Five simple organizing hacks to keep your home clutter-free

If you're constantly looking for things under a pile in the closet, frequently misplacing documents, or unable to utilize your home space well to keep your belongings organized, you're not alone.  

As we build our families, we gather possessions. Eventually, no matter the size of the house, the material things outweigh the physical space we own. The golden rule to follow: every item has a place in the house and remains there. Here we share some practical tips to declutter and organize your home.

Categorize, group or file

All our belongings fall under main and sub-main categories. The trick is to allocate a separate area for each of these categories. While it might seem challenging or overwhelming to segregate everything into categories, the thumb rule is to keep it practical and easy to follow. For instance: Sarees or Salwar suits fall under the main category-Clothes. However, underskirts, blouses, innerwear, ties, towels, and handkerchiefs would fall under its sub-main and need separate spaces within the wardrobe. Keep winter wear separately. It is handy to store socks near the shoe rack.

Reuse cardboard boxes or saree folders to stack paperwork, bills, documents, cheque books, and passports. Resist the temptation to use polythene bags to stuff everything together. 

Consider using add-on organizers

Lack of storage space is a common concern for apartment dwellers. However, the good news is that you can avail of cute and cheap organizers that utilize limited space effectively. You can use partitioned trays to neatly stack innerwear, handkerchiefs, and masks and place them within drawers to maximize space and enable access. 

You can add undershelf baskets to use the vertical space efficiently in the study, within the wardrobe or kitchen.

https://amzn.to/3CTySw6

The link below is an example of organizers available in the market and how these additions can tidy up your home. The creative folks can make similar trays and baskets out of plastic and paper waste.  

https://www.amazon.in/Home-Organizer-Items/s?k=Home+Organizer+Items 

Stick-on shelves, stackable racks for rented houses

These shelves come with adhesive hooks to be stuck on the bathroom or kitchen tiles and are an absolute saviour for those in rental homes. They come in handy for organizing several items ranging from your toiletries to dish-cleaning supplies. 

https://amzn.to/3GHnkwI

Kitchen counters can get crowded with everyday appliances, oil dispensers, and the like when there isn't enough storage. Stackable racks save counter space in the kitchen. They are sturdy and can hold appliances like the mixer or toaster too. 

https://amzn.to/3Wz1nWV

Discard old and unused items 

Keep a day in a month to discard all the unused items. These could range from old newspapers to non-functioning electronic items to torn clothes to broken appliances. Avoid storing plastic cutlery and sachets from takeaways for reuse. Be ruthless and practical while discarding. If you haven't used something in the past year, you are not likely to use them in future. 

Discarding can be a sensitive activity for people who see memories in physical articles. Keeping a trunk box or an old suitcase in the attic to store gifts that are no longer in use but have a tale to tell is a great way to keep them and yet not have them clutter the working area. Limiting yourself to a suitcase means you can only collect so much. Also, it means you have to develop the discretion to eliminate junk from memorabilia. 

Donate to the lesser-privileged

Charity begins at home, and there is no better way to put this into practice than when you end up with perfectly usable items you no longer need. Shoes, stationery, clothes, toys, books, appliances, bed linen, the list is endless when it comes to having a stock of not-so-old items and yet so many of them!

Instead of stashing them in a corner for the distant (and mostly never) future, open your heart to donate them while they are still in good condition to your household help or orphanage. This way, you can be guilt-free while purchasing new wares. 

We hope you like these tips. Let us know your favourite ones from the above, or share your best practices.