If you don’t know who Marie Kondo is, you have to go watch her series on Netflix about how to organize your home with only items that SPARK JOY. She is such an inspiration, not just in how she organizes but because she is so sweet, humble and extremely grateful with everything. To say “Thank You” to the items that no longer sparks joy is just amazing. One of my favorite parts of her show is when she sits on the floor and connects with the home. A big part of me really wishes I could hear what she is saying in her head at that moment.
I must admit, my home is not filled with piles of papers or clutter like some of those homes on her show but I did find myself organizing my sock/underwear drawers after watching the first episode. Last year I had already purged a lot of stuff from my house and organized my pantry and closets so I was very happy to see that I had done many of the things she teaches.
I wanted to create a blog post to share how I organize my home. Now I’m not gonna show you my sock drawer (lol) but I will share with you guys the main TWO steps I take to declutter and organize my home.
Before I begin, I just want to mention that organizing isn’t just putting your home items in a certain place and stacking things in a certain order. If you want to keep your home organized, you have to think about other aspects of your life. Like how you shop, what you need or don’t need etc. I will explain more below.
- Purge
The first thing Marie Kondo taught on her show was that you had to pile everything up and go thru it…clothes, papers, books, food… I mean everything. And whatever didn’t spark joy, you would throw out or donate. Now I never did that step because the piles would drive me nuts but I did go thru every item of the space I was decluttering and chose if I wanted to keep it or not.
When it came to clothes, if I didn’t wear it last winter, I most likely won’t wear it this winter, so donating it was a good idea. I used that method with everything from sheets to toys. If you or your family haven’t used it in a year, you probably won’t. We tend to keep items just because we feel bad getting rid of it or we think “maybe one day I’ll use it” but most likely we won’t. Let your trash be someone else’s treasure.
2. Use Containers and Boxes/Bins
This step really makes your kitchen especially organized. Taking snacks and boxed goods out of packaging really makes a difference. I recommend you buy air tight containers for items you ALWAYS have in your pantry and not ones that you casually buy once or twice a year. Those you can put in a basket or bin.
I only buy items I will cook with, within that week or even month. When you open my pantry, you will never see old, used or expired items. I use everything before I buy it again. I don’t even buy a can of corn unless I have it planned in my head when I will use it. Buying extra usually makes you waste food and money because it may expire or it’ll get pushed to the back of the pantry and you’ll forget it’s even there. There are those times that I see I have bought a bit too much and I refuse to go grocery shopping until I have used it all. Once you have everything in air tight containers and you see what you have and don’t have, it’ll make your life easier with staying organized while your cooking and with your grocery shopping.
I know this may require spending some money but you can really find some good items out there. Try the dollar store or Target’s Bullseye section. I got most of my containers on Amazon. I will link them below.
I organize my home not so it looks pretty…well of course I want my house pretty but I organize my home so I can see what I have, save time and money. I rather spend a few hours a month organizing than coming home to a cluttered unorganized home. Once you start in one area of your home, you will see how great it feels and you will continue organizing other parts. After all your things have a home, it’s easier to find everything and keep it that way.
Here are pictures of my kitchen cabinets. Let me know in the comments below if you want me to share more pictures of other parts of my home.
I used a label maker to label all the jars and dispensers. When I organized this last year, I used the gold font with transparent tape but the label maker comes with a trial tape of black font with white tape. there are some other inexpensive label makers our there for half the price but I just love this one because it has a full keyboard, emojis, shapes and symbols.
Organizing isn’t hard… it’s just simple steps we all probably know how to do. The hard part is starting. With work, kids and everything that gets in the way of life, organizing may not be at the top of our list but once it’s done, your life will be simple and your home will feel more of a home.
These are the only two simple steps I took to get organized. Maintaining it may be hard but try to set one day out of the week and just go thru that pile that built up during the week and go thru it…see what sparks joy and what doesn’t.
Here are some of the items I used to organize my home and some I think may be really great to use.
I used these for the rice, pasta, flour, sugar etc.
I have this set and are great for cereal and snacks.
I use these for the kids snacks.
This looks like a great set for a good price and comes with labels.
I use these to hold the bread and chips.
I really want to order these bins for my husbands desk.
I have these in Isabella’s drawers.
I have these in the boys dresser.
I have the older version of this.
Hope this post makes your organizing a bit easier. Let me know in the comment section below if you have any other good tips. I would love to try them out myself. Remember as Marie Kondo said, only keep what Sparks Joy in your life and say Thank You to what has served you before parting ways.
XO,
