Thursday, January 2, 2014

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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30 comments:

  1. Wow. I am impressed/jealous. I would love a space similar to that. You did a great job.

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    1. Thank you Nancy! I'll continue to share more organization details, I've been really dedicated to purging and getting that minimalist life I've always aspired to in 2013 and it continues to come together. Always a work in progress!

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  2. I had exactly same white storage unit but I ended up selling it for 50€ when I travelled in Central America. I still like best the idea of recycling boxes but IKEA is the best place to buy stuff to organize and it's quite cheap.
    Those shopping baskets are sooooo awesome!

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    1. When I posted it on Instagram someone commented on having the same exact one, too. Great minds think alike! ;) I desperately wanted to thrift for or make my own but a year or hunting/putting off the project later I knew I'd just need to support the Retail Devils and buy one and IKEA had the best deal on what I envisioned in a unit. I MUCH prefer to upcycle and feel a little guilty about it but this cheat was a worthy business expense that saved me time that I could put into making more money/writing more. :)

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  3. Does it count if you buy the IKEA from a thrift store? I saw 2 IKEA coffee tables at a thrift store, brand new, still in the box unassembled. they were $10 each. I didn't buy them because I didn't need them, but now I kinda of regret it. My son converted the guest room into his art room and he is using the vintage desk in there as his art table and it has a leather top, which isn't good for an art desk. So we were going to cut out a plank of wood to place on the top....I think that IKEA table top would have been perfect....so does it still count as NOT shopping big box stores if you buy brand new Ikea from the thrift store? Is there some sort of clause or disclaimer in the rules....haha. I always try to shop small biz and second hand.

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    1. $10 for that IKEA table top would cost much less than us purchasing wood, refinishing/sanding it, painting it....UGH! Im going back there today to see if they have any left!

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    2. Nope, if it's second-hand it's not the same as buying it from the big box store because you're not directly supporting the creation of NEW things and that wasteful, harmful culture. (I'm a fraud, a hypocrite, baaaw! But I needed it. :P)

      I definitely agree there, sometimes you just have to go with the money-saving option to get something done rather than attempt to make everything. I got real with myself, I'm in a small apartment with no work space and the most basic building knowledge. Not time to make stuff...YET...

      Hope it's still there, your son's work space sounds AWESOME. Would love to see it, do add it your blog?

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    3. On that note, wish we could thrift for IKEA here but with no store here I never see it at Thrift Stores. I may have to dumpster dive dorm rooms in Orlando ;) Bet there's lots to be had there.

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    4. haha! Or better yet, dumpster dive at IKEA! They throw away stuff all the time, if a leg is banged up they toss the whole table! When I was a visual coordinator in retail, they would throw out all sorts of good stuff, stuff that had just a few dings or loose parts. The whole thing would go in the trash! I took home all sorts of stuff, thousands of dollars worth (high end retail), So I bet dumpster diving at an Ikea would get you all sorts of good stuff, with just a little elbow grease, better than new. And free! BTW, thanks for the tip about adding Evans art room to my blog, I think I will do that!

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    5. Hmmm...good idea, there are many retail stores I may be shamelessly chatting with about picking up cast-offs. I didn't even think to drive behind to the dumpster of that monster store, so massive you don't imagine there's a dumpster behind it. May have to try that next time though they may have big fences, locks, and compacters to keep cheap-asses like me out!

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  4. Sticking to a cleaning schedule is a great idea. I've always done that, even as a teen. I do plan on going through drawers and cupboards this month with a donation box in hand. Your space looks great!

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    1. I haven't stuck to my cleaning schedules in the past to be honest but with a fresh new pad to start the year I've been putting things away as soon as I'm done and it's awesome. I'm going to stick to the cleaning schedule all year now, I'm determined! Thanks for the compliments on the space, I'm excited to show more of it in the coming months.

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  5. ohhhh I love the IKEA organizer! so lucky to have such a treasure!

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    1. Thank you! I wanna write about about how I'm using it to keep my business organized in detail soon :) Involves spreadsheets.

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  6. I want that shelf!! Actually i'm getting that shelf soon.:) I think one thing I really learned about moving is its best to stay ahead of the game when it comes to storage. Usually if you don't it gets out of hand and you just feel kind of hopeless which results in nothing being done. I got cleaning down, not having anything in the house and a fresh slat really helped me learn how to clean each and everyday and now its a habit (YAY!!) With that said......Can I just say how much I enjoy your blog? I appreciate all the hard work I know you put in to it and its always a pleasure to visit you. One thing I didn't mention on my last post was I wanted to really only visit blogs that are very present (a quality of life thing, hey there is quality internet and crap internet). That still continue to think about their readers (I.E @##%$%$Y pop up ads). I understand wanting to make money off your site but when you do it to the detriment of the people reading you. You've lost your way my friend. You have not and I fully plan on being here because you make it so wonderful to visit. So thank you! That is all.:)

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    1. I reflected on 2013 and realized it was a year of creative/business improvement and minimizing. I have soooo much less stuff this year and it makes cleaning much easier. Also, when I moved to this apartment in the first place with it's very modern glamorous look and clean lines I was inspired more than ever to keep it prestine and clean :D ! Love your tip on being ahead of the game with storage, something I really need to work on. I'd say I'm still behind but I'm going to clearance out a lot of merch so I may be ahead soon.

      Thank you so much for the kind words on the blog! It's not too difficult to please the readers without sounding like a straight up ad, I try really hard to improve the content with every single photo and post.

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  7. Looks awesome! One of my Clutter Cutters is to observe where crap accumulates and remove unnecessary surface area. I downsized a table once because crap kept gathering on the unused place settings. I gave coffee tables away, etc.

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    1. I did this too and sometimes want to take out the infrequently used dining table for this reason. I had added an extra "work table" at one point in time and it just because the home for a giant pile of crap. When it left, so did that clutter.

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  8. Van, were you peeking in my room earlier?? Apparently great minds think alike because I'm going through a massive purge/organizing/cleaning stage right now. Piles of old clothes are currently covering my floor waiting to be donated. It's a wreck, but I know it has to get worse before it can get better!
    Love how your living room area is looking so far! I'm completely envious of your Expedit unit too! I walk around with chronically crossed fingers hoping to find one cheap at a thrift store, but no luck so far. Everything is just stored in sharpie-labeled priority mail boxes in my closet right now. I'm implementing some of your past tricks though to help me out! I'm on the hunt for those file-sorter things you put your records in to store my art to resell. I'm hoping it keeps them organized and upright instead of leaning against each other in disarray like they currently are doing.
    I would love to hear more about your spreadsheets someday! My attempt at keeping one epically failed, so I need some tips in that area!

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    1. This apartment was tragically brutally trashed before I finished purging. I'll be showing the rest of the place and many more organizing tips in coming posts including the spreadsheets :)

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  9. You cheated and I bought a new one! Being from D.C., I hunt the expedit bookcase everyday on Craigslist! It is a race to get them! You have to drop everything and go get them. In fact I just brought one home in a snow storm! Collecting albums I have a 2x2, 4x2, 5x5 and I'm looking for more! I need a 4x4 and I only buy them used.

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    1. There's never any IKEA furniture in Jacksonville since the nearest IKEA is 2 hours away, boo! I will have to keep an eye out for it at thrift stores though.

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    1. 'Twas a gift from when a friend had to move in a rush! $0.00 is the best price for anything!

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  11. Van, it looks terrific. You most certainly did a good day's work to get that unit to store your thrift plunder. I'm trying to decide the best way to keep mine. Out in the shed isn't convenient...guest room looks like a storage room with all in there. Right now, I'm shooting for a single rubbermaid bin of stuff, but that means shifting excess to the shed, sigh. I'm on the look out for a lovely old chiffarobe for the guest room to store my stuff in .

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    1. It really is a process to figure out how to store things, and always evolving. At the start of the year my apartment was full to bursting so I moved everything to my boyfriend's sunroom, then when it was low enough I moved it back to my place, then finally reduced enough to fit it all in the expedit unit and pantry. I also had a stacked rubbermaid closet solution I DIDN'T like...yep, did my time trying to figure this out for a couple of years ;) Good luck finding your solution.

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  12. Now that is what I call organised! Must feel great. I am getting there with the clutter. Slowly, slowly...

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    1. My place still gets disarrayed as hell while I work but the checklist, unit, and continuos purging helps big time!

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  13. I love that Godzilla has gotten in on your decluttering! I really need to focus on this in January...getting streamlined. Now that I am home based for work, I'm having a hard time keeping the personal and the work seperate.

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    1. It takes time to figure it out and it's always evolving. Good luck to you as you navigate it!

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