7 Home Organization Ideas to Start the Year Off Right

Whether or not organizing your home was one of your 2022 New Year’s resolutions, January is a great time to remove clutter and organize the items you want to keep. Decluttering and organizing even a single room can seem like an overwhelming task, but if you take the right approach and don’t get discouraged, it can be rewarding. If you were searching for home organization tips to help you get motivated for what seems like a monumental task, go to Old Time Pottery for inspiration. 

Starting the New Year Off Fresh

Here are a few of the reasons why you should make organization a priority: 

• Out With the Old, In With the New – People usually receive gifts around the holidays. They need to make room, which usually means getting rid of old items and always means freeing up storage space. 
• Fight Off the Winter Blues – There’s a tendency to spend more time indoors during the winter months, making it an ideal time to tackle indoor projects. 
• Clear the Way for Spring Cleaning – Many people take advantage of the milder weather to tackle their deep cleaning, aka “spring cleaning.” Having fewer items to clean around always makes that momentous chore a bit easier. 

So, if you weren’t considering a winter declutter and organization operation, you may want to rethink how you’re going to spend your idle time over the next few weeks. 

Tips on How to Organize Your Home

There is no one-size-fits-all process to organization, but these seven tips should make the task a little easier. 

1. Choose Different Areas of the House to Organize and Reorganize

One of the fastest ways to kill your reorganizing ambition is to view the entire project at once. With this in mind, you can either divide the project by rooms or stages. If you choose to organize by room, prioritize by the greatest need. For instance, garage first, guest room second, basement third, etc. Or you can also schedule your task by phases: items to throw out first, items to sell or recycle second, items that need to be boxed and stored third, etc. Most people prefer to attack the project room-by-room, but if you have a lot of bulk trash, you may want to round that all up and then start going through the rooms to reorganize. 

2. Schedule Your Cleaning Around Bulk Pickup or Trash Days

Not everyone has a regular bulk pickup service, but if you’re lucky enough to have a regular day in your neighborhood, wait until a few days before to start clearing out trashed items. That will ensure that you don’t have a mountain of personal items in front of your house where the neighbors can silently judge you for past purchases. If you don’t have bulk pickup, have a plan for removing trashed items. Your regular trash service may take them, or you might have to bring them to the dump. While you are at it, throw out any food products that have expired. Also, you should take any chemical products that you don’t intend to use to a home chemical product disposal center in your area. Do not throw chemical products in the trash.

3. Sell Items of Value that You Don’t Want

Depending on where you live, January may not be the ideal time for a yard sale, but you can sell items on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Craig’s List, or other secondhand marketplaces.  You may not make a fortune — although that really depends on what you’re selling — you can make a little money while getting rid of unwanted items. And who couldn’t use a little extra cash after the holidays?

4. Categorize the Remaining Items

At this point, you hopefully have created a little extra space for your remaining possessions. If you kept them for a reason, you need to ask yourself how often you are going to use something. Things like holiday decorations, for instance, don’t need to be accessed every day, so they can be packed away in boxes to be stored in the garage, attic, or basement. Other items, like personal tools, work clothes, and cooking utensils, etc., may need to be readily accessible. You may also want to conceal items that you use all of the time. For example, remote controls and game controllers are frequently found scattered about the living room. They could all be placed inside a nearby cabinet for ready access. 

5. Purchase Storage Containers

Storage and organization stores sell a wide variety of storage containers with varying sizes, looks, and functions. But it’s important to choose the right storage containers for your needs. 

Chests, drawers, and trunks can be used for items that need to be readily accessible. You can find many different styles to match your home’s decor. Wicker baskets can also be an affordable alternative for plain site storage. 

For items that don’t need to be accessed all of the time (i.e., snow chains, winter decorations, etc.), you can purchase inexpensive plastic or rubber totes with lids. These will protect your items and keep them dry, should you put them in the garage or shed. You can label them with a Sharpie and masking tape. 

You can use canisters for smaller items that you don’t want to throw out. Home storage organizers come in various shapes, sizes, and materials. 

6. Keep Organizing and Cleaning as Separate Tasks

During your organization project, you may come to a point where you want to stop what you’re doing and start cleaning. As you move things away, you may realize how much dust and other debris has accumulated. You may find you have to clean just to maintain your sanity and focus, but try not to get sidetracked. Cleaning will have its time. 

7. Assemble Your Team

If you live on your own, you probably don’t have a choice but to do your own organizing — although the benefit is that you don’t have to compromise. If you live with family or roommates, however, there’s no reason you need to organize your home on your own. Get the people you share your home with to buy into the project. Then you can divide and conquer. 

Home Organization Resources

You should consider Old Time Pottery a one-stop shop for home organization. We may not be able to help you physically clear out your unwanted items or move boxes out to the garage, but we have everything you need to organize the items you want to keep. For instance, we carry storage containers in several different sizes, including 10-gallon, 13-gallon, 18-gallon, and 30-gallon, all for under $20. Milk crates are also a fantastic way to stack and store items that don’t require a sealed container, available in three colors. We also have a variety of hangers and shoe racks for closet organization.