There’s a certain art to creating a flawlessly organized home. Not only is organization more visually appealing, but a study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin shows that homeowners who described their homes as “cluttered” or full of unfinished projects were more depressed, fatigued, and had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol than homeowners who felt their homes were “restful” and “restorative.”

 

In order to keep the flow of the home (and \ mind!) at peace, the first thing the homeowner should do is define the problems that they are trying to solve. Do they want to better utilize an extra bedroom? Does it take a really long time to find things in the garage? Is the pantry a complete eye-sore? If it’s a new house, what were some of the common problems in your last home? Once they know the problem, they can begin to plan the solution from there.

 

Below are three suggestions to share with homeowner to help them create a happy and organized home:

1) Think about where you spend the most time 

Finding a place to start can be overwhelming – in order to narrow down the biggest problem areas in your home, consider where you spend the most time. If getting ready in the morning has become a hassle, revamp your closet first. If you often cook large meals, get that pantry in order. If it’s necessary to park your cars in the garage in the winter, make sure there’s enough room! Eliminate your biggest headaches first before moving on to your next project.

 

2) Understand how to transform the space you have

Even the smallest closet and storage area can be transformed into a highly functional organizational space. Strategically placed shelving, glass door cabinets and pull out drawers can allow you to store and see all of your essentials.

 

Every storage area has its own unique purpose and, therefore, needs its own unique assets in order to be valuable to you. Make sure that your pantry has plenty of visible shelving and clear cabinets and that your closet has multiple levels of hanging rods and vertical shelving. Your mudroom should be equipped with shoe storage, hooks and individual baskets, and your laundry room should have enough high shelving and bins to keep detergents out of little hands’ reach and everyone’s clothes separated.

 

Also, be sure to keep in mind that every organizational space can benefit from a touch of personalization. Giving kids their own baskets, bins and shelves not only gives them a place to store their own items, but can teach them how to stay organized and helps keep your home mess-free.

 

3) Create synergy and flow with your organizational systems 

Knowing what assets are essential to each space is a great first step – understanding how to put them together in order to create areas that come together flawlessly is the key to well-designed, purposeful organization.

 

It is important for homeowner to stay updated on design trends for various areas of the house or consult a local designer/installer for their expert insight into how to make the home work for them. Additionally, it can be useful for them to make a list of what exactly they use each storage area for in order to choose the assets that will be most beneficial for their needs. It can tempting to install an island or sitting bench in the closet, but will be a waste of space if they never use it. Figure out what will be the most useful for organizing their personal items and find the best way to do so efficiently.  

 

Keeping their home, and sanity in check will help them alleviate stress and will give their home the boost its needs to stay clean, orderly and clutter-free.