Your bedroom should be a calm, relaxing space, and if your closet is a mess, it can ruin that feeling. Actually, a cluttered closet anywhere in the house can be a big eyesore. So, to address this space in your house, begin with small, simple steps. 

1. Start by taking everything out of your closet and sorting them. At the same time, get rid of anything that is too small, too big, ripped/damaged, or starting to show signs of age. Pick out items you haven’t touched in 6 months to a year and add them to a pile to donate. 

2. Next, coordinate your clothes in the way that suits you. Mine are sorted by color. Some sort by types of clothing, i.e. pants, shirts, sweaters. This helps things look nice visually and helps you find something easier.

3. If you have done these things and your closet is still bulging at the seams, you may need to get rid of more things. Count how many of each item you have. Decide how many is enough for you...perhaps three is enough, maybe five.

4. Last thing to do is make extra space in creative ways. If you have a large closet but a small house, hang hooks and organization devices on walls and doors to store shoes, purses, coats, backpacks, or belts. If your closet is smaller, get containers for these items and put them above or below the hangers. Another trick is putting socks, underwear and/or bras in your nightstand.

​

It always amazes me how many things I own for my children. Keeping it all organized seems like a full-time job! From my experience, I find the easiest way to store kids' toys is with containers. So, get some containers that are big enough to fit one category of toys. (Make the containers easy to move and easy to put things into. Often, open-top boxes, cartons, and bins are the easiest.) Be sure everything fits with some extra room (if you happen to get more).

1. Again, go through and throw away anything that is broken or trivial (ex: kid's meal toys).

2. Next, separate things into categories: pretend food/cooking, animals, cars, dress up clothes, etc. Remind kids that only one type of toy goes in each box, not just to throw everything in randomly.

3. Once sorted, put the containers in some sort of organizing system. This could be a shelf, under a piece of furniture, or in a cube storage organizer.

4. A good trick with toys is to have some things out and others put away. That way, you can switch out the toys and the kids will feel like they received new things to play with. Also, it allows for less visual clutter and less to clean up each day.

I have decided countertops must be magnetic or something, because they seem to attract everything in the house! I find food, toys, mail, coupons, wrappers, homework, and clothes on mine! This can be a space in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom or garage. So what do we do to keep the mess away? 

1. If your countertops are already cluttered, start by getting a big box and dumping everything on it into the box.

2. Take back out the things that you want to have stay on the countertop.

3. Find some attractive looking containers, baskets, or paper organizers to handle anything you do keep. (I suggest investing a little more money in these because they will be prominent in your home.) I keep a fruit basket and paper organizer on my island to hold mail and coupons that I want on hand.

4. Start committing to keeping your counters clean. If someone else in your home puts things regularly on your organized counter, tell them they need to find a new place. I warn my kids that if they put it on my counter, I’ll throw it away. If it’s important, they need to find somewhere special to house it. If you tend to dump things on your counter, only allow it for a day or two until you can find a more permanent place.

5. If you simply need more space, opt for shelves, wall folders, key hooks or cork boards to store things on all that extra, unused verticle space.