What if you could achieve lasting change with just a few small tweaks? Take your home’s organizational system, for example. Believe it or not, keeping your space tidy doesn’t have to require a sweeping decluttering tactic or a hyper-specific labeling plan. Rather, a few small and simple switches can yield big-time results. That’s exactly why we tapped a few West Coast organizers to share their favorite tiny tweaks that make a huge difference.
1. Mail Makeover
According to MaryJo Monroe, founder and organizer at ReSPACEd in Portland, Oregon, revamping your home’s organizational system should start well before you step inside. “It’s a really common habit to grab the mail on our way in the house each evening, and toss it in a pile on the counter or table, because we think we don’t have time to deal with it,” she says. Before you go into your home, Monroe recommends spending a few seconds by your outdoor recycling bin and “chucking” any junk mail you have.
Courtesy of West Elm
As for the letters and bills you do need to keep? “Get an upright file sorter, place it wherever your mail pile tends to build up, and file those pieces of mail into folders labeled with the next action each piece of mail needs,” she shares. “Once every week or two, sit down for 20 minutes and pay those bills and take action on those other papers, so your file sorter doesn’t get out of hand.”
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2. Corral Your Clothes
Let’s be honest: We’re all guilty of leaving the day’s clothes on our bedroom floor instead of the well-intended hamper in our laundry room. (It’s okay, you’re not alone.) To keep unnecessary clothing clutter to a minimum, Monroe recommends placing a hamper in the corner of your bedroom. “Those dirty clothes can land in there instead of on your floor,” she says.
That said, the cleanliness of your clothes isn’t always a black and white ordeal. What are you supposed to do with a garment that’s only been worn for a few hours, making it somewhere in the gray area?
“Hang them up on an over-the-door hook system or on a rack with hooks you install on your wall,” Monroe recommends. “This creates a visual system that nudges you to remember to wear those garments.” Once all those hooks are full, she says it’s time to wash everything and hang it back up in the closet.
Courtesy of The Container Store
3. Add Organizing Accessories
Need to call in some reinforcements? The right bins or trays can work wonders. “Having items out on shelves and counters in your kitchen and bathroom can really look cluttered,” says DeLorean Reese, founder of a Bay Area-based organization firm called Peace by Piece. “I like to solve this problem by putting the items on a turntable or in a decorative, stylish bin. That way everything is corralled into one section and not dominating the entire space.”
With so many organizing accessories to sift through, finding the right ones for your space can feel like a needle in a cluttered haystack. However, Reese says she’s a major fan of the Everything Organizer Line from the Container Store.“
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4. Fine-Tune Your Focus
When it comes to decluttering, Lilian Chiu of Peony Professional Organizing in Seattle says the entire endeavor becomes overwhelming when we jump from one category to the next.“ If you pick up a dress here and a T-shirt there, you’ll start to feel really overwhelmed about whether you’re possibly getting rid of something you shouldn’t,” she explains. Instead, she urges you to pick one category and stick with it. “Sort like items with like items,” she says. “When you see all your T-shirts together, it’s a lot easier to be decisive about what you want to keep within that pile.”
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5. End the Day on a Tidy Note
Keeping your space organized seems doable until all of those teeny, tiny tasks that you promise you’ll do later pile up and become downright daunting. For Chiu, the magic lies in those small-yet-daily efforts. In fact, she says that tidying up for just 10 minutes each evening can make a huge difference.
“Beginning a new day with a tidy home can help you feel less overwhelmed and feel more focused,” she says. “Make a game with your kids to put toys back in their bins or books on the bookshelves after they’re done using those items.” Simply set an alarm for 10 minutes and see where your time-sensitive tidying will take you.
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