Home Organizing Tips

If you're looking for more organization ideas and tips, follow Sage Organizing Co. on Pinterest and get ideas from a Professional Organizer! ​

If you're looking for more organization ideas and tips, follow Sage Organizing Co. on Pinterest! ​
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Need more help with organizing your home? Contact us and book a consultation to start your organized life today!
Professional Disclaimer: The ideas, recommendations, and opinions on this website, blog, and made in person are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered legal, financial, or medical advice. I am not an attorney, doctor, or licensed financial professional. Sage Organizing Co., LLC is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to the content of this website, blog, or in-person discussions. If you need specific legal, financial, or medical advice, consult a professional in your area.

If you're looking for more organization ideas and tips, follow Sage Organizing Co. onPinterest! ​

One of the most challenging parts of the organizing world is MAINTAINING organization on a daily basis!

You've taken the plunge and had a professional organizer work some organizing magic in your home or maybe you've spent long, tiresome days organizing your home D.I.Y. style. Either way, it can be frustrating when you feel like your home is becoming unorganized not long after you spent time and money getting it in order. 

Sage Organizing Co. is here to help!

Here are 6 ways to maintain the organization that has been set place in your home and keep clutter at bay.

1.)  Clean Up After Yourself Throughout the Day
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Once it becomes a habit, cleaning up after yourself throughout the day does not take much time. By putting things away immediately when you're done using them, you will feel less overwhelmed and avoid moments when you scream in your head, "I don't even know where to start!" 

The key to this tip is getting everybody in the household on board as much as possible. Things like throwing the clothes you wore today straight in the laundry basket and your husband loading his dirty plate directly in the dishwasher and your child putting his toys away are ways to maintain organization and confidence within your home.

If it is hard to get your family to pitch in, make reminder sticky notes for them around the house or even have a point system (your kids will love to see who can get the most points at the end of the week!)

4.)  Donate/Throw away One item for every New thing

This is a personal tip of mine that has helped me in my minimalist goals and prevented home cluttering. As somebody who loves skincare and haircare products, I have made a deal with myself that every time I buy a new product, I throw one thing away. Of course, give yourself some leeway with this tip. Just because you bought a skincare product does not necessarily mean you need to throw away a skincare product you already have (even though that is a good place to start.) An alternative may be to donate a piece of clothing or an old pair of shoes to your local Goodwill.

This tip can be very helpful in making sure you don't overcrowd your home (and life!) with "stuff." It's also a good way to slowly clear out your home of things you don't need so that you avoid panic when the time comes to move or do a massive cleaning of your home.
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5.)  Make sure Everything has a Place

This rule is ESSENTIAL in order to maintain organization in your home.

When items/products/ the nebulous "stuff" in your house does not have designated spots, you and your family do not know where to return these things which inevitably causes mass disorder (and makes tips 1 and 2 far more difficult to achieve!) When each thing you own has its own little "home," you are set up for organizing success! One way to decide where to designate spots for items is to consider where in the house you typically use those items. For instance, it may not be a good idea to keep toilet paper in a closet near the kitchen as opposed to being kept as close to the bathroom as possible.

When items are stored inconveniently from places where you use them, you are more likely to leave those items laying out somewhere near where they are actually utilized. If you're having trouble creating a space for everything, consider donating things you don't need (or things you haven't touched in years!) ​

6.)  Don't expect Perfection!

We all have hard days. Maybe, it was a bad day and you didn't get around to tidying up before going to bed. Maybe, you left a few dishes in the sink for tomorrow. You can't let unorganized days make you feel like you have lost control or hope of regaining organization at home. We all would love for our homes to look like it came off the cover of a magazine, right? Though we can all dream, kids and pets make this difficult to achieve regularly and that's okay.

Instead of aiming for perfection, try aiming for tidy and praise your family even for small organization maintenance achievements.

Follow these tips and you'll be sure to keep the organized lifestyle alive and well in your home! Marie Kondo would be proud.  

Need some help STARTING your home organization? Sage Organizing Co. can create and establish a professional organization system for your home so that you'll have a thought-out organization structure to follow moving forward. 

Call or email us TODAY and we'll make your home organization goals a reality!

Which part of your home is most difficult to keep organized? Comment below!

Professional Disclaimer: The ideas, recommendations, and opinions on this website, blog, and made in person are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered legal, financial, or medical advice. I am not an attorney, doctor, or licensed financial professional. Sage Organizing Co., LLC is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to the content of this website, blog, or in-person discussions. If you need specific legal, financial, or medical advice, consult a professional in your area.

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This holiday season, instead of giving “stuff” to your loved ones, gift them with experiences they will love. Not only are experiences more memorable, but doing things instead of buying things will reduce the amount of clutter in your life and home. ​

• Kids: Children's theater tickets, zoo membership, aquarium membership, science museum tickets.
• Teens: YMCA or local gym membership, movie passes for local theater, ice skating passes or membership to a rink, batting cages and go karts tickets, concert tickets.
• Adults: Pro or minor league sports tickets, local theater company subscription, museum membership, broadway show ticket package. 

• ​Kids: Ballet, dance or gymnastics classes, art lessons, horseback riding lessons, cooking classes, swimming lessons.  
• Teens: Surfing lessons, snowboarding class, private lessons for a sport or hobby.
• Adults: Paint and Sip classes, crafting workshops, cooking classes or in-home chef, MasterClass, yoga classes, dance lessons, wine tastings class, flower arranging lessons.
• Hint: Groupon and Living Social are great places to find discounted classes and trips.

Related Articles

• Declutter, Donate and Deduct
• Post-Holiday Organizing: Detox + Declutter Your Home After the Holidays​
• 5 Steps to Get Rid of Sentimental Clutter​
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• ​​Kids: Great Wolf Lodge, amusement park trip, ski trip, beach trip, Washington DC.
• Teens: bring one friend on a  weekend away at beach, mountains, city.
• Adults: Fun local day trip and tour ( like Biltmore House, Charleston, or Savannah in the Southeast), unusual tour in vacation destination (dolphin tour, ghost tour, foodie walking tour, etc.), wine country, big festival like Jazz Fest, Taste of Chicago, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,etc.

• Kids: pay for summer camp,  buy a musical instrument and lessons, pay for a session of classes or a sport (e.g. soccer or football season).
• Teens: Trip overseas, pay for a year of school fees, books for college, or even a year of college.
• Adults: Monthly cleaning service, weekly meal delivery service , pay for a family photo shoot and the prints, purchase a season of opera tickets, monthly flower delivery.

*Hot air balloon ride
*Helicopter tour (or airboat, tractor, train etc)
*A year of date nights (12 gift cards to restaurants, movies, sporting events, museums, etc)
*Skydiving
*Sailing or boating tour
*Massage and or facial
*Subscription boxes

Professional Disclaimer: The ideas, recommendations, and opinions on this website, blog, and made in person are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered legal, financial, or medical advice. I am not an attorney, doctor, or licensed financial professional. Sage Organizing Co., LLC is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to the content of this website, blog, or in-person discussions. If you need specific legal, financial, or medical advice, consult a professional in your area.

Using these great ideas of how to give the gift of experience, you are sure to be popular this holiday season. 

If you want to stage your home so it sells in a flash,  93% of Realtors highly recommend that you declutter and organize the house first.  Having a house that potential buyers can imagine themselves living in takes some work, but it pays off in higher sale prices and shorter time on market. 

In this article, we'll be sharing ideas for organizing and staging the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen, so you you can sell you house faster.  AreaReal Estate professional Leigh Bryant, of The Temple Team at Keller Williams, will also share some of the tricks of the trade with our readers. 

Source: ​National Association of Realtors 2017 Profile of Home Staging

1. Paint your walls a neutral color​​: now is NOT the time to show your personality through color. Potential buyers want to be able to envision themselves living in the home; it's tough if they are distracted by blazing lime green walls. Freshen the space up with a new coat of a soothing, neutral color. 
2. DECLUTTER: this is the number one piece of advice Realtors give to their sellers. Warning: Do NOT "hide" the excess clutter in closets....buyers look in closets, too.  Remove excess clutter, box it up and put into storage.  
3. Help buyers imagine living there. Create "cozy" vignettes, like a quiet reading nook in the corner. 

Pro tip from Real Estate professional Leigh Bryant of The Temple Team at Keller Williams: The day the house is photographed for the online listing is the most important day of the selling process. The house should be perfectly staged for photos: those pictures are what cause buyers to want to visit your home...or not. 

1. Remove all personal items.  Yes: even your wedding photos, photos of your children, and any religious icons.  Same goes for any clothing, personal care items (like perfume bottles), and artwork.  There should be no evidence of the people that live in the home. 
2. Stage the closets, too.  Buyers are always thinking about storage space; show case the available space in the closets. Real Estate professional Leigh Bryant suggests that clients "channel  Martha Stewart" whenorganizing their closets before photographs and showings. A good suggestion is to have the closets 50% empty.  
3. Make the room calming and spa-like.  The room should be well-lit, be spotlessly clean, and smells pleasing.  Creating vignettes, like a reading area or a window seat, helps the buyers envision how they would use the space. 

Pro Tip from Professional Organizer Candi Ruppert of Sage Organizing Co.: to make your closet appear larger, use hangers of the same color throughout the whole closet. Organize the shortest garments at the front of the closet and the longer items toward the back. 

Related Articles:

• How to Sort Like a Pro: Advice from a Professional Organizer
• Declutter, Donate, and Deduct

• 4 Kitchen Organizing Secrets That Will Blow Your Mind

1. Pay special attention to decluttering and organizing the cabinets and drawers.  Home buyers can and will look inside your cabinets to assess the storage space. Cabinets and drawers should be 50% empty, clean and look like a Crate and Barrel display. Box up and put your excess kitchen items in storage. 
2. Only leave 2 appliances on the counter-top, at the most.  A coffee-maker is acceptable, but make every effort to not have anything else on the counter. Your counters should be clean, empty, and showcase the space.
3. Create a pretty scene at the sink.  Your sink should be spotlessly clean and smell like heaven (run lemons through the disposal if odor is an issue). Have a pretty dishtowel, some fancy dish soap and a new washcloth/sponge laid out. 

Pro Tip from Real Estate Professional Leigh Bryant: Don't let the decision of whether to hire a staging expert come down to money. 90% of the time, the cost of hiring a stager is recouped in a higher sale price or shorter time on market. 

Professional Disclaimer: The ideas, recommendations, and opinions on this website, blog, and made in person are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered legal, financial, or medical advice. I am not an attorney, doctor, or licensed financial professional. Sage Organizing Co., LLC is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to the content of this website, blog, or in-person discussions. If you need specific legal, financial, or medical advice, consult a professional in your area.

Related Articles:

• 6 Things to Not Bother Collecting Anymore (and How to Tell What IS Worth Holding Onto)
• How to Sort Like a Pro: Advice from a Professional Organizer
• Hoarder, Pack-rat, or Just Messy: 3 Ways to Tell the Difference

Using these 9 tips and ideas will help you beautifully stage your home so it sells in a flash!

Whether you are moving and unpacking a kitchen, or just want to reorganize, your mind will be blown by  these 4 kitchen organizing secrets.! ​

The most efficient way to set up your kitchen is to have “zones” for each function of the room.  Take into consideration where you want things located, what will go there, and why it makes sense.

Ideas for kitchen work zones:
Dishwasher and Sink
What: Cleaning products, dish towels, everyday plates, bowls, silverware and glasses.
Why: Keep items closest to where they are most frequently used.  Choose cabinets, shelves, and drawers near the dishwasher to make unloading efficient and easy.
Cooking and Stove
What: Pots, pans, bake ware, and cooking utensils, and frequently used spices/oils.
Why: Reduce the movement needed when cooking hot foods. Choose deep cabinets for pots and pans.  Store bake ware near oven.
Food Prep Zone
What: Cutting boards, mixing bowls, Tupperware, knife block, often-used counter top appliances.
Why: Keep everything you need to prep your meals within arms reach. Keep appliances that are used daily on the counter top; everything else should be stored in cupboards and drawers
Food Storage Zone
What: Shelf stable foods and food wraps.  Usually stored on pantry shelves.
Why: Keeping all food in the same area allows you to see when you’re out or running low. Organize foods by category (e.g. all baking items together, all canned goods, snacks, etc.)

The Rest
What: Everything else should be filled in in the remaining available spaces.
Why: All the often-used items have been put away.  Now put the rest away in the high, low and tough-to-get to spots.

There is only so much counter space to go around, so items have to “earn” their spot.

For example, if you’re a daily coffee drinker, your coffeemaker should be on the counter top.  (Pro tip: store your coffee mugs, coffee, and filters in the cabinet directly above the coffee maker for easy access). Same thing goes for a toaster: if you enjoy toast daily, leave the toaster on the counter top and store the butter dish in the cabinet above it.

The counters around the kitchen sink deserve some counter space, since many items are used all day long.  Dish soap, hand soap, and paper towels all belong right next to the sink. Keeping neatly folded dish towels in a small basket near the sink is another option.

Be honest with how often you really use small appliances.  Just because you make a panini once a month does not warrant a space on the counter for the Breville. If you make smoothies only on the weekend, do not leave the blender on the counter all week. Store your lesser-used appliances in cabinets and pantry shelves. ​

Related Articles:
How to Sort Like a Pro: Advice from a Professional Organizer
Declutter, Donate, and Deduct
Hoarder, Pack-rat, or Just Messy: 3 Ways to Tell the Difference
How to Beautifully Stage Your Home So it Sells in a Flash

The kitchen becomes a dumping ground for nearly everything.  Rather than fight it (and lose), allow yourself one “junk drawer”.  Caution: do not let it get out of hand.  Purchase small drawer organizers to keep like items together.

Frequently used “junk drawer” items ideas:

• Stamps
• Pens, pencils, rubber bands, paper clips and twist ties
• Batteries
• Notepads and post-its
• Gum, mints, and ChapStik
• Scissors and tape
• Chargers and earbuds
• Loose change
• Birthday candles and matches
• Small hand tools, nails and screws
• Flashlights

Probably the best advice, and the hardest for people to follow, is to eliminate duplicate items when organizing or unpacking a kitchen. Chances are that you only use one set of silverware, one set of everyday dishes, and the same few drinking glasses daily.  

What about items that are used once a year (e.g. only pulled out at Thanksgiving)?  Ask yourself if you really use the item...or just used it once and not-so-much anymore.  Be ruthless!

Have more than one actively-used set of these items?  Consider boxing it up and donating to a good local charity.

• Kitchen utensils (e.g. spatulas, old paring knives, corkscrews)
• Glassware and coffee mugs.
• Tupperware and disposable plastic ware
• Pots and pans
• Old appliances that have have been replaced (e.g. your old 1980’s crock pot with the flowers on it).

Related Articles:
6 Things to Not Bother Collecting Anymore (and How to Tell What IS Worth Holding Onto)
How to Sort Like a Pro: Advice from a Professional Organizer

It's easy to organize your kitchen while you unpack by using these 4 secrets.  

​What's your favorite kitchen organization tip?

Professional Disclaimer: The ideas, recommendations, and opinions on this website, blog, and made in person are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered legal, financial, or medical advice. I am not an attorney, doctor, or licensed financial professional. Sage Organizing Co., LLC is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to the content of this website, blog, or in-person discussions. If you need specific legal, financial, or medical advice, consult a professional in your area.