Your Total Home Organizing and Decluttering Guide
Take it slow or be a speed demon — this room-by-room approach to organizing and storage will get your home in shape no matter how you roll
Vanessa Brunner
January 2, 2016
Houzz Editorial Staff
Take advantage of the new year and give your home a fresh start. We’ve compiled some of the best cleaning and organizing guides from Houzz, room by room, to help you start off the year with a clean slate.
Kitchen. Whether your refrigerator needs a good scrubbing, your drawers need to be reorganized or your pantry needs a complete overhaul, we've got you covered. Get your kitchen spick-and-span and ready for family dinners and parties all through the new year.
1. Organize Your Kitchen Drawers
2. Clean Out the Pantry
3. Spring Clean Your Kitchen
4. 24 Hot Ideas for Stashing Spices
1. Organize Your Kitchen Drawers
2. Clean Out the Pantry
3. Spring Clean Your Kitchen
4. 24 Hot Ideas for Stashing Spices
Bathroom. Even for those lucky enough to have a massive master bathroom, it can be hard to pinpoint what needs organizing in this part of the house. Usually the mess hides — under the sink, in the medicine cabinet or in the towel bin. Keep those tucked-away spaces tidy too with these bathroom organizing guides.
5. Organize the Bathroom for Well-Earned Bliss
6. Bathroom Storage: Where to Keep the Towels
7. 8 Easy Tips for an Organized Bathroom
5. Organize the Bathroom for Well-Earned Bliss
6. Bathroom Storage: Where to Keep the Towels
7. 8 Easy Tips for an Organized Bathroom
Home office. My home office consists of a small desk and file cabinet in my bedroom, but somehow it still ends up a stressful mess of old bills, broken staplers and pens without ink. It’s easy to let all the paper and projects become overwhelming. Jump-start your year jump with a revamp of your home office.
8. 5 Ways to Organize Your Home Electronics
9. Avoid the Great Paper Pileup
10. How to Organize Your Home Office
11. Organizing the Office: Inspiring Shelves and Cabinets
8. 5 Ways to Organize Your Home Electronics
9. Avoid the Great Paper Pileup
10. How to Organize Your Home Office
11. Organizing the Office: Inspiring Shelves and Cabinets
Living room. The living room often combines several spaces — a media area, a playspace and a dining room, to name a few. Get the craziness of your living room under control by determining your plan of attack: Choose one corner or part of your living room to tackle per week. These ideabooks can help you get started.
12. Organize the Media Cabinet
13. Lose It: CDs, DVDs, Cassettes and VHS Tapes
14. How to Hide Your TV Cables
15. How to Style Your Bookcase
12. Organize the Media Cabinet
13. Lose It: CDs, DVDs, Cassettes and VHS Tapes
14. How to Hide Your TV Cables
15. How to Style Your Bookcase
Closet. Everyone has a fantasy closet space. Get a step closer to yours by tackling your closet this January. You might not be able to upgrade your closet's square footage, but you can upgrade its (and your) style.
16. Best Storage Secrets for Clothes
17. 8 Pretty, Practical Jewelry Organizing Ideas
18. 10 Elements of the Perfect Closet
19. Get Organized: Let Your Shoes Shine
16. Best Storage Secrets for Clothes
17. 8 Pretty, Practical Jewelry Organizing Ideas
18. 10 Elements of the Perfect Closet
19. Get Organized: Let Your Shoes Shine
Garage and basement. You might have one or both, but odds are either your garage or basement has caused you some organizational stress. Get rid of the junk forever with these guides to decluttering and reorganizing the garage and basement.
20. Lose That Old Sports Equipment
21. 6 Garage Organizing Tips That Really Work
22. 8 Tips for a Supremely Organized Winter Garage
23. 12 Tips for Supremely Organized Basement Storage
20. Lose That Old Sports Equipment
21. 6 Garage Organizing Tips That Really Work
22. 8 Tips for a Supremely Organized Winter Garage
23. 12 Tips for Supremely Organized Basement Storage
Kids' bedroom and playroom. Invest a little time arranging your child's bedroom or playspace, and you may save yourself a lot of time picking up their toys and junk later. Organizing children's spaces isn't just about making them look good — you need to make sure the kids know how to keep them neat and tidy, too.
24. 5 Ways to Keep Toys Tidy
25. Organize a Kids' Closet Lickety-Split
26. Smart Back-to-School Storage: Wicker Baskets
27. Corral Kids' Books
24. 5 Ways to Keep Toys Tidy
25. Organize a Kids' Closet Lickety-Split
26. Smart Back-to-School Storage: Wicker Baskets
27. Corral Kids' Books
Laundry room. Keep your laundry room from becoming a chaotic clothes-filled free-for-all, and aim for a pleasant space to clean clothes instead. Simple works better for this room — and you can get a surprisingly soothing laundry room of your own with these guides.
28. Make a Clean Break With Laundry Chaos
29. 6 Ways to Care for Your Washing Machine
30. How to Give Your Laundry a Boost
28. Make a Clean Break With Laundry Chaos
29. 6 Ways to Care for Your Washing Machine
30. How to Give Your Laundry a Boost
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The best way to de-clutter is to use your walls. There's so much you can do to get stuff up off the floor, countertops, etc., by putting up shelves or wall decor pieces that help you get organized. Having a place for everything and everything in its place helps a lot :-) You can even get stuff out of your cabinets like coffee mugs or wine bottles and use them as Decor Pieces
Great point Adlite Creations! When increasing square footage isn't an option, the only way to go is up and using your wall space adds not only functional storage but a stylish way to show off your books, housewares and collectibles that are meaningful to you.
Deadly word quiz:
What is the deadliest of all words as it pertains to clutter?
Answer: Later. I will put it away later, open and pay it later, move it later, take it to donation later, sell it later return the thing I bought and didn't need later etc.
What is the second deadliest?
Answer: Now. I need it now, want it now, must buy it now, it may never again be on sale, but it is now, I may never find it again, and who knows what other reasons you may apply to the NOW word....they seem pretty unlimited.
The fix to clutter/ getting organized?
ANSWER: Both words. Do it now, and stop buying and saving more of it.....now: )
Bet that made your day, huh? For 85% of folks, that is the how , why and fix.