Moving into a new home is exciting! You have a blank slate, and all your items are put away in boxes. This gives you a great opportunity to organize as you unpack. Here is our list of home organization ideas for your new home.
Take Advantage of Your Attic and Garage
These spaces can hold so much, but need to be properly organized to their full potential. Typically, these areas are not frequented by guests. Therefore, they can become neglected or cluttered. Instead of making this a weekend project months later, organize these spaces as you move in. These areas not only have excellent floor space, but vertical space, as well. Using the vertical space allows you to fully take advantage of these storage rooms.
What to Store in a Garage
You should utilize the garage and attic for storing items that you don’t use frequently and can take up valuable space. These are items like:
- Holiday decorations
- Luggage
- Kitchen supplies that aren’t used frequently
- Crafting supplies
- Yard work supplies (shovel, rake)
- Bikes
What Not to Store
Since attics and basements are not climate controlled and often have insects, avoiding placing these items in those spaces:
- Photographs
- Important documents
- Flammables
- Food and clothing
- Wooden furniture
- Antiques
- Paintings
How to Organize the Garage and Attic
Here are some home organization ideas for your garage and attic. These ideas are meant to help you find items quickly and easily.
First, store items in bins, with descriptions of what is in it. You can label it, or buy QR codes so you can scan the code and see a description of what is inside. This way, you do not need to open the lid of every container to find what you’re looking for.
Once labeled, set up a shelving system for all the storage bins. Make sure that the label is facing you and is visible.
Set up bike racks on the garage wall. You can attach a hook to the wall to take advantage of the vertical space in your garage, and clear up room on the ground.
Organize children’s outdoor toys, like chalk or bubbles, in storage containers. Keep these containers small and place them in their own shelving unit. For an extra organization tip, add labels to the front. This way, your kids will stay in one area of the garage, without going near anything that could harm them (like weed killer or a lawn mower).
Install garage overhead storage. This can help with storing suitcases or extra storage containers. This way, you’re continuing to take advantage of the square footage in an innovative way. This keeps your items out of sight, while safely housing them in a space-saving way.
Common Areas Home Organization Ideas
The common areas of your home might not have optimal storage for your everyday items. For these areas, buy decorative boxes or bins and store them in a shelving unit or in a cube storage shelf. Therefore, the items are accessible without contents being visible.
Storage cubes have many different uses for organization purposes. If you have children, using the cube storage is a great way to have their toys out during the day, then quickly put away at night time. You can also use them as a bench, a nightstand, or to hold extra kitchen dishes.
Organize your Closet
According to The Spruce, including closet organizers is a great way to store what you own and repurpose your space to allow for it. That’s what makes them great home organization ideas! There are different closet organizers to fit your needs in your home. Here are some examples of what organizing tools you can utilize in a closet.
- Over the door storage can help you find space for your handbags, scarves, hats and gloves. A great option for over the door storage comes from the Container Store. This specific organizer also has a removable hamper at the bottom. This utilizes the vertical space in a closet, while also keeping it out of sight and decluttered.
- Use vacuum sealed bags. These bags can be used for off season storage. Use these bags for bulky winter coats, extra linens, comforters, pillows or blankets. The vacuum seal keeps pests and odors from getting onto these items. Therefore, they’re as fresh as they were when you stored them in the first place. Once vacuumed, these bags stay thin and stackable, and can be put at the top of your closet.
- Organize your shoes. You can buy a storage bench or place extra shoes in a shoe organizer. This way, you don’t have to get rid of any shoes, but you can also keep them tucked away and within reach.
- Store smaller items in bins or baskets. Utilize this organization tip for items like belts, panty hose, bathing suits, lint rollers, gloves, hats, or scarves. These items aren’t used everyday, therefore store them in an organizational basket so they’re available whenever you need them. If you’re using them for seasonal items, organize each bin by season. You can place the winter basket up higher during the summer, and then rotate at the next season.
