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Looking to organize your home, apartment, or dorm room? Here are 14 amazing organizing tricks to help you get organized fast.
Organizing might seem daunting and overwhelming at first, but let me tell you, when I get going, it’s one of my favorite things to do!
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Organizing sucks. And you never know where to start, so you don’t start at all.
But trust me, organizing can be efficient and fun at the same time, and I am definitely the type of person to look for cleaning and organizing advice on YouTube and Google, so I created my own tips and tricks to share with you for organizing your space so that you don’t have to feel overwhelmed.
This post is all about the best organizing tricks.
Trick 1: Take Inventory
I know I’m not the only one that has way more stuff than I need, and then it ends up getting thrown everywhere until I reach the status of a hoarder, lol.
First things first, before you start to clean or organize anything, you need to figure out what you have, where it all is, and how much of it is there.
Taking an inventory of all the clutter, both good and bad, will help you develop a base for making an organizing plan, because you’ll know just how to tackle everything if it’s all right in front of you (or in the front of your mind).
Take some time to look at everything in the room that needs to be put away or organized, and then begin with organizing one thing at a time, like your desk, closet, underbed storage, etc.
In other words, it’s probably not a great idea to tackle your entire room in one day. That will just leave you overwhelmed and exhausted.
Trick 2: Make a Game Plan
After you figure out what all needs to be organized, it’s time to make a game plan. I’m talking making a budget for things you need to buy for organizing, like bins, baskets, drawer organizers, or hangars, how much of your stuff you want to keep versus get rid of, how you’re going to get rid of the things you don’t want anymore (like selling them or donating them), and how you want to rearrange your space if necessary.
All of that and more goes into your game plan for reorganizing your room, and I’m not just talking about tidying up. I’m talking full-on organizing, so if you want to just tidy up your space, then you can disregard these first couple of points.
Go and get whatever you need for organizing before you actually start. This will make your life so much easier and the organizing process so much faster!
Trick 3: Ask Yourself How Long a Task Really Takes
When I have to do a task for organization purposes, I am literally so lazy about it. Like I will leave dirty clothes on my floor or weeks and pretend that they aren’t even there (out of sight, out of mind, right? Lol).
But recently, since I’ve moved into my own apartment and I don’t have roommates keeping me accountable for cleaning and organizing my stuff, I have to keep myself in check, which is a lot harder to do than you think.
But I’ve found a super easy way to stay on top of your organizing so that it doesn’t get out of hand and your space turns into a hoarder situation.
I always ask myself if the task that I need to do will take me more than three minutes to complete. If it doesn’t (like making your bed or throwing those dirty clothes in the washer), then I make myself do it right away. If it does take more than three minutes to do (which is very rare for me) then I leave a reminder on my phone that day to go and do it, and that way I have set aside time to complete that task if I don’t complete it immediately.
This has helped me so much with keeping my apartment clean, tidy, and organized without me having to really think about it.
I would much rather complete little tasks throughout the week than have to do a huge cleaning and organizing day once a month because I didn’t do the little things to keep my space tidy.
Trick 4: Under Bed Storage
If you want a surefire way to organize all of those shoes and clothes that you have laying all round your room and closet, then you need to invest in some under the bed storage bins and organizers!
This trick for simple and easy organization is a life saver, especially if you live in an apartment or dorm and don’t have a lot of space to work with (or even if you have plenty of space, these are still awesome to have for extra organization!).
You can use these for storing clothes and shoes that are out of season, kids’ toys that somehow end up in places you didn’t even know existed, or all of your art supplies that you don’t want to have on display in your room.
The possibilities are endless with under the bed storage bins!
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Trick 5: Have a “Dump Basket/Bin”
This is a super specific trick for organizing, and it may seem insignificant, but trust me, having a “dump basket” is a lifesaver, especially if you live in a small space, like an apartment or dorm room.
You can use a “dump basket” for anything. Blankets, cords, games, toys, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Plus, having a big basket where you can throw pretty much anything in it is a super easy way to keep your space tidy and store things that you don’t want to put away immediately.
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Trick 6: Use Ottomans for Organizing
Ottomans are an amazing way to hide things and organize your home when you don’t want to put everything into their own little spots.
This trick is kind of like the “dump basket” trick, just a different method. Use an ottoman at the end of your bed, in the living room or in your entry way to throw blankets, games, toys, and other miscellaneous things.
Plus, like the “dump basket” using ottomans or organization are a great way to store things that you don’t want to put away in their respective spots right away!
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Trick 7: Cord Organizers
Okay, I can’t be the only one that has unruly cords everywhere in my home.
Random cords, cables, and chargers literally appear out of nowhere. And the worst part: I can’t get rid of them because I worry about needing them one day (there’s those hoarder tendencies again, lol).
Use a small pouch or cord organizer to solve your cord crisis and put them away somewhere neat and tidy. That way, you won’t have to go searching for them when you need them, and you won’t have to spend hours untangling them all!
Getting all those random cords out of your sight and neatly organized will be such a relief for you, my blood pressure is already decreasing thinking about it. 😊
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Trick 8: Label, Label, Label!
Label, label, label! Everything.
Labels help so much when you’re trying to get organized and stay organized. I am definitely a labeler. It pretty much forces you stay organized because there’s a specific location for all of your stuff, so you don’t have any excuse for not putting it away in its designated spot.
Using labels is especially effective when you have roommates, because then things won’t end up in the wrong place. Labels are great for your bathroom, linen closet, and kitchen. They really do make your life easier!
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Trick 9: Organizers are Your Friend
Organizers are a very general category for getting your stuff put into their own respective spots, but there are organizers for pretty much anything you could think of.
If you just search “(insert what you want organized) organizer” into amazon or google, tons and tons of results will pop up with organizers you didn’t even know existed.
I highly recommend doing this simple search for things that you don’t really know how to organize or if you just don’t know where to start. You can find some pretty cool (and cute) organizers for anything under the sun!
Trick 10: Drawer Organizers
Organizers are such a life saver, and I love them! I highly recommend investing in some clear organizers for your bathroom and kitchen. It makes things so much cleaner, and it makes it super easy to organize all of the clutter in your bathroom and kitchen drawers.
Turntables and Lazy Suzan’s are awesome for haircare products and tools, snacks and other packaged food items, and toiletries. And they’re extremely easy to use. Just swivel them around to grab your things!
Clear drawer organizers are great for storing jewelry, makeup, hair ties, and other small items.
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Trick 11: Organizing Racks
Along the same lines as organizers in general, organizing racks, specifically, are a great way to get your kitchen organized (and other rooms too, but I’m going to focus on the kitchen).
Pan racks, dish racks for pot and pan lids, or even pot racks are amazing for getting that unruly pots and pans cabinet looking clean and spiffy. Use spice racks for getting all of your spices organized or get a really cute spice rack if you want to put some of your spices on display in your kitchen.
Just like any other organizer, there’s an organizing rack for almost everything. And if there’s not, then think outside the box. You’d be surprised with the versatility of some organizers!
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Trick 12: Go Vertical
If you don’t have a ton of space to work with, or if your under-the-sink storage or closet are limited in their storage space, then using vertical organizers is the way to go!
There’s usually more space in those places than you would think, so using stackable shelves, drawers, and racks is the best thing you can do to optimize the amount of storage space you’re working with.
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Trick 13: Over-the-cabinet-door Storage
This is another awesome and very effective way to maximize your storage space and get organized quick!
Over-the-door storage is commonly overlooked when organizing a space, maybe because it’s a little more specific than your usual baskets and bins.
Regardless of popularity, using over-the-door storage for your kitchen and bathroom cabinets Is a lifesaver if you live in a small apartment (or even a house) or if you just want to put all of that stuff you’ve been hoarding (welcome to the club, lol) somewhere out of sight that isn’t under your bed or in your closet.
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Trick 14: Make a Clean-out Plan
The last step in getting your home organized (feels like my entire existence sometimes, lol) is to make a clean-out plan. Not as hard core as a spring cleaning, but a little more work than just your daily tidying up.
Your space is going to get unorganized again. You can’t avoid that entirely. You’ll find food that has expired, clothes that you haven’t worn since last year, shoes that need to be thrown away because they are literally in shreds, whatever it is, you’re going to need a game plan for keeping your home organized.
I usually do a more serious clean and organizing session once every week or week and a half, but depending on your schedule and lifestyle, you may want to do it more or less frequently. You can also focus on one room at a time for each clean out session, that way it makes it more manageable and easier for you to complete.
Whatever your plan, find something that works for you, and just make sure to stick with it so that all of your hard work that you did organizing doesn’t go to waste!
Alexa Gibbons says
This is a really great post! I am definitely motivated to organize now. Would you like to collab sometime? – Alexa from The Duvall Homestead