Creating a House You’ll Want to Come Home To
By Julia Bell
The New Year is the perfect time to take a fresh look around your home. Some say that a house looks sad or empty when holiday decorations come down, but this is the perfect time to look around your kitchen, family room, garage, or attic with a new set of eyes. Decluttering and organizing your living space will help you create a house you’ll want to come home to.
Adopting an organizational mindset is the first step in creating a living place that brings peace, order, and efficiency. Whether you love a deep clean that immediately results in a new empty space to redecorate or only have the energy to tackle one closet at a time, decluttering and organizing is a process you can do at your own pace and is a lot easier than you might think to get started. It is also a process that can bring value to a home.
Emily Wright of Wright Group Construction suggests considering how a space will be used when clearing and redesigning because, “the money makers in home property values are kitchens and bathrooms, which are also the most critical spaces in your home to keep up-to-date and clutter free.”
Wright says when organization projects like a closet redesign or built-in cabinetry are completed in preparation to sell a home, the homeowners almost always say they wish they would have done it years
before to be able to enjoy the upgrades.
Out With the Old – Decluttering
To get started, pretend to be a first-time guest walking through your home. Take note of things you’ve overlooked, like stacks of clutter on the family steps or forgotten mementos pushed into a corner. How different would each room look if trouble spots were tidied or removed all together?
Choose the process before you begin. Identify where you’ll sort things to keep, things to donate, and things for the garbage. Whether you’re clearing a family room, a closet, or kitchen cabinet, be prepared to clean the space once it’s cleared. Have boxes, labels, and markers nearby, and use white trash bags for garbage or recycling and black trash bags for toy donations. It helps if items that your children have outgrown or are no longer using are not visible when you are headed out the front door to a community
donation site such as Mission Lexington or Samaritan’s Well.
Be intentional. What space would bring the greatest joy to reclaim? Where does your family spend the most time, or where would they hang out if a space was repurposed? Focus on these areas of your home first and get the entire family involved in the process. Once you have made progress in shared spaces like a den or playroom, your family might find the momentum to tackle other areas around the house.
Be realistic. Not everyone has extended amounts of time or money to completely “gut” a storage or living space, so give yourself permission to start small in order to be successful and stay motivated. Start with a high-impact quick-turnaround project, like clearing kitchen counters, organizing linen closets, or cleaning out under beds or counters. Identify what daily, weekly, and/or monthly decluttering goals you can commit to and then follow through with them. Checking off a “to-do” list can be very satisfying.
In With the New – Getting Organized
The key to successful, long-term organization is to discover methods and products that are useful and efficient for you. According to Ryan Allred, with Closets by Design, a cleaned and reclaimed space “needs to serve the purposes you pursued in your decluttering. The things that remain are important to organize.” People seeking home organization solutions are most often looking to maximize or add to existing spaces, but Allred suggests exploring ideas that repurpose spaces in creative ways, such as
turning a walk-in closet into a home office or an upscaled vanity and dressing room. Whether you are organizing attic space or a cabinet in the half bath, take time to think through how to optimize space storage. Wright reminds readers that they can “make their organization cute and attractive, not
just functional. It can become part of the décor by making it look updated as well as being functional.”
Consider the location. When starting to organize a space, keep items that are used regularly in places of easiest access while still maintaining order. Tiered or rotating shelves, pull-out bins, and lidded storage are great ideas for kitchens, bathrooms, and garages. Store rarely used or oversized items in places that are harder to access, such as a deep shelf or high cabinet. Be intentional about how antique
or sentimental family items are displayed or stored for safekeeping and note the item’s significance for future generations to have access to its story.
List and label. Don’t overlook this simple yet critical step in organization. Label makers create tidy, easy-to-read reminders that a particular shelf in the linen closet is for pillowcases or detail what’s been
stored inside a holiday container. Make index card tags on garage or attic containers waterproof by completely covering them with packing tape. Jot down content lists for storage bins of unique or rarely
used products like specialty carpet or leather cleaners. Being able to read what is inside of a sealed box saves time and prevents frustration down the road.
Space savers. Professional organizational services are great, but remember that there are simple, affordable ways to maximize the storage space you already have. Internet searches for space-saving
products can meet specific storage needs, such as vacuum-sealed bags for seasonal pillows or winter clothes. Get creative with the highs and lows in your living space, too. Where could you create vertical storage, or how could you best utilize spaces under beds, furniture, or consoles?
In the end, decluttering can be hard if the project feels too overwhelming or emotional; splitting up daunting projects into smaller, bite-size tasks with a long-term goal in mind is critical. Organizing takes time, energy and, sometimes, extra money. However, the joy and peace gained from a clean, organized, and welcoming space is not only worth the effort– it will make your house a place you will always want to come home to.
