You don’t need cavernous closets and built-in cabinetry to have an orderly household. But you do need a place for everything. Here are our favorite organizational tricks to deploy all over the house.
Tactic 01
Hang It
Lacking drawer space? Hooks, pegs, and peg rails are the answer for keeping things organized and handy. The beauty of this approach is threefold: these solutions often cost next to nothing, they’re good-looking (even a nail has an honest charm), and they’re easy to use, so everyone can be brought on board.
Tactic 02
Cart It
From bar carts to industrial trolleys, there’s a range of compact wheeled storage ideal for corralling collections of items in one place. Carts, of course, are easy to move, so they can be rolled out for use or tucked away as needed.
Tactic 03
Label It
Name what you’ve got and you’ll know what you’ve got—and where it goes. How else do you think a cockpit or an operating room functions? Use a Sharpie and tape (we like washi tape—made of rice paper—because it’s removable). Or tie on stationery store tags. Sold on your label maker? Use it behind the scenes. For displayed goods, hand lettering is nicer to look at.
Tactic 04
Tray It
Grouping objects on trays is the equivalent of adding frames to artwork: trays are the finishing touch that elevates what they contain and creates cohesion. Equally important, trays prevent things from getting lost: they provide a home for small, loose items of all sorts.
Tactic 05
Shelve It
Strategically placed shelves are one of the great organizational building blocks. All it takes are simple hardware store parts to create shelving, so plant a ledge wherever you can use one. For a list of ready-made shelving systems that we swear by, see page 210.
Tactic 06
Stack It
Kitchen tableware is made to stack. Books and magazines also stack well, both vertically and horizontally. So does firewood. And there’s a world of stacking furniture worth seeking out (like the Frosta stools from Ikea pictured above). Stacking is about using space efficiently, but stick to small numbers of items: you don’t want to live surrounded by Jenga towers.
Tactic 07
Door It
Like walls, doors can be used to hold hooks and all manner of purpose-built shelves and racks (the over-the-door metal hook above is by Yamazaki; the Container Store’s Elfa system also has good door-mounted options for pantry goods, entryway accessories, and more). Unlike walls, doors have two sides, so these solutions needn’t be in full view. A word of advice: resist outfitting every door; the goal is to create a few jangle-free spots in which to keep your most-used things.
Tactic 08
Wrangle It
A web of visible electrical cords is one of the biggest eyesores in a house. Tackle the situation like a gardener ousting weeds: take both gentle and, as needed, desperate measures. A simple metal binder clip curbs unruliness (see above), as does installing strategically placed electrical outlets all over, including on the floor near the sofa and in the back of bathroom drawers. Hide cords and routers in boxes. And use storage space to keep as much of the tangle as possible out of sight.
Excerpted from Remodelista: The Organized Home by Julie Carlson (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Matthew Williams.
Don’t forget to check out the book!
About the Book:
Buy fewer (and better) things. Store like with like. Get rid of the plastic. Display—don’t stash—your belongings. Let go of your inner perfectionist and remember that rooms are for living. These are a few of the central principles behind Remodelista: The Organized Home, the new book from the team behind the inspirational design site Remodelista.com. Whether you’re a minimalist or someone who takes pleasure in her collections, we all yearn for an unencumbered life in a home that makes us happy. This compact tome shows us how, with more than 100 simple and stylish tips, each clearly presented and accompanied by full-color photographs that are sure to inspire. Readers will learn strategies for conquering their homes’ problem zones (from the medicine cabinet to the bedroom closet) and organizing tricks and tools that can be deployed in every room (embrace trays; hunt for unused spaces overhead; decant everything). Interviews with experts, ranging from kindergarten teachers to hoteliers, offer even more ingenious ideas to steal. It all adds up to the ultimate home organizing manual.
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