On The Home Edit, the ladies have a signature technique of folding scarves into little donut-shaped balls. Personally, I wouldn’t know where to begin with trying to replicate that. However, the point is that they recommend keeping your scarves out on display so that you can see your options. When scarves are tucked away in a drawer, you might never see them, and forget they exist.
Sometimes, there are frequently used items in your home that are constantly being cleaned up and put away. For example, if you have young kids who enjoy drawing and painting, you might already be putting away the supplies every time they want to create their art. Consider buying a cart so that everything is out in the open, but all kept in the same space. This can be a godsend for busy parents, because your kids no longer have to ask you to pull out the supplies for them. They can simply grab what they need and start working. After watching The Home Edit, I did this in my own home, and it actually works incredibly well.
Kids love to sneak snacks behind their parent’s back, especially if you have a pantry that they can gain access to. One great way to make sure that they don’t eat the bad stuff is to keep the healthy snacks within arm’s reach. On The Home Edit, they helped a mother by putting health snacks like granola bars and crackers near the bottom shelf of the pantry, and put sugary desserts near the top where only adults could reach.
If you really love the idea of using clear storage, sweater boxes might be your best bet. Pretty much every major store like Walmart and Target will sell a version of these, but they also have stackable sweater boxes at The Container Store. Garages are one of the most common places where these are used. If you watch the first episode of The Home Edit, you can see how they transformed a garage full of stuff into an incredibly well-organized space.
On The Home Edit, they label almost everything. Most homeowners already have some form of containers or boxes, and they aren’t necessarily made of clear plastic. Instead of going out and spending a fortune buying a bunch of new products from The Container Store, you could simply buy a label maker and what you already have. I’m currently living at my parent’s house, but I used labels for all of my storage bins in their attic. Now, whenever I need something, I can simply look at the label before opening the box.
If you have deep shelves, you’ve probably experienced the frustrating process of your items getting pushed to the back. This makes it very difficult to find things when you need it. A brilliant solution to the problem is to buy a 3-tiered shelf that will sit in your pantry. It works very well for canned goods, spices, and so much more.
Have you ever experienced seeing something in the fridge, but you can’t reach it because it’s stuck behind 10 other things? This is where something like a lazy Susan could completely change your life. Lazy Susans are a rotating little cart with sections. So just by turning the wheel of the contraption, you can get to the products that were originally placed in the back. In The Home Edit, the ladies use these lazy Susans to help children working in an art class. It was perfect for the kids, because they could spin to get the Crayola markers they wanted from the other side of the table without having to ask their friends to pass it over.
Sometimes, you might go through an organizational project and realize that there is simply nowhere else to put your things. This is very common in children’s toy rooms, office space, and so much more. One great solution to the problem is to just utilize the floor space in the best way you can. Three-tiered carts can move around on wheels, so they can sit just about anywhere in your house. I’ve seen a lot of people incorporate these cards into their life when they begin to work from home. It’s the perfect place to keep all of the work related objects, paperwork, and supplies in one place without actually buying a new piece of furniture to accommodate it. And if your circumstances change in the future, that cart can easily be reused for something else.
Last and certainly not least is to donate your unwanted items as often as you can. It’s impossible to keep things organized when you have too much stuff. Remember that clutter happens when objects don’t have a place to go. If you’re going through this organizational journey, and you start to realize that some of the things in your home don’t actually have a place to be, it might be a sign that it’s time to say goodbye. Getting rid of stuff doesn’t necessarily have to be the end though. You can always reach out to friends and family to see if they need these things that you’re willing to get rid of. That way, you can still see those things if you want to, but they’re not in your own personal space.