87 Ideas to Organize Your Home

Ideas to organize your home quickly and easily. Set the timer for 10 and GO!

Room-by-Room: Bathroom - Closet - Office - General Housekeeping - Kitchen - Living Room

1. NEW Swiffer or sweep the kitchen floor. I like the rip a paper towel in half, wetting one half to wipe up the dust pile, and using the other half to wipe up the water.

2. NEW Load or empty the dishwasher.

3. NEW Straighten the spice rack, drawer or shelf. Turn bottles so the label face front and straighten anything that’s tipped over and return spices that have gotten mixed up to their rightful places.

4. NEW Go through and either recycle, file or shred 5 pieces of mail. (See: How to Manage Mail)

5. NEW Wipe down the counter tops and empty the trash.

6. NEW Purge the fridge of anything old, spoiling, or rotten. (See: How Long to Keep Everything)

7. NEW Take 5 minutes to update your grocery list and meal plan. (See: How to Meal Plan and Grocery Shop)

8. Choose a room that needs work, and then schedule time to work through one of the Home How To Guides. What resources do you need to get that done? When do you have time to accomplish this? Plan ahead!

9. Peruse this list of home storage ideas Store It A-Z and store one item in your home that has been just "hanging around," like batteries, paper towels or toiletries.

10. Read how some About.com Guide organize their days to get things done in My Daily Routine

11. Read how some About.com Guide organize their closets in How I Organize My Closet. They confess how often they donate clothing, clean their closets and what kind of hangers they prefer.

12. Get some inspiration for kitchen organization by reading interviews with About.com Guide their kitchen organization techniques in How I Stay Organized in the Kitchen.
13. Do you have an older item (television, gaming system, VCR) you're not sure how to recycle? Check the list How to Recycle Everything, then schedule a time to recycle it, or do this right away.
14. Declutter your entry way pinboard, recycling old invitations, expired coupons and any other clutter.
15. In the entry way, locate all of your loose umbrellas and corral them into one spot. I like to store mine in an old wine bucket in the entry way closet.
16. Walk around your home and gather the following: batteries, light bulbs and stamps. Make sure you store these in the same spot so you don't buy more than you need.
17. Mount small Command Hooks to the inside of my cabinet doors to hold measuring spoons and other small items that always get lost in the drawer. - Nancy, Reader
18. Take inventory of your bathroom supplies: tissues, toilet paper, floss, mouthwash, toothpaste. Make a list of what you're running low and stock up.
19. Arrange a cold kit with items like: zinc lozenges, cold medication, cash to order take out, and bags of ginger tea.
20. Take inventory of your first aid kit. (See: 10 Ways to Organize the Bathroom)
21. Inventory grooming products and make a list of what you need to stock up on.
22. Go through your closet and sort your hanging clothes by color. Re-fold and stack one group of clothing. Think: gym clothes, sweaters, t-shirts. (See: How to Delcutter the Closet)
23. Measure the inside of each closet in your house (this is a lot quick than it sounds-promise!). Write down the dimensions-depth, width, and height--of each space, shelf, nook and cranny on an index card, one per closet, and store them in your wallet. The next time you're in Bed Bath and Beyond, Home Depot, Lowes of the Container Store, buying closet accessories, you'll have the information you need with you.
24. Install some command hooks on the inside of your closet door for jewelry, scarves, hats and other accessories.
25. Lay out your clothes for the next day. I like to hang mine on a valet hook on the inside of my closet door.
26. Match up and pair your socks.
27. Collect shoes and put them back in their rightful place. I have a terrible time keeping my shoes organized so this is one of my main daily organizing tasks (and truth be told, it only takes about 2-3 minutes so you'll have 7 minutes leftover to choose something else on the list). (See: How to Declutter Your Shoe Collection)
28. Fashion a donation box and install it in or near your closet. I relish attacking my closet once a month and taking shopping bags full of clothes down to the local donation center. For some people though, it's very, very difficult to part with even one item, having a donation box at the bottom of your closet means you can ever-so-slowly begin editing your closet rather than assaulting it with a take-no-prisoners purge. A donation box doesn't have to be fancy. Any old cardboard you have lying around the house will do. (See: How To Break the Hoarding Habit and When to Donate Clothes)
29. Go through your closet and move the most-worn items to the easiest-to-reach location.
30. Plan your outfit for an upcoming special event. Think: weddings, dates, parties, BBQs, holidays.
31. Go through your luggage. Remove any leftover papers, gum wrappers or clothes/toiletries you forgot to unpack.
32. Go through your closet and collect any shoes or boots that need re-soling, cleaning, weather-proofing or stretching and put them in a bag to take to the cobbler. (See: How to Care For Your Shoe Collection)
33. Go through your closet and collect clothes to bring to the tailor.
34. Move your Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn and MySpace account streams to Hootsuite.
35. Peruse your Facebook friends--this is a good reminder of who's seeing your personal information, pictures and reading your status updates. Un-friend anyone who should not be seeing your vacation pictures.
36. Gather together all of the books you've been "meaning to read" into a pile and get started on one.
37. Purge your Twitter account from following people/topics that no longer interest you.
38. Draft a general email and save it in your draft file. This is a great tool when you hear from someone you haven't seen/spoken to in a while. I absolutely dread having to reply to those "So how are you?" emails. This way I have the basis of something already written.
39. Go through your hard copy or electronic address book and take out old contacts--especially ex-boyfriends or anyone else your phone should not be "accidentally" dialing.
40. List 3 books for swap on paperbackswap.com and then assemble the packing materials you will need to ship them off to their new lucky owner. A Sharpie, packing tape and the blank side of a brown paper shopping bag will do.
41. Edit your Internet bookmarks.
42. Unsubscribe from blogs you no longer read.
43. Declutter your email Inbox (computer, blackberry, IPhone) of as many un-needed emails as possible.
44. Unsubscribe from 5 emails you receive and never read (although you really should sign up for my newsletter which comes out once a week on Thursdays).
45. Email your old boss/influential work colleague to check-in. You never know when you'll need a recommendation.
46. Check your Facebook privacy settings. Here's a guide Facebook and Job Search Privacy Tips.
47. Organize business cards and any addresses you've written down and add them to your contacts list. I like using my Gmail contacts list since I can refer to it from any computer.
48. Collect your plastic wrap, aluminum foil, sandwich bags and wax paper and store them in the same drawer. (See: How to Organize the Junk Drawer)
49. Fashion a plastic bag holder, then collect and store plastic bags for re-use.
50. Make a grocery list. If you don't normally make a grocery list, start by making a list of the items you buy every single week. Go from there. (See: How to Grocery Shop)
51. Organize your utensils line them up into the neatest piles possible. This may not be the most impactful task, but it will give some satisfaction to the uber-organized among us. (Also, for the uber-organized, check out the Organized Home Peep Show featuring the aggressively organized home of Martha Stewart Living's design director Kevin Sharkey. Total eye candy!)
52. Move tea bags from individual containers to a pretty canister. This is both a time-saver and more aesthetically pleasing.
53. Take everything out of your refrigerator, wipe down the inside of your fridge, and arrange items back into place.
54. Organize your coupons. (See: Tools to Make Grocery Shopping Easier)
55. Invest in a cask iron skillet that can be used both on top of and in the over (many sauté pans cannot go into the oven).
56. Organize take out menus. Better yet, recycle these and just use your computer-either check menus online or scan the menus. Why keep extra paper around?
57. Purge your pantry of anything you're not actively using. Think: random spices you haven't touched in a year, stale food, a big bag of flour that's never been used--if you're not a baker, don't devote too much space to baking supplies. (See: How to Declutter the Pantry)
58. Move specialty kitchen appliances that you don't use to the highest shelves. Think: ice cream maker, rice cooker, waffle maker, panini press. I don't like these one-trick ponies. Read why in: 3 Steps to Organizing Kitchen Appliances.
59. Establish a spot for two recycling bins (one for paper, one for plastic), preferably right by your kitchen trash bin. And voila! You now have your own recycling center. (Despite popular rumors, sometimes it's easy being green.)
60. Purge the crisper drawer in your refrigerator of any rotting veggies or fruits.
61. Purge the freezer of freezer-burned items.
62. Separate nuts, chopped vegetables and fruit into small snack bags for quick snacks on the go. NOTE: this one may take 15 minutes, but for something as impactful as garb-and-go snacks, the extra time is worth the big payoff.
63. Organize your Tupperware and Pyrex collections. I combine the two, stack the bowls/dishes inside each other by size and place all of the tops in a square Tupperware together. This works really well for me. TIP: Freezing portion-sizes of soup, stew, rice and pasta-based dishes into round Tupperware containers and then defrosting in the fridge before re-heating on the stove is one of the best habits I've ever developed for quick meals.
64. Organize your cookbooks. Options: Alphabetically, Topically, Aesthetically pleasing-ly.
65. Install a shelf for your most-used cookbooks. (See: How to Organize Your Book Collection)
66. Sit on the couch in your living room and notice any distracting piles. Declutter.
67. Grab the label maker and label the cables behind your entertainment console.
68. Go through your TiVo or DVR series manager and purge shows you're not watching. Bonus: you get to sit on the couch for this one.
69. Make a list of movies you'd like to see or update your Netflix queue. This will save time on upcoming dinner-and-a-movie nights. Bonus: it's fun.
70. Take everything out of your refrigerator, wipe down the inside of your fridge, and arrange items back into place.
71. Organize your coupons.
72. Invest in a cask iron skillet that can be used both on top of and in the over (many sauté pans cannot go into the oven).
73. Organize take out menus. Better yet, recycle these and just use your computer-either check menus online or scan the menus. Why keep extra paper around?
74. Purge your pantry of anything you're not actively using. Think: random spices you haven't touched in a year, stale food, a big bag of flour that's never been used--if you're not a baker, don't devote too much space to baking supplies.
75. Move specialty kitchen appliances that you don't use to the highest shelves. Think: ice cream maker, rice cooker, waffle maker, panini press. I don't like these one-trick ponies. Read why in: 3 Steps to Organizing Kitchen Appliances.
76. Establish a spot for two recycling bins (one for paper, one for plastic), preferably right by your kitchen trash bin. And voila! You now have your own recycling center. (Despite popular rumors, sometimes it's easy being green.)
77. Purge the crisper drawer in your refrigerator of any rotting veggies or fruits.
78. Purge the freezer of freezer-burned items.
79. Separate nuts, chopped vegetables and fruit into small snack bags for quick snacks on the go. NOTE: this one may take 15 minutes, but for something as impactful as garb-and-go snacks, the extra time is worth the big payoff.
80. Organize your Tupperware and Pyrex collections. I combine the two, stack the bowls/dishes inside each other by size and place all of the tops in a square Tupperware together. This works really well for me. TIP: Freezing portion-sizes of soup, stew, rice and pasta-based dishes into round Tupperware containers and then defrosting in the fridge before re-heating on the stove is one of the best habits I've ever developed for quick meals.
81. Organize your cookbooks. Options: Alphabetically, Topically, Aesthetically pleasing-ly.
82. Install a shelf for your most-used cookbooks. (See: How to Organize Your Book Collection)
83. Sit on the couch in your living room and notice any distracting piles. Declutter.
84. Grab the label maker and label the cables behind your entertainment console. My favorite labeler has been heaven-sent.
85. Go through your TiVo or DVR series manager and purge shows you're not watching. Bonus: you get to sit on the couch for this one.
86. Make a list of movies you'd like to see or update your Netflix queue. This will save time on upcoming dinner-and-a-movie nights. Bonus: it's fun.
87. Add your home organization tip.