How Can I Get Organized This Autumn?

Charging stations in the kitchen can improve convenience and organization around the house. (Dreamstime/TNS)

By Paul F. P. Pogue From Ask Angi

It’s the eternal question for any homeowner: What do I do with all this stuff? Especially as the autumn months and school season approach, you might be overwhelmed by all that’s going on.

Fortunately, the principles of home organization can help you manage your belongings and the flow of traffic, people and things through your home. It’s not just a matter of what you have, but what you do with it. Here’s a rundown on how to bring order to your cluttered life.

Organizing pros say the most essential tool for reducing clutter isn’t a checklist or a storage bin — it’s your head. You can purge items and free up space without installing a single shelf by thinking like an organizer.

Create a System That Works for the Way You Live

Amy Tokos, president of the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, suggests focusing on how you already use the space.

“People are already traveling through the house,” she says. “We want to embrace the traffic patterns and make it easy to organize your stuff. Simplicity is the key to staying organized. The fewer steps you have in any process, the easier it is to make it into a good habit.”

Even in an age of electronic communications, paper poses one of the biggest clutter problems in the home. These tips can limit paper building up:

— Throw away junk mail immediately. Keep a small trash bin near your mail area for this purpose.

— Establish a board for important family dates, paperwork and events. Throw away outdated paperwork.

— Take photos of kids’ school artwork rather than keeping the original.

— Set a limit on how many school keepsakes you'll maintain each year.

— Digitize what documents you can.

Turn the Kitchen Into a Central Hub

In recent years, kitchens have evolved from more than just a place to cook food. In many ways, the kitchen is as much the home’s central social and entertaining space as the living room.

“Kitchens have become the command center of the home,” Tokos says. “Think about how to organize it so that it’s functional. If your kitchen is designed only for cooking, there won’t be a place for paper or keys or coats, but that may be where they land.”

Whether remodeling your kitchen or simply rearranging what you already have, think about how traffic moves through your kitchen. Every person and kitchen is different, so your method will be your own. As long as your traffic methods keep things flowing smoothly through your home and kitchen, that’s what matters most.

Establish Command Central

Even if it’s not your kitchen, every home has a zone where you get ready to head out for the day, and then drop your stuff upon your return. If you don’t plan for such a hub, it will always emerge on its own — and without a little planning, it might not be too pretty.

“Think about your family and what they do,” Tokos says. “Where do the kids come in the door? Where do they drop their backpacks, and where do they sit and do homework? Embrace the flow. Put up hooks for jackets and a spot for shoes and backpacks to land.”

The ideal hub is one that your family members can use with little thought or effort.

Ensure your zone has space for mail, wallets, keys, other paperwork, devices and device charging stations. Set up hooks for coats and bags, labeled for each family member. Establishing good habits makes for an organized home and life.

Tweet your home care questions with #AskingAngi and we’ll try to answer them in a future column.

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