Everything In Its Place
Brought to you by Joan Kosmachuk, Professional Organizer
and Personal Life Coach

One of the popular definitions of an organized home is a home where there is “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Why then is it so hard a state to achieve? Here are a few tips to help you get started on making this the defining state of your home.

1. A Place for Everything:
The first challenge is to find a “place for everything”. Kitchen cupboards, clothes closets and bathroom vanities offer obvious storage for many household items. You may also have certain furniture storage for specific items such as a bookcase for books, a file cabinet for your files and a laundry basket for laundry.

However, the more things you own, the smaller your space, the larger the number of members in your household, etc. the sooner you run out of places to put things. Things without a place end up migrating from room to room not only making them hard to keep track of but even harder to put away when it comes time to tidy and clean the house.

In a small space it is particularly important that you use your storage wisely. Shelf-extenders, multi-use furniture and vertical storage options are all ways to make the most of the limited space you have.

The first step in finding a place for every “thing” will be to identify those items that don’t currently have a permanent place in your home. Going room by room, make a list of all the items you find that don’t currently have a permanent place. Then you need to create a place for them.

2. Everything in place for a purpose:
The smaller your home, the more critical it is that every “thing” in your home has a specific purpose in order to earn its place. Often we don’t have enough places to put things because there are too many things we no longer need taking up the limited storage space we have. Clothes we no longer wear, books we’ll never read again, games we no longer play, crafts we’ll never finish and small appliances we never use, all take up valuable space that could be given to things that we need and use everyday. Before you give an item a permanent space in your home, make sure that it still serves a purpose and supports your current lifestyle. Even if you have lots of space, don’t keep things you no longer need. Pass them on.

3. Everything in its place at point of use:
Once things have been assigned a permanent place in your home, the challenge then is to make sure they are returned to their place after use. As you did your walk-through, you may have found a large number of items that have an assigned place but never seem to get put back there. You could blame your spouse, the kids, or your busy schedule, but the most common reason things don’t get put away is because the “place” that item is stored is too far from its point of use. As much as possible, try to store things within an arm’s reach of where they are most often used and you’ll find that putting them away is far less of a chore for everyone in the family.

If a room is too small to store all the items used there, consider portable storage containers that can be brought in and out as needed. For example, each family member can have a bathroom tote with their own grooming aids which can be brought into the bathroom with them as needed but have a permanent space on a shelf in their bedroom. Children who like to do their homework on the kitchen table can keep homework aids in a portable file box or backpack that can be stored elsewhere when the homework is done.

4. Everyone needs to know the place:
The person who organizes the house initially and finds a place for every “thing” may be the only one who really knows where things are. If you don’t want to be the one to “fetch” and “put away” everything, you’ll need to involve the other members of the household in creating permanent places for things you all use and for their personal items in particular.

Also, if you want support in keeping things in their place you will need to keep your system simple enough for everyone to follow. Take, for example, a cutlery drawer that has specific spaces marked out for each individual utensil. Even some of the youngest family members can find and replace a spoon because it is so easy to see where it goes. Don’t be afraid to use labels for cupboards, bins, or drawers until everyone in the household knows the designated place for every thing. Make sure that every day things are easy to access.

If you have children, you can use different colors or picture labels to indicate which toys are stored in which containers. Make sure the items they are responsible for are within easy reach of small arms and that the storage containers/units are easily opened and closed by small fingers.

For teens who are always on the go and seem to “drop and run,” create temporary drop stations (a large basket, box or bin will do) for their personal items and agree upon a specific time each week when they will empty their drop box and return those items to their proper place.

If your spouse is resistant to putting things away, involve him or her in choosing where things will be stored so that he/she is also invested in the process.

Remember, storing things within an arm’s reach of their point of use and making access to storage as convenient as possible will greatly assist everyone in overcoming the temptation to say “ I’ll put it away later.”

5. Make a place for temporary things:
Even temporary things need to have an assigned place in your home. Where do you keep library books, DVD rentals, school band instruments or store returns? Assigning a specific shelf or container for these rotating items will help to keep them organized as well.

If you need help finding a place for everything and putting everything in its place, consider getting professional input by hiring a professional organizer.

To hire the services of Joan Kosmachuk, please email your request to info@simpleeffects.com or call 617-784-0707.