Organized Home Checklist: Transform Your Messy Life into Streamlined Efficiency

Imagine knowing exactly where every single item in your home is. It's an organized, well-curated space devoid of all distracting debris. Right-brained creative sorts are natural clutter-bugs and if you're like me you struggle to buckle down and maintain permanent order. (I trash the place when I work. Proof!) I exercised my withered left-brain and busted ass on my apartment the past month to get it in streamlined order- I could tell you were everything lives and it's even documented in a spreadsheet (!!!). Here's your checklist to get your home (and life) streamlined:

Worry not, more art and objects will make their way back into the fray. In a balanced, well-curated way. 

1. Visualize: Read books and magazines. Make a digital or physical collage of what you want your home to be.

I made this visualization chart for my apartment early last year. My home is now the vision: minimalist and streamlined with pops of bright retro art and toy collections for color and inspiration. 

2. List: Make two lists of home needs. A Must-Have List (dining table, light bulbs) and an Aspirational List (new art prints, the fun stuff).

3. Assign: Determine what you do frequently in your home, then assign and create stations for every single task. I have photography, smoothie-making, and coffee/tea stations.

I drove a total of 8 hours and spent a nice chunk of cash for this IKEA storage unit and boxes. Worth it to have one big unit to hold nearly all of my supplies and merchandise!

4. Declutter: Go through your home with boxes and bags to trash and donate Every Single Thing you don't need or passionately love anymore. Be brutal. I wrote a detailed guide on helping remove emotional attachment from items here.

5. Clear:  Clear everything off the walls and counters room-by-room or section-by-section so you're not overwhelmed. Thoroughly clean and dust each counter/wall/floor from top-to-bottom.

6. Arrange: Once each area is cleaned re-arrange the art, objects, and utility items in each area thoughtfully. I love to use the gallery hanging rule for artwork to give the home harmony and challenge myself to be more thoughtful about my objects and displays. (Read how here.)

I found these inspirational mid century modern sturdy shopping baskets while thrifting recently. They're my favorite clutter cutters and only cost me $2.50 each. (See 'em on Etsy.)

7. Clutter Cutters: Put baskets, racks, and organizing tools in places where you notice clutter accumulates, like shoe-racks near the door to eliminate an unsightly shoe pile.

8. Shop: Now that your space is cleared-out and organized, treat yourself. Many items you need are easy to find at thrift stores. I resorted to IKEA for some solutions which I'll explain in detail in a future post.

9.  Schedule: Cleaning days and stick to them so mess never accumulates. My schedule:

Sunday: Dust bulbs, fixtures, walls top to bottom
Monday: Deep Clean Kitchen
Tuesday: Deep Clean Bathrooms
Wednesday: Laundry and clear out fridge/freezer
Thursday: Sweep and Mop Floors
Friday: Bathroom Deep Clean
Saturday: Living and Dining Room Clean

10. Continue: To re-arrange your home to improve its function. Add and subtract items as needed. Use a one-thing-in, one-thing-out rule.

Bonus: I work in my home so I used a Google Documents spreadsheet to list the location of every single art supply and piece of merchandise! As I've always dreamed!

What do you do to keep your home organized and working efficiently? I hope these tips help, I spent a year tripping over boxes, purging, and wading through waves of messes figuring this out. Yep!

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