5 Tips for Organizing Your Untidy and Forgotten Spaces
When I was in college my roommate Mary and I had a joke that everything she didn’t know what to do with in her life she would shove in the back of her closet. Well…is it considered a joke if it’s true? When things would pop up that just didn’t have a home or were too stressful to deal with, Mary would toss them towards the back of her closet. In the moment it felt liberating, to casually throw away something that you weren’t sure how to engage with, but eventually there always needed to be a reckoning. And one by one the back of the closet would make its way to the front.
Do you have a space that you ignore or stuff things you aren’t sure what to do with? Maybe there are several stashes around your house. Even as I continue to clean out the unruly spaces in my home over the past few months I continue to see that I have found places to put the things I am not sure what to do with. So maybe it’s time to face these dark corners. And the truth is, once I’ve decided to engage, often what waits isn’t as scary or overwhelming as I think it will be.
5 Tips for Organizing your untidy and forgotten spaces:
Take everything out. This is the biggest roadblock to organizing those hard to tame spaces in your life. It can feel daunting to take everything out. It’s easier to shove and casually relocate or ignore. The question looms—What will I find if I empty it out? But the truth is, most often I find things that are easier to part with than I think. Emptying out the space forces you to face every object and truly assess its need in your life. It also allows you to see the space empty and clean. It gives you a sense of freedom as you choose how to reinvent or organize the space by deciding what gets to go back in.
Sort like with like. Once everything is out of the space and scattered around you, the best practice is to start sorting things into piles—like with like. Makeup with makeup, sheet masks with other face moisturizing objects. Creating some sense of order in the chaos will start to allow you to get a sense of how much you have of different things which allows you to start to think spatially where it would best be stored. Also, sorting like with like allows you to see what you can let go of—the makeup you have too much of or never use, the expired suntan lotion, the form you never filled out for the kids school two years ago.
Throw away mercilessly. There will likely be things you have forgotten about as you clear out a congested space in your life. Just the other day Ben brought down a bin of winter jackets from our attic as he was organizing it. They were jackets I hadn’t seen in over 5 years. I had lived without them for 5 years. As I sorted through the jackets I loved many of them. They either carried a memory of my days living in Chicago (when I had use for more winter jackets) or were styles I simply really liked. As I looked through these jackets I was tempted to keep most of them. But the truth is…I had lived without them for 5 YEARS! The decision was mine—find space for jackets I had already forgotten about or re-release them. I kept two of the jackets and tossed the other five.
Giving up things is usually the hardest in the moment. Often soon after you have released it, you forget about it. If you struggle with figuring out what to keep and what to release try these options; 1. Ask yourself if you have used this object in the last year. If the answer is no, it’s probably best to toss it. 2. If you are struggling with letting go, create a bin where you can put things you aren’t quite sure if you want to get rid of. This way you can see what you continue to think about and want to use and what you forget about. But set a calendar reminder to check the bin in a set amount of time so you don’t forget completely.
Everything needs a place. If it doesn’t have a home that makes sense then it doesn’t belong. When things have a proper place to be stored than it is easier to stay organized. Less piles are made and less things are left about the house. Some things to consider when you are reorganizing a space: 1. Things that you use often should be the easiest to get in and out. 2. Avoid stacking too many objects as this invites future disorganization.
Be flexible. You might not get it right the first time. Live with your new reorganized closet or drawer and see what works and what doesn’t. If you find that you are struggling with keeping things in the places you have designated for them, consider if you need to change the placement of a few items. Flexibility allows you to assess the use of your spaces and continue to fine tune them so they work best for you!
