Spring is in the air, and for many that tends to instigate an overwhelming desire to start fresh, clear space, clean and, of course, organize. In fact, TULA’s requests for organization in the spring nearly double: Organize my closet, our pantry, my kid’s dresser, my spice drawer, under my sink, my garage, my office… and on and on. There is no doubt that order and understanding of where things are brings a huge sense of relief to our clients, and TULA assistants are always happy to help.
And for those who plan to tackle spring organizing on their own, here are our top six tips for making organization projects a success.
1. Start in one place
In most cases, our clients have a list of several areas in their home they want to get under control. Our advice is to start with one. Maybe it’s the space you and your family are in the most often, maybe it’s the drawers you avoid opening because they give you anxiety each time you do, or maybe it’s the room that everyone sees as soon as they walk in your home. Whatever your priorities, select one area and stick to it. When you start many projects at one time, it becomes harder to actually complete one and you lose focus. When you are able to focus on one area, you’re able to cross that off your list (our favorite thing to do), which can motivate you to keep going.
2. Give yourself plenty of time
Don’t expect organization to happen overnight. Organizing requests and projects hands down almost always take longer than you think. Depending on the area to be organized, make sure to schedule a couple of hours each day to work on getting the area organized.
3. Take inventory
Go through everything in that particular area. Take everything out. Sort the items as keep, donate and sell. For closets, if you haven’t worn the item in two years, it’s time to give it away. You likely won’t even notice it is gone. After you’ve removed these items, take a look at what remains and make sure everything that is left makes sense in that space. Consider: is there another place where you’ve got more room to keep it, or another area where it would be more easily accessible for its purpose? For example, does it make sense to keep wrapping paper in the pantry or is there a better place for it?
4. Don’t overlook underused space
Under the beds, behind the doors and above cabinets are all often overlooked opportunities to create more space. Go “up,” by creating storage space between cabinets or shelves and the ceiling, and store things that you don’t use as frequently up high.
5. Organize with color
Whether you’re working to organize the family room, find just a little more order or wanting to go full on Home Edit, there is no doubt that using color sorting enhances efforts (and appearance). Assign each family member a different colored container to keep their belongings in, and keep them responsible for cleaning up after themselves. Organize projects, bills and other important papers by function and color in your home office. Organizing clothes first by type and then secondarily by color, makes it very easy to find what you are looking for – and even what you didn’t know you were looking for. When you’re able to go to a color category to match with your outfit, you’re able to find options that you didn’t remember you even had.
6. Visibility and accessibility
When you can, use transparent containers or those that can be easily labeled so you can read or see the contents of the containers. Additionally, make sure that the items you need most often are the easiest to access, and place the items you don’t need to get to as often on a higher shelf or in another area.
Know that no matter what the project is, the organization process will almost always reach an ‘ugh, why-did-I-start-this’ moment. But don’t worry, take a deep breath, and tackle one step at a time. When your physical space is uncluttered and you know where everything is, it’s amazing how much mental space that can clear up at the same time.
Megan Trask and Cody Galloway are Denver residents and co-founders of TULA Life Balanced. Learn more about their business at tulabalanced.com.