Most of us accumulate many items that we love and/or use, however sometimes we don't organize these items in the ways they're begging to be stored and our home becomes overstimulating to be in. The solution that usually comes to mind is to downsize, however it's not always that we own too much (yes, sometimes it is that we own too much), sometimes it's that we're just not organizing or showcasing the right items in the right way. If this sounds like you, keep reading.
You have the wrong items on display: Let's use the kitchen as an example. Displaying kitchen items can be such a fun way to make an otherwise boring counter feel cozier, however the items you choose to showcase matter. While having the basics are important, it doesn't mean they all should be displayed. For example, looking at wooden spoons versus rubber spatulas gives off a very different vibe. It doesn't mean you cant have the rubber spatulas, but maybe its an item that gets tucked away in a utensils drawer by the stove instead of displayed on the counter next to the stove. Choose a theme to showcase (i.e. warm and inviting wood utensils and ceramic vessels, or cool and utilitarian metal gadgets and glass measuring cups, etc) and then put the other items away in kitchen drawers/baskets/etc.
The colors you're using are clashing: Before you come for me, I'm by no means saying we should abandon using color in our homes... USE COLOR! However, color theory is important for a reason! If you have warms and cools and neons and pastels and neutrals and sparkles all at the same time it's probably going to feel overwhelming. Choose a color pallet that generally works with the major pieces in your home (and the house/apartment itself) and go from there. Maybe your couch is a deep velvet teal, be intentional with how you throw in different tones and textures to play off of the blue to balance it out (ie maybe its time to retire or recover that one throw pillow you've had since collage that no longer suits your style). Maybe your bed frame is a nice shade of olive green, you can add sheets in different muted colors to compliment the olive shade. If you don't want to add too many other colors in you can always add in different prints and textures to create more variety in the space without overwhelming the eye with battling color pallets.
Your furniture might be the wrong shape/size for your home: A lot of us (myself included) borrowed or took home items from our family members when we were just starting out with our own place. This is such a wonderful way to cut down on costs and a great way to reuse home items. However, it could be a reason why things don't look "quite right" in your home. A couch thats sized for a full family is not necessarily the size of a couch you need in your first studio apartment. Or maybe you've graduated from your third apartment and are buying a home (congrats!), so the wonderful couch you bought 1o years ago for your first big girl apartment is probably a little too small for this new space. Try to take the space into consideration before purchasing something you love just because you love it. And if you're getting hand me downs, and thats your only option at the moment, find ways to trick the eye to make it work. For example if the couch you're bringing into your space is too small and it just looks awkward and clunky, try adding side tables and lamps on both ends of the couch to make the space feel more full. If you're like "well this is great Rose, but I don't know how to implement it into my exact space with my exact furniture," you can fill out this form to work with me and get some help decorating and/or organizing your home.
Hiding the the stuff we need, but don't want: Craft materials, extension cables and cords, holiday decor, and those pesky items that you don't use frequently but do need to keep for the occasional times you do need them are big contributors to clutter. This is a category where I would personally look through and try to donate items that I truly don't need to hang onto, however, there are items that you do need to hang onto, but just don't need accessible for daily use. Once you have designated an area for this storage (maybe it's on a shelf or in a closet), go to IKEA, Home Goods, The Container Store, or something similar and get matching bins (get bins that you like the look of if the storage is going to be on display, if its going to be tucked away in a garage then just get something sturdy and stackable). Matching bins are key here for a few reasons. Reason one: if you need more in the future, you can get more and keep a consistent look. Reason two: if you need to stack them, they will fit perfectly and you don't have to worry about wobbling sizes/etc. Reason three: if they're on display it will look much more cohesive (although I do break this last rule sometimes, as you'll see below in my closet... I guess I group certain things in certain boxes, so Items A go in white boxes, Items B go in patterned boxes, etc). I have three white bins for storage displayed on my shelf that are complemented with a few wicker baskets, I consider those baskets more as decor than storage, but I suppose they are storage as well. So if you go with multiple storage bins/boxes, I would make sure they compliment each other otherwise it might end up looking cluttered all over again.
Storing the right things, in the right way, can create more room: It's pretty obvious that things like loose cords and random tidbits need to be put into a box or find their ways into the right drawer, however there are other items that don't need to be stored away in a bin/basket, but by doing so it not only keeps things visually tidy, but also makes a space more efficient. Let's use bed linens as an example. Some people are super lucky to have a whole linen cabinet or closet, so this tip, while applicable to those folks, might not be as game changing. If you're like me and use a small portion of your clothes closet as a bed linens closet too, you have likely shoved things onto a shelf and had items come falling down like an avalanche more than once. It had been on my to-do list for ages to get a basket (so simple!!) that fit my top shelf to store my bed linens in instead of just stacking sheets on top of each other and hoping they didn't fall over. Once I finally got the basket I was kicking myself for not doing it earlier because it was such a game changer. Not only did the closet look much more visually organized, but it was way easier to grab what I needed (a pillow case from the pillowcase basket, a duvet from the sheets basket, etc), quicker to put things away, and because the basket held things tightly together it also created more room in the closet (a classic example of the ironic formula how sometimes adding more stuff gives you more room). This can also be the case with storing shoes properly, storing food in the fridge/pantry, bathroom organization, finding efficient ways to store your clothes, etc. Every home/every person will be different, so I don't have the answers for your personal situation, but I can tell you that sometimes simple changes make the biggest difference and it's worth taking the time to figure out what needs to change and how to implement those changes.
Other random organizing tricks I've been asked about in the past: I get DM's asking about organization occasionally and I'll drop answers to those FAQs (plus more tips) below!
Where are your containers from? All storage bins are linked here when possible!
How do you hang your hats? With command hooks!
No ones ever asked me this, but just advice I'd offer: if you don't have an office/desk, get one bin for important documents and put everything you'd need to grab in an emergency in there (i.e. social security card, passport, car titles, etc).
Closet organization advice: use the same type of hangers in your closet for consistency (on one side of my closet I use felt covered hangers for shirt and dresses and on the other side I use wood hangers for my jackets and coats).
Where do you store garage items? I bought a waterproof bin and store tools/garden supplies/etc in there.
How do you keep your place organized? A lot of what I covered in this blog post goes into that answer, but also just tidying daily, doing dishes after every meal, I don't let surfaces become a dump site (I put things away after I use them), and doing deep cleans monthly. When you live in a smaller space you don't really have room to let it get messy, each item needs to have a spot and if it doesn't have a spot you either create a spot for it or ask yourself if you really need it. If the task to put something away takes under 5 minutes, I do it on the spot. And remember, if you're in a pinch its fine to just shove it under the couch and call it a day... We're only human.
I hope this was helpful and I hope it offered ideas, but didn't make you feel like you need to implement this all at once. I'll also leave you with the reminder that while yes, my home is organized and tidy most of the time because I am a neat freak and I like it that way, it's not 100% tidy 100% of the time. I don't share photos the random box filled with things I need to donate thats been sitting on my bedroom floor for a week or the bag of "idk what to do with this yet" thats just been hanging out in my car (sometimes my car acts as a storage unit and I wont lie about that lol). I think it's safe to say that thats the case for most people, not everyone is on top of it all all the time. Give yourself grace. Organization takes time, and thats ok! Take your time to figure out what works for you and your space.
Until next time,
xx
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