Home organization can seem like a never-ending task even when it’s done right. And when it’s done wrong, it’s really a pain in the neck. To make sure you’re organizing your home the right way, it’s important to be able to spot mistakes and correct them. Below is a quick list of the most common home organization mistakes and how to fix them.
Buying Before Organizing
All too often homeowners get bit by the organizing bug and rush to the store to buy bins and baskets before they actually do any organizing. While the enthusiasm is great, it’s best to do some preliminary organizing to sort items into alike categories and take stock of everything that needs organizing. This will help you know what kind of bins and baskets to buy.
Getting Buried in Organization
Just because everything has been neatly tucked away in a box or jar doesn’t mean it’s organized. When you have to unpack three containers and use a flashlight to find what you need, you might need to rethink your strategy. This kind of deep storage is fine for rarely used items, but regularly used items need to be accessible.
Towers of Dishes
Stacking dishes as high as the cabinet will allow is a quick way to chip dishes and slow down when cooking. Instead of building the leaning tower of plates, use risers to create extra shelves in your cabinets.
Sorting by Type Not Function
A basic idea of organizing is sorting items and finding the best place to keep them. Most will opt to put everything that’s alike in the same spot. While this can work, sorting by function instead of type will be more efficient. For example, storing everything you need to make coffee together makes more sense than keeping the mugs with the other drinkware.
The Dreaded Medicine Cabinet
If there’s one place where organizers throw in the towel, it’s the medicine cabinet. The combination of awkwardly shaped objects and convenient hiding spaces makes the medicine cabinet a black hole of organization. The best way to tame this mess is to get big baskets with lids to hide things like hair dryers.