When you walk through a store during any part of the year, you can sense the collective unconsciousness around us. The holiday season is a time of excess, letting things go, and allowing yourself to get a bit off-track. January, however, has an entirely different feel. Lining the halls of your local do-it-yourself or big box center are organization bins and other tools and accessories to get yourself back in order to start the new year off organized. If you are ready to have a place for everything and everything in its place, these are some tips from our interior design experts in Mt. Pleasant, SC..
Start with a Clean Slate
When organizing, it is best to start with a clean slate. The first step to finding an organizational flow that works for you is removing everything from the area you are trying to make more functional. Often, if you try to organize with everything still in the place you’re working on, you can do nothing more than move things around rather than decide what needs to go and what can stay. When you have a blank canvas, thinking with a clear head is much easier. You will likely find that many of the items you moved out don’t really have a place in your new space or even in your home.
Decluttering is a MUST
WThe reason that most people can’t find anything is that they have too much. No one wants to throw things out, knowing they paid for them and never used them. However, holding onto something that has no use in your home will make it harder to find what you need. As a general rule of thumb, the more you get rid of, the more functional a space can be. You can’t have chaos and organization in the same space. Try selling or donating the things that you no longer have use for. It’s likely someone will enjoy it much more than you, especially if it has been sitting unused for a long time.
Sort By Relevance
Sometimes we have junk drawers that aren’t really “junk” per se; it’s just where we put all the things that we don’t know what else to do with. The problem with a defunct junk drawer is that whatever is in it has no rhyme or reason; therefore, it is unlikely that you will look for it there. Instead of having ten “junk” drawers, consider sorting and labeling what is not “junk” so you can reclassify and know where things are when you finally need them.
Hide Things in Plain Sight
Often, we have to find some remote place to hide mundane things that come in handy. If you use items regularly, make them more useful by hiding them in plain sight. Using decor and art pieces, like vintage baskets, can be both functional and beautiful. The best way to be organized is to have what you need close, and if you dress up your organizational tools with interesting vintage or antique bins and baskets, you will also up the coolness factor!
Place in Rooms Where You Will Naturally Need Things
We usually have one central place where we put everything we don’t know what to do with immediately. Instead of sorting an item based on the frequency of use, sort it according to where you will most likely need it. Keep dining room necessities in the dining room, living room items in the living room, etc. You don’t need to use one area for all of your organization. Make a more cohesive plan to have things where they will be needed, not where you will likely look for them.
Get Back on Track in 2023
As we head into 2023, many will resolve to get back on track and start the year with a plan to make things more organized. The key to organization is first to figure out what you need and what you can get rid of, and then to find a place for everything instead of creating a mystic black hole junk drawer where things go to disappear.
At CHD Interiors, we love to find unique items and turn them into functional finds so that you have what you need to be hidden in plain sight and beautiful conversation pieces—looking to organize your space with functional finds? Contact our interior designer in Mt. Pleasant, SC, service today, and let’s get you on the path to a smooth 2023!
