A tidy home starts with tidy rooms. Our home is a whole that includes several rooms, so the best way to keep it clean and organized is to tackle each room individually. This will allow us to optimize our efforts and focus on what needs to be done at any given moment.
After all, what would be the point of spending 20 minutes tidying up the living room, leaving everything halfway done , and then doing the same thing in a bedroom? None at all, because there’s no middle ground between order and disorder—and anything that isn’t the former is the latter. That’s why we recommend dedicating as much time as necessary to each room, so that once we’re done, we can repeat the process in another one.
So, if we know the best tips for organizing a room and apply them to every room in the house, we’ll end up with a tidy home. And that’s exactly what we want to share with you today at CULMIA.
Tips for Organizing a Room
We don’t need to sort through the leftovers
We’ve mentioned this before on more than one occasion: we shouldn’t hold onto things we don’t need. It’s best to get rid of anything that doesn’t contribute to our daily lives or that has no emotional or sentimental value, because, in that case, it will only take up space and make it harder for us to stay organized.
Hoarding things haphazardly will leave us with less and less space in our home, so we’ll have to come up with increasingly creative solutions to keep everything organized. So it’s best not to let it get to that point and to make a habit of regularly throwing away, giving away, or recycling anything we don’t actually use in our daily lives.
Applying Hidden Order and Visual Order
There are two types of organization. The first is hidden organization, where we can use cabinets, drawers, storage benches, trunks, etc., which will visually enhance the room’s decor and help us “hide” everything we put inside them. And the second is visible organization, which requires us to properly arrange all the items that will be on display. This latter type refers, for example, to what we have on shelves, bookcases, tables, or nightstands, etc.
When it comes to hidden organization, how we arrange the items we store is less important, although it’s a good idea to organize them according to a specific system so that we can easily find what we’re looking for later. For example, clothes (neatly folded and separated, arranged by color, etc.).
When it comes to the layout of the living room, we should aim for balance and symmetry. We should also keep in mind that the surfaces we use most often—such as the dining table or the chest of drawers in the entryway— need to be kept clear.
Furniture and accessories that help us achieve the organization we’re looking for
The hidden order we just mentioned is impossible to achieve unless we choose the right furniture for the room we want to organize. For example, if we need to choose a table for our room, it’s a good idea to get one with spacious drawers so it can also serve as storage. Or if we’re buying a new bed, we should consider a bed with storage, because of the opportunities it offers to make the most of the space under the mattress.
And the functionality of the furniture should also be complemented by other practical accessories. Some ideas in this regard include coat hangers and hooks, shoe racks, dividers, plastic covers, boxes, etc.
Use logic to put each object away and remember where it goes
Everything we use in our daily lives should be within easy reach. In fact, these items are ideal for being part of the “out-in-the-open” organization we mentioned earlier, because it doesn’t make much sense to store them in a drawer if we’re going to have to keep opening it all the time.
Prioritizing when we organize will help make our daily lives more comfortable. It will also give us a much clearer idea of where everything is, especially for items that aren’t in plain sight but that we might need at a specific moment. That way, if we know where we’ve put away our winter clothes, when the season arrives we can go straight to them without wasting time looking for them.
Pay special attention to the areas of the room that tend to get the messiest
In a home, there are “hot spots” that tend to get cluttered more easily and on a regular basis: the beds, the kitchen, the dining table, the play areas in the children’s bedrooms, etc. So if we keep an eye on these areas and manage to keep them under control, it will be much easier to keep the room organized at all times.
Making the Most of Available Space
Perhaps in the room you’re organizing, you’ll notice a small space that you aren’t using at all and that you could use to improve organization. To do this, there are storage boxes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes that can fit into any corner and allow you to store all kinds of items, such as clothes, toys, art supplies, or papers and documents. Another advantage is that they can also enhance your home’s decor, since you can find them in a variety of colors and designs to match your style.
Color matters, too
Order doesn’t just exist—it’s also perceived. To help create a sense of order, try using colors that convey balance. You can opt for a monochromatic palette based on neutral or pastel colors. Blue, green, and violet can create calm and relaxing environments, so they’ll be very helpful in ensuring that the order of the objects complements the room’s overall look.
You have to keep things tidy a little bit every day
Once we achieve the order we’re looking for, let’s maintain it. Plants, if not watered regularly, eventually die. And it’s the same here: if we don’t take the time to tidy up the room, clutter will soon take over, and we’ll end up right back where we started.
In this regard, one rule of thumb we can follow is not to go to sleep when there is obvious clutter around us. The mindset of “tomorrow is better than today” is our greatest enemy, because it tempts us to put off these chores until a (seemingly) better time, and it’s very likely that if we give in once, we’ll do it a second time, a third time, and so on. Staying firm and tidying up every day what we’ve previously left in disarray will be key to always keeping our home spotless.
To organize a room, you need clear ideas and determination
Here are 8 tips for organizing a room. They’ll surely help you get a clearer picture of what to do when it’s time to get started; but don’t forget that, to succeed in your mission, it’s also essential to have the determination to keep clutter at bay at all times.
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