1. Perform regular edits on your stuff, even if you have plenty of space for more.
Just because you have the room for more stuff doesn’t mean you have to fill it! Even if you have endless amounts of space for endless amounts of stuff, it never hurts to pare down and edit every once in awhile.
2. Relocate, store, or archive if you struggle with the edit stage.
For most of us, it's not so easy to part with the items we've spent our hard-earned money on. Once you've sorted through everything, put the items you're not very attached to away in a box. You'll feel more comfortable getting rid of any items that stay in the box once you realize that you haven't thought about or needed them in the time since you hid them away.
3. Sort through your stuff using the "Need it, use it, love it" rule.
Marie Kondo's "spark joy" philosophy is a super useful one, but it doesn't always help address the items in your laundry room or tool shed. The items in those areas probably won't spark joy, but a lot of it is likely necessary for your household chores.
Joanna and Clea help their clients sort through their stuff by asking them if they need the item, use the item regularly, or love the item so much that they just have to keep it. If you want to go a step further, you might consider separating the stuff you love and putting it in the most visible or accessible spaces so that you can spark joy every time you walk into your bedroom or open the closet doors.
4. If things seem daunting, start small — like with your nightstand.
It's important to start out by focusing on small organization projects, like a drawer or a shelf. Because a nightstand usually only has one or two drawers, it's a great place to start. Pull everything out and only put back the things you need for before or after sleep: like an eyemask, a pair of glasses, or a book. Bonus points in that making the space around your bed a calm, clean environment may help you get better sleep.
5. Remove dry-cleaning bags before you put your clothing back in the closet.
Not only do dry-cleaning bags make closets look cluttered, but they can also trap mold and moisture over time.
6. Also in closets, roll scarves into tight buns for neat and compact storage.
The Home Edit team calls this trick "The Scarf Bun." It's very simple and a very neat way of storing scarves. Just wind the scarf around your hand, then pull the end through the middle. So cute!
7. Replace mismatched hangers with a uniform set of slim and neutral hangers.
Investing in a uniform set of hangers — ideally velvet or non-slip, so nothing falls off — is a super simple way to maximize space, make your closet look organized, and prevent items from getting lost in dark, dusty corners. Get a 50-pack of velvet hangers from Amazon for $21.99.
8. Use bins as drawers in your deep kitchen cabinets so that nothing gets lost in the back.
One of the most challenging parts of organizing a kitchen is that the shelves are often so deep that it's difficult to see everything. If you keep everything in bins, you'll be able to pull everything out without disrupting the arrangement.
9. Designate a "backstock" area so that high-traffic areas can stay neat and clutter-free.
Especially if you have a busy household or do a lot of Costco shopping, you should definitely find a space in the home to use as a backstock area. It can be way up high on the top shelf of your pantry, in a cabinet in the garage, or in the linen closet. Creating a system is easy if you can keep the limits on the amount of stuff you own or have a separate space for the overflow.
10. Choose a dropzone for impermanent items that need to be dealt with quickly.
More often than not, the spaces we allocate to mail, bills, returns, and gifts tend to be the spaces that are most visible like the desk in our bedroom or the entryway table. Joanna and Clea recommend selecting a shelf or drawer that can be kept empty until you fill it with items that are either leaving the house or being used for some kind of project that you don't quite have the time for.
If the shelf or drawer is full, hold yourself to the rule that you can't bring anything else into the house until you deal with what's already there. Putting limits on categories prevents you from buying more than you need and encourages you to perform regular edits on the stuff you own.
11. Organize everything — from books and board games to snacks and cans of La Croix — by color.
This is a big, guiding light philosophy for Clea and Joanna — so if you think it'd work for you too, try it! Having things arranged by color not only makes your space visually compelling, but it can also be helpful for kids who often learn through color.
12. Organize your space based on your routine.
It wouldn't make sense if everyone's closet, kitchen, or bedroom was arranged in the same way because everyone's routine looks different and every person requires different things from their space! If you use a different purse every time you go out, try creating a "transfer zone" where you can keep everything you like to keep in your purse (wallet, keys, hand sanitizer) as well as the different purse options.
If you absolutely hate unloading the dishwasher, rearrange the cabinets so that they are organized around the order that you unload the dishwasher. Making these personalized changes can make all of the difference when you're trying to make your routine more streamlined and efficient.
13. Store things in clear containers — because once something is out of sight, it's often forgotten.
There's nothing Joanna and Clea love more than clear storage. It helps to be able to view everything you have because you'll never buy extras or have to shuffle through each box, bin, or drawer to find the thing you need.
14. Or use all-purpose labels to indicate categories if the containers are concealed.
Labels are essential to maintaining the results of your hard work. The labels can be as broad as "cosmetics" to as specific as "lightbulbs" depending on how large the category is — so you can see everything at a glance.
15. Digitize any documents that you don't really need.
Joanna and Clea hate paper clutter, but they understand that sometimes you can't part with the hard copies. Whenever you can, digitize your documents and save them in a virtual file folder. That way, you can find exactly what you're looking for with a quick search. Whenever you can't get rid of the hard copy, store them in slim file holders that can be kept on your desk for easy access.