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Organizational Hacks! 10 Tips for getting your home in order for 2018

Publish on Jan 04, 2018

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The start of a New Year brings a time to de-clutter and re-organize our homes and our lives. A clean, organized home encourages a clearer mind and happier approach in everyday living. Do you have areas in your home that are cluttered with stuff and you don’t know what to do it all or where to even start? Here are 10 organizational hacks for your home to get you off to a great New Year’s start.

1. Entrance area

Cycle out your Summer and Winter shoes/coats and place them in storage bins. Dedicate an area to hang coats and backpacks and use wicker or clear bins to store hats, scarfs, shoes etc. If you have children, you may opt to label their own bin. Need more hanger space? This double hanger duty hack is genius and perfect for your closets too!

2. Laundry Room

Most laundry rooms seem to collect everything from dirty and clean clothes to shoes, knapsacks, papers, toques and pet supplies. A sure-fire way to instant organization is to install some cabinets and shelving above your washer and dryer with an area to hang dry your delicate items. Switch our that old triangle shaped ironing board for one that sits on your counter and use wire shelving on the inside of larger cabinet doors to store your laundry and cleaning supplies as well as some toiletries.

3. Office/Den

If you have a dark and dingy office area why not freshen it up with a new coat of bright paint? Add wall shelving and cabinets to organize your office/school supplies, computers and printers and cute storage bins clearly labelled will aid in the functionality. Remember to go through your paperwork and shred any old confidential documents and organize the remaining papers in reusable file folders/boxes.

4. Kitchen fridge and freezer

Firstly, go through your fridge and freezer and discard expired or rotten condiments and packages. Use clear Tupperware or glass containers to organize your fridge perishables (preferably ones with stacking lids) and label them accordingly. For your freezer, use open baskets so you can easily stack and grab what you need. Freeze food in individual/family portions and flat for better use of your freezer space and then place in plastic containers.

5. Kitchen Cabinets

Start by decluttering your kitchen by storing (or donating) excess pots, pans, plates, glassware and utensils that you’re not currently using. If you have extra wall space, try installing a corkboard to hang your cooking utensils. Or perhaps hang some coffee mugs underneath a shelf and add a few shelf dividers or a lazy susan to free up some more space.

6. Kitchen Drawers

We all have that one utensil drawer that is jammed with ladles, flippers, garlic presses, cheese graters and every other kitchen tool made. Find that potato peeler in a flash by organizing your drawer with various sized containers and place all the larger utensils together and smaller ones in another. How about that junk drawer? Use an old muffin tin to organize tape, pens, note pads, scissors, paperclips, elastics and more.

7. Pantry

If you’re fortunate to have a kitchen pantry and still can’t find what you’re looking for, perhaps one of these easy hacks will help you get organized. Get rid of cereal and snack cardboard boxes, pasta/rice packages and baking supplies and transfer them into clear, labelled containers and jars. Make it fun and by colour coding them! This will not only free up space but also let you easily see when to replenish your goods.

A simple shoe organizer hung on the back of your pantry door will hold spices, small dry packages and cooking utensils. And lastly, organize your similar dry food onto one shelf and canned on another or better yet, store your canned goods on their side, in wire baskets.

8. Bedroom Closet

The easiest way to organize your closet is to go through your old clothing and donate them to your favourite Charity or Consignment store. Utilize wicker baskets to store pieces above your clothing rod (or under the bed) and organizers for your shoes. Another fantastic space saver hack is to use shower curtain hooks on a clothes hanger for scarves, purses, ties and belts.

9. Bathroom

Specifically, “under the sink messes”. Hair accessories and brushes, makeup, hot tools, hair product and feminine hygiene are a few of the items stored underneath our sinks. Organize this area by using plastic stackable drawers or bins. Assign one bathroom drawer for makeup and another for hair products. Tidy up those hot tools by utilizing the inside of your cabinet door to hang flat irons, hair dryers, brushes and bobby pins.

10. Garage

One of the worst areas to collect stuff and yet the easiest to organize by using large Rubbermaid totes clearly labelled. Put all your electrical or painting supplies in one bin and organize a tool box for quick home repairs. Hang the yard tools (rakes, weed eaters, shovels) on your garage wall using nails/hooks and don’t forget the ceiling space to store the large items/containers that you don’t use often.

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