Organizing My Life By Organizing My Home
P.S. In case you’re new here (welcome!) you can see everything I’ve done in our home here.
People always ask me why I am so organized and while the answer is usually pretty funny, it’s the truth — I’m organized because I’m lazy.
Lemme explain…
My life is filled with chaos and just a lot that is beyond my control, be it personally or professionally, so getting organized it my way of controlling the controllable… no matter how small.
Having an organized home inspires an organized life.
Getting organized allows me to implement systems that simplify my life — I have things on “autopilot” and create routines that can carry over into other parts of my life outside of my home.
When I think about my home, there were a few areas that I knew, once organized, would totally relieve my day-to-day anxiety. There was already a lot to juggle with work and baby girl and just #allthethings, so why not find deficiencies in how I was doing things and be proactive about improving them?
Entryway
Full disclosure: our condo doesn’t actually have an entryway…not in the traditional sense at least, but I knew that we needed a designated “drop zone” for getting in and out quickly. The last thing our routine needed was traffic jams as we shuffle around for shoes, backpacks, and keys. It would annoy me to pieces coming in from work and fumbling over the alarm, taking off our shoes, and getting the keys out of the door; or worse yet, when trying to get out in the morning and not having everything just ready to grab and go.
To solve this problem, I moved our side table to the open corner right by the front door. Having the table there now meant that I could now have a lamp and tray there to make getting in and out easier — it’s usually dark when we leave and when we get home, so the lamp has been especially clutch, and the tray has become my drop zone for keys, glasses, lotion, and wallet.
Remember when I mentioned the shoes?
On the other side of the door, opposite the table, I knew I needed a better catchall for the shoes we wore throughout the week than the basket we had — it was a cloth toy basket and just wasn’t holding up…literally. After looking at a lot of different options, I knew I didn’t want to invest a whole heck of a lot into what would go there so I went with a hamper that matched the aesthetic, fit the dimensions, and could contain the shoes.
Now are mornings involved less shuffling around to get out and our evenings are jammed with the door swung open. A win-win.
Kitchen
The kitchen is probably one of the most utilitarian spaces in our home. If we’re in there, we’re not just “hanging out” like we would in the living room or even in the dining. If we’re in the kitchen it’s because we’re cooking, cleaning, putting away groceries, washing dishes…something.
Kitchen = chores.
But how could I make these chores just a tad less painful, especially now that they were all on my plate and no longer shared activities with my husband?
One of the first things I knew I had to tackle was the pantry and with it the cupboards. By getting these areas organized, I could put into place systems that would make putting groceries & dishes away easier, but also make finding and/or replenishing things easier as well.
Bathroom
The bathroom is another place that is mostly routines — morning routine, evening routine, bedtime routine, etc. — so while I’ve had it styled in the past, the priority has always been to simplify those routines. For me, that meant unifying containers and keeping things contained with as little fuss as possible — the countertop, under sink, drawers, shower area, and wall shelves are all home to very specific items so that it all becomes very self-serve and, like in the kitchen, things are easy to find & replenish.
Laundry Closet
I just want to note that while we do have a dedicated laundry area, it is in no way a laundry “room” which is why I refer to it as a laundry closet — it is about the size of a standard reach-in (maybe step in?) closet. In it are the washer and dryer — side by side — with two floating shelves above.
Getting this space organized has been paramount because it is literally a chore specific destination — no one is just hanging out in the laundry closet. But organization here is also important because, in addition to doing laundry, this is where linens, cleaning products, and additional toilet paper live. Bringing in baskets to designate zones for all these functions made operating in the space super easy.
My favorite addition to the laundry room has been a little caddy for anything I find in pockets and another larger caddy for the mismatched socks. Might as well make room for the inevitable!
Bedrooms
Admittedly, the bedrooms have been the hardest to “organize” because outside of the closets, everything is pretty out of my control.
In our room, the closet is separated and. Sorted by his, mine, and shoes — pretty straightforward — which makes putting away laundry, for example, a breeze. I know exactly what goes where without burning too many mental calories. I wish the rest of the room was that cut and dry, so it’s safe to say it’s a work in progress.
On the surface, the room is pretty put together — hooks on the bag of the doors, vanity up against the wall, chair in the corner, etc. — yet there are times I still find myself struggling to feel “settled” in terms of where certain items are located.
What has been a major game-changer, however, has been using our wall sconces as wardrobes “caddies” for picking out clothing the night before. Instead of a nightstand, flanking the bed on the side closest to the closets is a stool, above which is one of the Herman Miller sconces we installed a little over a year ago. This has become a great part of our nighttime routine, using the stool to layout items for the next day and hanging pieces on the arm of the sconce.
Our daughter’s room is a bit more settled in terms of systems but being that she’s still a child, those systems don’t often stay intact. In her room, it’s all about developing habits and keeping things tidy. Translation: work in progress.
Living/Dining Room
Our living and dining rooms are one large open space, which slight delineation so that the areas are pretty easy to separate. While I could walk you through their organization individually, they both succeed and fail in the same ways. The furnishings are there and provide the storage that we need and things are zoned off for effective flow.
But…
I’m not in love with any of it.
Like the bedroom, when it comes to the systems of these areas, I don’t feel like they’re there and instead, I am simply adapting to what we have because it’s what we have. What gives me comfort, however, is that like the bedrooms, these are not spaces that require routines because they are more relaxed spaces versus being chores driven like some of the other areas.