things that are used regularly. That way it will be easier to put them away after use rather than taking them back and forth from your room.
- Fill the room with elements that function for the spaces such as seating areas, entertainment units, and lighting features to enhance the ambiance. Other elements like wall hangings and art can add life to the space with decor elements that go with the furniture.
02. Organized Kitchen Ideas
The kitchen and dining space can go from being used for a single recipe to hosting a family cookout. Either way, it can get messy with multiple utensils taken out and equipment and ingredients spread out on the counter. Dining spaces are easily prone to clutter as they offer more space. They are the most loved location by the children to do their homework and spend their playtime.
Following are a few of the organized kitchen ideas:
- Store each item ranging from spices to utensils in their separate shelves and drawers of the kitchen cabinet. Categorize them according to type and separate them using the storage units.
- Using clear containers for storage makes them easy to access.
- Utensils can be hung on the sides of cupboards or above an island space on a frame attached to the ceiling. They can also be stored on deep shelves for a cleaner look.
- Tools like knives and spatulas are easily accessible with a holder that presents them visibly.
- Utensils can be taken away from the dining area and the space can be cleaned after the person has finished eating.
- Storage bins or cupboard spaces can be set up for storing regularly used things such as magazines, workbooks, napkins, extra pens, etc. Sideboards that hold unused crockery can be used for this.
- Cutlery holders, table runners, table mats, and so on can also be used to organize things and protect the table’s surface.
- Do away with containers that do not have a matching lid. That way you can make sure there is no cluttering of plastic containers in your kitchen. Similarly, get rid of mismatched plates and bowls too, and maintain a uniform set of cutlery.
03. Bedroom Organization Ideas
It is the first room you see every morning and the last room you see every night. If this space makes you uncomfortable, it might also affect the rest of the day. Being a private room, it mainly stores and has accents that cater to the few people that inhabit the space. It is a place where you can unwind and relax in peace. Keeping that in mind, you can organize the items accordingly.
Here are a few bedroom organization ideas:
- First things first, always make it a point to make the bed when heading towards bedroom organization. A messy bed can be such a turn-off!
- Depending on the number of people using the space, areas can be designated. The items can be stored in an easily accessible and visible manner.
- You can also save space by using in-built storage units in furniture, like under the bed and on the walls.
- You can arrange clothes and other items inside these spaces using space-conserving DIY tactics, giving you more space to work with.
- Make sure you have been decluttering the bedside table storage and the cupboard too so that there are only things that are in use.
These bedroom organisation ideas are easy to follow and improve your bedroom space.
04. Home Office Organization
Being a place for productivity, it is the place where most paperwork accumulates. Every bill, file, and document gets dumped here. It eventually gets piled, one on top of the other. Organizing this space will give you a clearer mindset to get work done.
Here are a few ideas for the home office organization :
- Filing papers into folders based on priority and labeling the folders according to what they contain can be extremely beneficial.
- Books can be stacked or shelved in a way that their spines are visible. This makes taking them out and putting them back easier. Notebooks can also be kept similarly.
- Store the smaller instruments like pens, pencils, and other stationery in pen holders and smaller containers.
- Wires and chords of electronics can be stored away in the drawers of the table or boxed up in containers until they are needed. Containers that can be attached under the table can help a great deal here.
05. Bathroom Organization Ideas
Used by multiple people every day, this space contains all sorts of products and often gets mixed up and laid out in an unorganized fashion. This is also a space you will get judged for the most. Hence, it is of utmost importance to have bathroom organization.
Following are a few bathroom organization ideas:
- Separate and arrange products according to the person and priority of use. This can be done using in-built shelving units or open racks for a more aesthetic appeal.
- You can keep the products you use the most and throw out the ones that are no longer in use.
- In case your bathroom is too small to hold so many things, you can keep the necessary items and shift the others outside.
06. Store Room Organization Ideas
Everything unwanted or emotionally attached ends up in this room. On the other hand, it becomes useful to store handy tools, extra grains, and other items for future use. In some cases, they are also used as makeshift work areas for various household chores like washing and drying clothes, providing extra space for utensils to be washed, or stored, etc.
Even when there might be some of these that we end up using shortly, a lot of them stay in the same place to collect dust over time. Being an area that is rarely seen by anyone visiting the house, it gets pushed aside as a space that can be messy without proper organizing.
Following are a few store room organization ideas:
- Go through each pile one by one and categorize things into useful and unnecessary piles.
- The needed items can be organized accordingly and assigned to their designated spaces.
- Unnecessary things can be thrown away, repurposed, gifted, or donated.
- Washing and drying areas should be cleaned after each use and dry items must be kept away separate from here.
- You can use DIY shelving and storage techniques to organize them. This will give the room more space.
Make it a point to clean the space regularly because it can get dusty. This will maintain the quality of the items you have decided to keep for later use.
07. Laundry Room Organization Ideas
This space gets accumulated with used clothes and items that need cleaning.
Following are a few of the laundry room organization ideas:
- Assign bins for laundry according to colour and type of item to be cleaned. That will pre-prep them to be directly washed.
- Vertical shelving can be used to hold the necessary equipment and products for easy access.
- Make a system of laundry for the whole family to understand. This way, everything will stay organized.
08. Attic Organization Ideas
The dumping yard of the house-the attic bears it all! Meant to take the waste from all corners of the house, this room never grabs the attention of the people on the ‘home clean-up spree’. It is essential to declutter and organise this room regularly.
Following are a few attic organization ideas:
- Assess the space and understand how this space can be put to optimal use. Remove everything out of the attic to visualise the space.
- See the kinds of commodities being stored and allocate separate boxes for each one of them. This means, if you are looking for an old file, you precisely know which box to lay your hands on and if you are looking for a driller to nail the old painting, you know that the toolbox is in the specific corner of the room.
- Sort everything and decide what to keep, what to sell or donate, or what to recycle.
- Re-arrange and organise the space with storage solutions. You’re ready to buy and install storage solutions now that you’ve taken inventory of your belongings and what’s going back into your attic. The storage solution you must choose will depend on the layout of your attic.
09. Organized Playroom Ideas
A playroom is undoubtedly an area where the imagination of your child can run wild, but that doesn’t mean their toys, books, and other playthings should be in constant disarray. A good environment will be created if everything is in its proper place, and your children will learn valuable lessons about keeping things neat.
If organized playroom ideas are what you are looking for, here are a few of them:
- The first step will be decluttering old toys. Take out any broken toys or toys which your children have outgrown. Donate them to other kids and thus optimize your toy inventory.
- Put toys in clear, see-through bins, so that they can easily get what they are searching for. Organise small toys like LEGO carefully.
- Create a library corner. You can install shelves on one wall of the playroom and create a reading area, so kids can read their favourite books.
- Keep messy things out of the reach of children. To avoid mess, keep art and craft supplies in a place where only you or an adult can reach them.
For more kid’s room storage ideas, have a look at our blog.
10. Pooja Room Organization Ideas
Even a small space like your pooja room can easily get cluttered because of the routine use of pooja items.
Following are a few pooja room organization ideas:
- Pooja rooms in Indian households often have a lot of loose items lying around. Boxes of incense sticks, matchboxes, packets of rangoli, extra cotton thread for diya, and oil cans are just a few examples. If not properly stored, all of these items can turn your beautiful pooja room into a mess. To keep such items hidden, use modular pooja room temples with built-in storage cabinets.
- The pooja items and their arrangements tend to become disorganised by the end of each week, so it is important to plan and organise the placement of all items to give one’s pooja room or mandir an aesthetically appealing and pleasing appearance.s
- We frequently bring home Prasad from temples, such as packets of kumkum, and place them in the pooja room. These packets usually sit in the corners of the room for days. Regularly declutter the storage space by throwing away empty agarbatti containers, used matchsticks, etc. Dispose of offered flowers regularly to avoid clutter.
- Regularly clean brass idols, silver idols, and picture frames to keep the room tidy.
11. Balcony Organization
A balcony has special importance for apartment owners, as it provides a space to relax from a hectic routine. A balcony, no matter how small, has full design potential.
Follow the below tips for balcony organization:
- Start by decluttering your balcony. Remove the clutter and clean outdoor furniture. Make sure there is no garbage on the balcony.
- Organise the miscellaneous items in proper storage.
- Create a green belt on the balcony to create a soothing environment. You can incorporate plant stands, or if you have a small balcony, you can create your vertical garden.
- Incorporate comfortable but functional furniture with storage space for items.
11 Additional Tips on How to Maintain your Organized House
After you organize the house room by room, keep in mind the below tips to maintain your organized house:
- When you’ve finished organizing everything, make sure everyone is aware of the system you’ve chosen to stick with. That way they can understand what goes where and help you maintain the neatness of the space.
- Once you have used an item, be sure to put it back in its designated spot. This will eliminate the future work of redoing the work you spent hours doing initially.
- As you shop for new items for your house, buy items that will have a place to go as well as items that will be used. Piling up unnecessary things that don’t have a place or are rarely used, would just crowd the space and make your organized house unorganized.
- Make sure to keep things of daily use and need in a visible space. This makes sure that you won’t have any difficulty finding or using them in the future.
- Pay attention to where most of your clutter comes from. You can try to reduce the same in time.
- After assigning spaces for each item, you can set a boundary for that space being the only space you get to store them. That puts a limit on hoarding any single piece and prevents clutter in the future.
- Treat shelving units like a space that needs more organizing. You can make use of smaller storage dividers and bins in deep or broader drawers to organize items that store there.
- Once the usage of a room is done for the day, you can do a roundabout clean-up of the space, ensuring everything is back in its place so that you have an organized house.
- It might sometimes be difficult to return items to their original place after use. In that case, you can go ahead and do a complete mini-organizing project of the house as a family before going to bed.
- Schedule time slots so you don’t get carried away with organizing.
- Make sure to consciously take these smaller steps of organization each day to prevent you from taking a bigger and more time-consuming one later. Make it a routine. Keep aside at least 30 mins a day to clear the clutter.
Organizing things in your house can not only bring more clarity to the items you own but will also give you a sense of how to deal with them in the future. Once you organize your house room by room, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. Thereafter, maintaining it will be a challenge moving forward. So, taking steps to organize that is easier to get back into as habits will help you do the same with ease.
Now that you know how to organize your house room by room, you might be interested in knowing how to declutter your kitchen and organize your basement.
15+ Tips to Declutter a Non-Modular Kitchen
Tackle Your Basement – How One Weekend Will Get You Organized!
Author Bio
Saili Sawantt – She is an Architect and Interior Designer by profession. Writing is what she treats as her passion. She has worked as an Architectural Writer, Editor, and Journalist for various design as well as digital portals, both national and international. Formerly she has also worked with Godrej Properties Limited (GPL) Design Studio, Mumbai, due to her keen interested in learning about Sustainability and Green buildings. Apart from this, she runs her blog ‘The Reader’s Express’ and is a practicing Architect & Interior Designer.
