Organizing

That time is upon us! Back-to-school, off-to-college time. Which means that all across the country, a whole bunch of soon-to-be-freshman are staring at their wardrobe and wondering what on earth should I pack? Here are a few helpful tips for navigating the college closet quandary! Make a list of what you’ll need. Make a list of the clothes you’ll need for going to class, going out, lounging around, sleeping, and going to the gym.

Think you need an expensive bespoke solution to organize your closet? Think again. These five household objects can pull double-duty and wrangle tough-to-store jewelry and purses (at least while you save up for that Kardashian-style closet of your dreams). When stashed vertically in a magazine rack (or four), clutches and wallets take up virtually zero space. Plus, like the spines of magazines, you can still see and grab every single one.

Paper towel holders don’t just have to stay in the kitchen or stick to the task of holding rolls of paper towels. Helpful as that is, thanks to the variety they come in — hanging from the wall, freestanding — they can help cleverly and neatly organize a handful of items around the rooms of your home. Above: Take side hanging paper towel holders into your closet to organize all sorts of fashion accessories smartly. The idea spotted on Martha Stewart.

A friend you haven’t seen in a while calls to let you know she’s in the area and would love to stop by. You say: “Of course—come over!” You think: “Just give me three hours to clean up, please!” Ideally, we’d follow the “tidy up a little every day” routine, but despite our best efforts, there are certain spots in our homes where the chaos just tends to build.

A tiny bedroom can be a big challenge. There are a lot of things you need to fit into this little room, but you still want it to be a calm and restful space. If you’re lucky enough to have the freedom to make significant changes to your place, built ins can be a real lifesaver in a small bedroom, perfect for adding extra storage and functionality with a streamlined look. Here are 11 ideas.

Not my wardrobe. Sigh. (It belongs to Amanda of Chocolate Heels.) In the middle of 2015, I wrote a post on ways to reduce clutter in the closet and money spent on clothing. Among the ideas presented was the Capsule Wardrobe, an idea which has long been hanging around the internet, but which really took off that year.

This is the final post in my mini-series on capsule wardrobes. If you’ve been following along, you’ve seen why I decided to give this a go and how I created my first capsule, and now it’s time for the results. Read on for my thoughts (warning: I’ve got a lot of ’em) on living with a 37-piece wardrobe for three months. First up: I really loved opening my closet every morning to see a small, edited collection of clothing that I really wanted to wear.

Previously, I introduced you to my recent wardrobe obsession: capsule wardrobes. This on-trend idea (hi, KonMari!) was everywhere last year, and for me, a lifetime of loving fashion, a penchant for organization, and a tight budget came together and created the perfect environment in which it could take root. This week, I’m showing how I made my first capsule back in September 2015 and sharing tips for the structure and creation of capsules in general.

If you were born between, say, 1975 and 1990, there’s no doubt that (a) you think “Clueless” is a classic and (b) you’ve definitely dreamed about Cher Horowitz’s super high-tech (for the nineties, at least) digital closet. Being able to browse your outfit options with a quick finger-swipe is as close as it gets to heaven for some of us, and you can actually get pretty damn close to Cher’s “Clueless” closet right now with just your smartphone.

I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but you’ll often find me with a garbage bag in one hand and a spray bottle in another. I’m tossing things left and right and deep cleaning what’s left. I guess you could call it “spring cleaning,” but with the weather being always-sunny here in Los Angeles, I feel it’s less about the season and more about how things tend to pile up during the school year: the toys, the papers, the… stuff.

While technology has made our lives easier (and lazier) in countless ways, it hasn’t really done us many favors on the organization front. As our collection of tech gadgets grows, so does that tangle of cords under our desks and tv stands. There are a couple schools of thought when it comes to wrangling the wires: Stash them out of sight, or get more attractive wires, chargers, and docks and let them double as decor.

When photos happened on film, you had to be very deliberate about when and where you snapped pictures. But now with a camera app at your fingertips, you’re able to digitally fill entire photo albums with some really boring things. And you should, actually. We’ve put together a list of everyday things you should be documenting with photographs in order to stay organized and sane, and to maintain a perfect record of parking spots and great haircuts alike.

If you aren’t already hip to the value of a good cleaning book, now’s the time to listen up. Along with offering useful housekeeping tips, these books often provide eye-opening philosophical insight about organizing your life. Case in point: Mary Kondo’s bestselling book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.

In the post-Marie Kondo era, clutter has become the enemy. Excessive documents, old T-shirts, and unread books are some of the offending items we see everyday that definitely don’t spark joy. While I’m the first to agree that Kondo’s folding techniques and organizational tricks are genius, there are other ways (besides purging all your worldly belongings) to get your home—and your life—feeling orderly once again.

In an increasingly overwhelming world, minimalism is having a moment. It seems very appealing (and doable!) to take control of your life one possession at a time. You can purge what you don’t need, get educated and intentional about what you do need, and forget the rest. If you constantly feel like you’re too busy, too tired, or too broke, minimalism says that a life with less stuff promises more.

Whether you’re a morning person who loves waking up before the sun or you’re known to hit the snooze button one too many times, we all want our mornings to be easy and stress-free. After all, the key to having a good day begins with having a good morning. Luckily, there are a few things you can do the night before to ensure that your morning goes as smooth as possible. Read on for some of our favorite ways to prepare for an easy, breezy morning. Mess equals stress.

Shira Gill believes that “less is more” and that a tidy, organized home can lead to a simplified, happier life. Through years of helping people edit, organize and style their homes, Shira has learned what works and how to approach the process—and she’s sharing some of her best tips with Apartment Therapy. Is your small or cluttered closet causing you stress? Tired of things falling on your head every time you open the door?

Personal and fashion stylist Elim Chu is the cool, nice friend you hope to have because not only is she smart and hip and has amazing style—she will happily share her knowledge and secrets to help everyone around her look and feel great. She’s genuine and warm and approaches styling with the belief that everyone can build a simple and beautiful less-is-more wardrobe.

Is your closet overflowing with outdated sweaters and old jeans that require a month long juice cleanse to get into? Do you really want to clean out your closet and pull some metaphorical weeds that take the form of sherbet Gap polos and asymmetrical halter dresses, but feel like you can’t? Chances are you’re afraid to take anything out of your wardrobe because you’re worried you’ll regret it later.

Does it feel like junk mail is taking over your life? Between random credit card offers and ads piling up in your mailbox and a seemingly uncontrollable amount of subscriptions and spam flooding your inbox, things can get cluttered and super overwhelming—and fast. The good news is, there are some tricks and services you can use to manage both your mailbox and your inbox to keep your life as junk-mail-free as possible.

No matter how often I “clean” my bathroom, it always feels like there’s a mess hiding in the shadows. An undercurrent of disorganization. A collection of clutter just out of sight. It probably feels that way because although I try to keep my cabinets and drawers tidy…I haven’t really expended that much effort, just kind of tossing my stuff into random drawers. Who has time for anything more? Thankfully you don’t actually have to have more time than that.

Closet size: 24 square feet How many people use this closet? Two. My partner Todd and I share the closet. How long have you lived in your home? Five years Your closet in 5 words or less: Small, narrow, chaotic, cluttered, disorderly. My partner Todd and I challenged ourselves to clean out our closet from head to toe, then reorganize it in a way that made more sense. We did a massive purge session, shopped for smart storage solutions, and are now ready to share our new space.

If you’ve ever spent even just a few minutes browsing through Pinterest, you know that it’s full of tips that people claim will make your life easier and leave you feeling happier and healthier. So, I decided to give it a go and try out all this wisdom —what would it be like to live life according to Pinterest for a week? What did I have to lose? To make this experiment possible in the first place, I had to figure out what life according to Pinterest would even look like.

Aimée and Jonny just gave their shared closet a major makeover from head to toe, breaking it down and building it back up to be better than before. Their main take away? Don’t be afraid to purge! It makes all the difference. See what changed, and how they tamed their trouble spots. Aimée and Jonny’s linens refused to stay stacked neatly on their shelving, preferring instead to fall over, flop around, and unfold themselves.

Closet size: 4.125 ft² plus a garment rack How many people use this closet? 2 How long have you lived in your home? We moved into this apartment about 8 months ago. It’s gone smoothly for the most part, but I’m definitely messier than Steven. Your closet in 5 words or less: Cramped and cluttered Melanie and Steven had their work cut out for them. Their teeny tiny closet was small for even New York standards, and the added garment rack overflowed with clothing and shoes.

Katy’s walk-in closet had plenty of space. It was just poorly thought out and lacked the proper organizers for the job of keeping all their clothes, shoes and accessories in place. Katy moved a bunch of stuff around, and added in more variety to meet their different storage needs. Katy wasn’t making the best use of her upper shelves – when she stored shoes up there, the heels fell through the slots. Bags were hard to organized and flopped over on their sides.

When you live in a small home or apartment, figuring out how to store your scarves, handbags, necklaces, sunglasses and other accessories is a challenge. We can’t all have giant walk-in closets full of open shelves, now can we? The secret, folks, is to turn your jewelry, hats and other items into functional decor, especially if you live in a compact space. Here are some ideas for attractive ways to display and store your things in non-cluttery ways.

The realization that I had way too many clothes hit me the way it usually hits us: When we’re running late for an appointment and all we can do is stand in our underwear in front of our closet and glare. The whole situation made no sense to me. I had more sweaters than a Gap mid-season sale, too many skirts to count, and there were so many shirts stuffed onto shelves that one literally tumbled out and plopped in a heap in front of my toes. And yet, nothing in there was doing it for me.

This adorable House Tour has been called “the most livable tiny house” ever seen. It’s not an exaggeration. The whole space is only 160 square feet, and yet it actually seems like something we might all be able to live in (not together, obviously). It feels so possible because the place is very thoughtfully laid out and organized — especially the kitchen. Here are five smart organizing tips we got just by looking at the photos.

Kate Rumson is the founder of the The Real Houses of IG Instagram account (1.5 million followers and counting). In between running the account and her business, The Real Houses, Kate’s also been in the process of updating her New Jersey home to fit her simple-yet-luxe aesthetic. The first order of business: Tackling the bedroom. Specifically, the closet. Kate was lucky enough to have a huge closet space, but it didn’t offer much in the way of storage or style.

We love personality frameworks because they offer us a way to understand ourselves and make us feel comfortable about traits that others around us might not understand. (Like: I need alone time to recharge because I’m an introvert.) But you can also take advantage of personality tests to let you thoughtfully hook into what makes you tick in order to create change in your life. Take Gretchen Rubin’s latest book, The Four Tendencies, for instance.

Too much of a good thing can be wonderful, especially when it comes to shoes. And while collecting cute pairs of kicks is almost as fun as wearing them, finding space-savvy (and cost-effective) ways to store them at home is a whole other story. Thankfully, the web is filled with affordable options for organizing a vast collection of footwear—it just takes a little research.

Since the first time I saw Clueless, I have envied Cher Horowitz’s closet. Not even her clothes—although she’s still one of my style icons, so I’ll take those too!—but the computerized system that she used to pick out her outfits. I mean, it was truly amazing, both because it was pretty high-tech for the 90s (It was 1995! Her computer had a touch screen!) and because it meant that she always looked flawless and her closet could so easily stay impeccably organized.

There are plenty of books and articles out there that can tell you exactly how to clean and organize your home, but do you want to understand your clutter better? After all, understanding your habits is one of the keys to getting better at managing them and becoming more organized.

See it "magically" transform from chaos to order.

The very hardest part of clearing things out of your home isn’t the actual brawn of walking them out the door. Nope, there’s another muscle that needs exercising to prepare for this fight: Your brain. The tough part of decluttering is truly the mental aspect of deciding what should stay, and ultimately, how to get over the hurdle of liberating those once-worthy objects from our ownership. You have to be merciless.

Bullet journals basically do it all—they’re a totally customizable place to keep track of just about everything in your life, and they’re beautiful enough to be Instagram content (seriously, every time I look at a bullet journal I’m reminded that I need to up my penmanship game!). There’s also so much bullet journaling content out there that, if you’re new to the whole concept, it can be a little overwhelming. Where do you start?

The hardest part about decluttering has to be the “getting started.” Without a real nudge to dive in and actually do it, you might never feel the urge to, say, tidy up a few over-stuffed baskets or cluttered drawers. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do today. The thing is, today’s “room sweep” micro-mission is a timed exercise. All you have to do is focus your energy on one area—today, the entryway—and deal with it for just 20 minutes.

New technology is forever changing the way we live with media at home, but I bet you’re still hanging onto some relics of the past. Instead of ignoring them—hidden away behind the doors of a TV console or the depths of a storage closet—today, we’ll try and cut down on those collections. If you have a cherished collection—say, a perfectly curated assemblage of vinyl records or books—today’s mission will go quickly.

My problem isn’t the physical act of cleaning my fridge out; I do that every now and then without trouble. The real issue is keeping my fridge organized and functional for more than a week or two at a time. The whole beautiful array of fresh veggies and lined up condiments will slowly turn into a jumbled clutter that hides almost-expired products and allows dishes of leftovers to grow their own ecosystems in the back.

It’s the final week of our month-long decluttering plan (you can catch up here if you want to join in), and hopefully your home is feeling lighter, leaner and more in-control than ever. That’s why now is the perfect time to set up a system that I believe is the secret to keeping future clutter from getting out of hand.

I don’t know about you, but my bathroom is usually the first casualty to clutter. I think it’s because it’s the last room I spend time in on my most hurried, out of control days. In a rush to get out the door, I leave my bathroom in a mess of tissues, makeup and hair products that, yeah, don’t get picked up as quickly as they should when I get home. So my bathroom has always been in a perpetually messy state that lends itself to attracting more clutter.

Decluttering is an exercise in introspection. You need to think about the way you feel about your things (aka the entire KonMari philosophy) and also about when and how you use them. Who wants to hang on to things they don’t need? It’s that question—will I really use this?—that is at the heart of my favorite closet decluttering exercise: The reverse hanger trick. The idea is that you turn all the hangers in your closet around so that they hang backwards on the rod.

We’re on a mission to do something good for our homes each weekend. Sometimes we have to roll up our sleeves and tackle a dreadful, somewhat thankless task that simply must get done. Other weekends, we do something that feeds the soul for the week ahead. This weekend, rather than a deep-dive in one particular area, we’re going to blitz around our homes and attack a handful of 5-minute tasks. Turns out you can get a lot done in five (or 10, or 15) minutes.

For someone who lives in the scorching-hot-nine-months-out-of-the-year South, I have a surprisingly large amount of blankets and over-sized sweatshirts. The blanket collection has been growing ever since I left home, with quilts my mother has gifted me, vintage afghan blankets I’ve found while thrifting, and a glut of cheap throws I always buy any time I spot one on sale at TJ Maxx or Target.

If you ask a feng shui expert about the space under a bed, they’re going to tell you to keep it clear — that putting anything in that space will block energy from circulating around your body when you sleep. So, basically, they’re going to tell you the exact opposite of what I’m about to suggest. But as a mother of two little ones, I find the space under kids’ beds to be prime real estate.

For the aesthetes among us, the journey of organizing doesn’t begin and end with an approved checklist of what to get rid of. It’s more than a mindful or tactile task; if you’re a lover of design, organizing a home is organically something visual. That notion is mostly ignored in the modern decluttering book canon — for example, there are zero photographs in “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” — and we’re not the only ones who noticed.

Traveling with kids isn’t easy. Among the challenges that come from being away from your own home and routine, dealing with your family-closet-on-the-move, (that is, your suitcase) is high on the list. But preparing beforehand and having the right tools can prevent you from spending your precious time away from home digging for clothes in a tangled mess made of four people’s maybe-clean, maybe-not wardrobes.

As much as we love our homes, sometimes even rooms that are “done” can feel a little tired. Or maybe we’re feeling in a bit of a slump and could use the pick-me-up that an updated space could provide. As much as we wish we could plunk down the cash for that couch that’s been on our wish list or finally switch out the wall-to-wall carpet for hardwoods, there are room fixes that aren’t just budget friendly, but entirely free.

The season of winter cheer is over, Groundhog Day is past us (Phil saw his shadow, by the way) and we’re left to stare down a few more weeks of cold and darkness with holiday bills still to pay down. But don’t let winter get you down without a fight. Here are some ways to combat the winter doldrums right in your own home. Most of the difficulties brought on by a severe form of winter blues, called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), stem from a lack of light.

The entryway. It’s the last touch point with home on the way out the door, and the first point of contact after a long day. Home to shoes, bags, and accessories, it carries the important responsibility of organizing the things that help your day run more smoothly— not to mention warmly welcoming you and your guests back home.

Moving in with your significant other can be a weighty next step in your relationship (or one taken lightly to save on rent), but no matter how seriously you take it, it’s going to affect how you work in the kitchen. If you were living solo before, it could be a bit of a shock to the system to share this busy space with another being. And even if you’re used to roommates, it’s a totally different animal to share the kitchen with someone you love romantically.

Have you ever noticed that stepping into your cluttered, messy closet makes you stressed? Understatement of the day? Well, you’re not alone. It turns out that exposure to a greater density of “stuff” – like a jam-packed closet – can lead to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Assistant professor of psychology Darby Saxbe, Ph.D., worked on an intriguing study at UCLA where married, dual-income couples gave researchers a video tour of their home.

If your home doesn’t contain at least one disastrous closet, I salute you. (And if you only have one closet, it’s even more likely to be overstuffed and overwhelmed!) This doorless closet, which was a catchall for everything from cakestands to lampshades, got a full makeover for less than $100 and is now totally display-worthy.

If the bathroom drawers are overflowing, the bedroom dresser is buried under a pile of bottles and jars, and your closet door unable to shut because its so stuffed, it may be time to rethink your current beauty supply storage setup. But don’t be under the impression that this kind of organization undertaking has to be expensive. The very easy and affordable storage ideas in this beauty blogger’s home could be be just the solution you need to tame your products and accessories!

Many of us are familiar with the floor/chair/bed-covered-in-clothes issue that can strike one’s bedroom at any time (or, all the time). Whether it’s the clothes you plan on wearing the next day, the clothes you wore that day, or the product of a flurry of outfit changes until hitting on just the right look—you can’t have a bedroom that’s a sanctuary if you’re swimming in articles of clothing.

We can’t get enough of the touching reboot of Queer Eye that debuted in February, courtesy of Netflix. If you’ve already binged all eight episodes of season one, hoping the Fab 5 will magically show up on your doorstep ready to make you over from head to toe while instantly becoming your new BFFs, well, that probably isn’t in the cards. But following the fellows on Instagram is a close second, because they offer up style tips, motivational mantras, and smart hacks all the same.

Tuesday, March 20, marks the first official day of Spring! Depending on where you are in the country, it might still feel very much like Winter outside, but the equinox is, indeed, upon us, which means warmer weather can’t be too far behind (…right?). In the meantime, you can use that fresh start on the calendar to get going on some of your goals for the new season.

Tax prep can be a major drag. Along with gathering all of your W-2’s and interest statements, you have to organize a mountain of paperwork—think: receipts, expense reports, and so on—to file your taxes properly. Luckily, there are several smartphone apps designed to streamline the daunting process of preparing your taxes. From receipt organizers to mileage trackers, here are five foolproof (and totally free!) apps that will have you ready for tax season in no time.

There’s no doubt about it: As well as being cozy and adorable, stylish small spaces also hold a TON of smart storage ideas. The ones below are some of the best solutions we saw in small house tours this year. No matter your home’s size, you’ll find inspiration for how to store more stylishly in 2019. When a professional organizer lives in a tiny studio apartment, expect great ideas, like these floating wall-mounted IKEA cabinets that were hung close to the ceiling.

The first time I cooked with my now-husband, I was surprised to learn he had a collection of cast iron pans in an array of sizes. What impressed me most wasn’t that he had a larger (and more well-seasoned) set of cast iron than me, but the smart way he stored his cast iron pans. Instead of simply nesting cast iron pans one inside another, metal on metal, he used a single paper towel to separate each piece of cookware to prevent friction.

A stand mixer is a staple of many home cooks’ kitchens—and it can also be an amazing focal point. It’s sculptural! It’s industrial! It comes in so many different colors! On the flip side, a stand mixer can be big and bulky and presents a fair share of other problems you might not have anticipated before you decided to spring for one. But don’t fret—there’s probably a hack for whatever it is that’s ruining your stand mixer state of bliss.

There is endless advice in the world about how best to declutter your home—some of it is helpful, a bit of it is masterful, and much of it is inconsistent. “Keep only the things that spark joy” they tell you… but, I mean, you need to keep your screwdriver and vacuum, no matter how boring or frustrating their utility may be. Point is, the “rules” don’t always work.

Along shoes-on-or-off policies and the paper towel/rag debate, few topics are as polarizing as “rainbowtizing” books. People have feelings about their books, and how they are organized on the shelf. Yes, it’s totally a personal preference, with compelling reasons supporting every method. But I have a case to make for rainbow order when it comes to kids’ books. Once I rainbow-ordered my kids’ books, I haven’t looked back.

The kitchen is the biggest workhorse room in almost every household. It’s not only the place where we store our food and prepare our meals, but especially in the age of the open concept home, it’s also a hangout spot and maybe even a homework or work area. With so many things going on in the kitchen, and so many people in and out of it constantly, it’s easy for our kitchens to become cluttered, and fast.

If you’re excited about getting a glimpse into strangers’ closets, you’re only going to get half the thrill you’re hoping for, because one of these closets has been converted into something a little unexpected. Here’s how the homeowner describes that closets before their makeover: The before photos were from the day we bought the house.

I’ve got tons of hair ties laying around—my go-to are Goody Ouchless without the metal band. They come in packages of 37 and upwards, but they still seem to always disappear. If you have long hair, I know you hear me on this. Target Goody Ouchless Elastics 5 Buy now So I’m constantly buying new packages and picking up plain single ties at the gym. I tend to keep one on my wrist at all times.

Decluttering a space is a gargantuan task, no matter how small the space itself might seem. That’s because the real challenge isn’t how much stuff you have, or how messily it might be lumped around. The really tough part of decluttering is when you pick up a single object in your hand, knowing you have no good reason to keep it, but finding it impossible to let the thing go.

There’s a hard way and an easy way to deal with a big mess of clutter. The hard way is trying to commit to tackling it all at once, mentally planning for a weekend project you know will never come, as you once again sit and dawdle and tell yourself it’ll be easier when the weather’s better, or when things aren’t as crazy in your life. The easy way is to chip away at the mess, little by little until it’s in a good place.

Kitchen clutter is like a gas: It’ll expand to fit the space allowed. If you have a small kitchen, you probably feel like there’s never enough space for your stuff. Well guess what? Big kitchen people have that same problem, too. No matter how many cabinets you have, or whether your countertop is better measured in inches or acres, your kitchen can probably use a little slimdown. So that’s what we’re going to do today. Do a 20-minute decluttering sweep of your kitchen.

Emotional attachment to an inanimate object is one hell of a drug. It makes sentimental clutter especially difficult to say goodbye to. And for me, a writer who makes a living helping people with their homekeeping, it’s a very difficult thing to help you with. So I’m not going to tell you to get rid of anything at all. At least not yet. First, let’s open up the closets, drag out the boxes, and let’s find your sentimental stuff. What counts as sentimental stuff?

Keeping your home clean around the clock isn’t the work of wizardly magic. It’s just an exercise in focus. You have to commit to give every single thing at home a place where it belongs, even if that place is kind of a zoo. That’s why, if you want to keep your home clutter-free, you don’t need a junk drawer… you need several. Let’s face it, not every object you own is easily categorized.