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The 5 Steps to Home Organization

The 5 Steps to Home Organization & Room-by-Room Guides

By , About.com Guide

Home organization may seem like a daunting task at first, but once you break it down into 5 steps, it is much more manageable.

The 5 Steps to Home Organization

1. Commit to home organization.

Fridge Bins and Organizer and Tray from Crate and BarrelPhoto / Fridge Bins and Organizer and Tray from Crate and Barrel

The commitment to home organization is a huge motivating factor. Once you've decided to have a more organized home, the delcuttering, sorting, goruping, storing and maintaing your home organization will be easier, because you have a goal in mind: home organization.

When you're deeping into the declutteirng phase, it's hugley motivational to think about how this room or space will look once you're done. Make the committment.

What to Organize

2. Declutter before you organize.

Daily System in White from Pottery BarnPhoto / Pottery Barn
Never organize or store anything you can first get rid of. This includes:

  • Trash and junk, like things you meant to toss, shred or recycle that never made it out of your house;
  • Things you never use but are taking up valuable real estate; and,
  • Items that no longer fit into your lifestyle, like jeans you haven't worn in 5 years or your old treadmill you never run on

Learn How to Declutter

3. Grouping and sorting for home organization.

Thomas Northcut / Getty Images

Now that you've decluttered, it't ime to start organizing your remaining items. This will involve the following:

  • Grouping "like" items together;
  • Sorting clothes, furniture and appliances by season; and,
  • Creating groups based on use: daily / regularly / rarely

Learn How to Organize

4. Give everything a home through storage.

Anderson Ross / Getty Images

Storing your items will involve:

  • Assessing your storage space;
  • Learning how to store specific items; and then
  • Choosing the right storage solutions.

This is really the key to keeping up your home organization: if you have a specific place for everything in your home you will successfully cut down on clutter, and know exactly where to find things when you need them.

Get Started with Home Storage

5. Maintain your home organization.

Photo / Martha Stewart Living

Finally, you've got to maintain your home organization so you don't have to keep starting from scratch. In this guide you will learn how to follow:

Follow the Home Organization Routines.

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