Not everyone has the urge to Marie Kondo their place, even if they’re stuck at home with plenty of time to spare. “Organizing can be a stressful and daunting task for some, especially if you’re looking at all the items you have at once,” says Rob Truglia of MakeSpace Storage. “It’s best to start off by determining what areas you need to clean and go from there.”
You may never get to the point where organizing is a relaxing or fun task, but it can be relatively stress-free. Marshall Weber, organizing expert for Stor-It Self Storage, outlines the key steps to organize your home.
Start slow.
“Don’t try to reorganize your entire home all at once. Don’t even devote a whole hour to organizing if you don’t feel like it. Start slow with 15- or 30-minute sessions.”
Organize one room at a time.
“There’s no need to take on your whole house. Go one room at a time, or even one shelf at a time, to help make organization manageable.”
Treat yourself.
“Throw on some tunes to help pass the time and give yourself a reward at the end of your reorganization session for some extra motivation.”
Truglia adds that he likes to start with the quickest task, like flipping a mattress, and then work his way up to more challenging projects.
Target hot spots.
When it comes to spring cleaning hot spots, closets and vanities top the list. Closets are built for storage so they can quickly become cluttered. “To tackle your closet and reorganize effectively, take everything out of it. Then, item by item, start putting things back in, placing them in new spots in your room or house or discarding them altogether,” says Weber. “You’ll be amazed at how much space you’ll free up and by working outside of your closet, you’ll skip that dreaded clutter claustrophobia.”
To organize your vanity, Weber recommends going layer by layer. “The top of your vanity is the easiest place to start, even if it looks like a Jackson Pollock painting made with jewelry, toiletries and odds and ends from your pockets. Sort everything by type into piles, then figure out small places to store it all.” Next, go drawer by drawer to see what can be folded, relocated or discarded completely.
Invest in storage solutions.
While it may seem counterintuitive, sometimes the best way to organize the items you currently have is to purchase a few more. “Shoe racks, shelves, jewelry boxes and even full storage units can help you free up space at home and keep track of your stuff,” says Weber.
Think creatively about your space. “Your closet door may not seem like a storage spot, but give it a hangable shoe rack and suddenly it’s a full-on footlocker. Likewise, get a coffee table with drawers to store odds and ends like remotes, board games and cleaning supplies. Have a weird corner you don’t know what to do with? They have furniture for that. Shop corner shelves to see how you can store vertically in a small sliver of space.”
If the current pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we don’t have control over most things in life. But we can control how tidy and organized our abodes are. So go ahead and start spring cleaning. It’ll not only make you feel more in control, it will help make your time indoors fly by.
