• Mortgages
    Compare Lenders
    • Mortgage rates
    • Refinance rates
    • Mortgage lender reviews
    Use Calculators
    • Mortgage calculator
    • How much house can you afford?
    • Mortgage refinance calculator
    • Mortgage payment calculator
    • Amortization calculator
    • All mortgage calculators
    Get Advice
    • Reverse mortgages
    • Home buying guide
    • Refinance your mortgage
    • First-time homebuyer tips
    • FHA loans
  • Banking
    Compare Accounts
    • CD rates
    • No Penalty CD
    • Savings accounts
    • Money market accounts
    • Checking accounts
    • Bank ratings
    Use Calculators
    • Savings calculator
    • CD calculator
    • Compound savings calculator
    • All banking calculators
    Get Advice
    • How to save money
    • Federal Reserve news
    • What is a money market account?
    • Which certificate of deposit account is best?
    • How to open a savings account
    • Credit union basics
    Bank Reviews
    • Capital One Bank
    • Marcus by Goldman Sachs
    • American Express National Bank
    • CIT Bank
    • Synchrony Bank
    • Barclays Bank
  • Credit Cards
    Compare by Category
    • Best Credit Cards of 2019
    • Rewards
    • Travel
    • Airline
    • Cash Back
    • No Annual Fee
    • Balance Transfer
    • 0% APR
    • Business
    • Student
    Compare by Credit Needed
    • Excellent Credit
    • Good Credit
    • Fair Credit
    • Bad Credit
    • No Credit History
    • Secured Credit Cards
    Compare by Issuer
    • American Express
    • Bank of America
    • Capital One
    • Chase
    • Citi
    • Discover
    • Wells Fargo
    Get Advice
    • Credit Card Reviews
    • Credit Card Payoff Calculator
    • Balance Transfer Calculator
    • All Credit Card Calculators
  • Loans
    Compare Lenders
    • Personal loan rates
    • Auto loan rates
    Loan Types
    • Personal loans
    • Auto loans
    • Debt consolidation loans
    • Home improvement loans
    • Student loans
    • Medical loans
    • Bad credit loans
    Use Calculators
    • Loan calculator
    • Auto loan calculator
    • Personal loan calculator
    • Auto refinance calculator
    • Loan payment calculator
    • Student loan calculator
    • All calculators
    Get Advice
    • Student loans guide
    • Refinancing student loans
    • Refinancing personal loans
    • Refinancing auto loans
    • How to get a personal loan
    • Personal loan origination fees
  • Investing
    Compare
    • IRA CD rates
    • Brokerage accounts
    • Brokerage reviews
    Use Calculators
    • Investment calculator
    • Annuity calculator
    • 401(K) calculator
    • Roth IRA calculator
    • All retirement calculators
    • All investing calculators
    Brokerage Reviews
    • WellsTrade Review
    • Robinhood Review
    • Merrill Edge Review
    • Vanguard Review
    • Fidelity Review
    • E*Trade Review
    Get Advice
    • Creating passive income
    • Mutual fund vs. ETF
    • Roth IRA vs. traditional IRA
    • What type of CD is best?
    • IRA basics
  • Home Equity
    Compare Lenders
    • Home equity loan rates
    Use Calculators
    • Should you borrow from Home Equity
    • HELOC Calculator
    • Debt consolidation calculator
    • HELOC payoff calculator
    • All home equity calculators
    Get Advice
    • What is a home equity loan?
    • HELOC vs. Home equity loan
    • Consolidate your debt using home equity
    • Home equity loans with bad credit
  • Personal Finance
    Compare
    • Current interest rates
    • Compare rates
    Use Calculators
    • Debt consolidation calculator
    • Net worth calculator
    • Personal finance calculators
    • Cost of living calculator
    • All calculators
    Get Advice
    • Retirement advice
    • Debt management
    • Improve your credit score
    • Career resources
    • Tax advice
    • Insurance basics
    • Real estate tips
    • Personal finance glossary
  • Free credit report
  • Sign In
  • Dashboard
  • Full Credit Report
  • Alerts
  • Settings
  • Support
  • Logout
Share

6 tips to organize home in the new year

Dana Dratch
November 18, 2014  in  Smart Money

1 of 7

Get organized in the New Year © Elena Elisseeva/Shutterstock.com
Get organized in the new year

Top on everyone’s list in the new year: Get organized.

But a carload of organizational supplies can be pricey. And those professional closet-and-garage organizers don’t come cheap.

Luckily, you can pull it together yourself without spending a bundle. The trick: Maximize your efforts by setting up a house that’s designed for how you truly live. Not how you wish you lived.

From here on out, when you do buy something new, evaluate how it serves your new, organized life. And keep an eye out for items that do double duty by adding a little extra storage, in addition to their main purpose.

Here are six tips from pros who know how to make organization easy and beautiful without spending a fortune.

More On Getting Organized:

  • Organize your financial paperwork
  • How to organize credit card debt
  • Organize clutter in your financial life
The Bankrate Daily

2 of 7

Organize for ease © Mihail Zhelezniak/Shutterstock.com
Organize for ease

One secret to organization: The things you reach for regularly should be easy to grab, says Christopher Lowell, designer and author of “Christopher Lowell’s Seven Layers of Organization.” “The things you use every day should be at arm’s length, the things you use once in a while should be harder to get to, and things you use once a year should require a ladder.”

Don’t have enough arm’s-length storage? “One of the best ways to add storage is take a small wall and do shelves floor to ceiling,” Lowell says.

Paint them the same color as the wall,” he says. “They’ll completely disappear.”

A carpenter can do them fairly cheaply, he says. Or you can do it yourself, using supplies from a hardware or organizational supply store, Lowell says.

Another trick: Harness wasted space. For a small bathroom that “never had enough space,” Lowell installed shelves 15 inches from the ceiling all the way around the room.

He lined them with wicker baskets that hold supplies, linens and extra towels. “It’s a nice look and gives a spa feeling,” he says.

More On Getting Organized:

  • Organize your financial paperwork
  • How to organize credit card debt
  • Organize clutter in your financial life

3 of 7

Double up on tools and supplies © Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com
Double up on tools and supplies

Want to raise the chances you’ll actually clean a bedroom or bathroom regularly? Keep a second set of cleaning supplies handy in the room itself, says Kerrie Kelly, author of “Home Decor” and owner of the Kerrie Kelly Design Lab in Northern California.  

If you have kids or pets, you can opt for a high spot or a locked cabinet.

Put everything together in an easy-to-grab container, like a bucket or tray, she says. Making it easy and convenient increases the chances you (and other family members) will clean, she adds.

Another smart move in a multistory home: a vacuum cleaner for each floor. No more lugging machines up and down stairs every time you vacuum.

Tired of searching for scissors, or running into another room for tape? Pick up duplicates of these types of items and “keep them where you use them,” Lowell says. “It’s OK to have duplicate things strategically placed around the house.”

More On Getting Organized:

  • Organize your financial paperwork
  • How to organize credit card debt
  • Organize clutter in your financial life

4 of 7

Bedroom closets: The 'boutique' approach © Iriana Shiyan/Shutterstock.com
Bedroom closets: The ’boutique’ approach

When it comes to clearing out closets, you have to be cruel to be kind.

Start by getting rid of the clothes you don’t wear. Out of style, wrong size, needs repair? Out.

Get plenty of room for clothes that you wear frequently. You’ll save time dressing and ironing — and you’ll save money on laundry and dry cleaning.

Now “it’s time to organize what’s left,” Kelly says.

  • “Take a tip from posh clothing boutiques: Put favorite outfits on a single hanger” so you can grab and go, she says.
  • Put out-of-season clothes out of sight. (A different closet, or packed in boxes on upper shelves, etc.)
  • Use a jewelry drawer to corral small accessories (jewelry, scarves, etc.), she says. Men can use one for cufflinks, tie pins and pocket squares.
  • Organize shoes with a low shelf (flat or angled) or a shoe tree, she recommends.

More On Getting Organized:

  • Organize your financial paperwork
  • How to organize credit card debt
  • Organize clutter in your financial life

5 of 7

The secret to a neat garage: Storage © trekandshoot/Shutterstock.com
The secret to a neat garage: Storage

Want a high-priced look for the cost of a couple of cans of paint?

You can use old furniture or flea market finds to organize your garage. Dressers with drawers offer great storage for tools, spare cords and hardware. And picnic tables or long folding tables provide workspace or extra places to stack and store.

The secret to making it look pulled together: Paint all your discount finds the same color, says Michael Hydeck, owner of Hydeck Design Build Inc. near Philadelphia, and past president of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. You get a neat, unified look that won’t empty your wallet.

Looking to add extra space to garages or closets?

Supplement closets with shelving systems, available at home or organizational supply stores, Hydeck says. “You can buy the kits they have or combine them,” he says.

You can make it as simple or fancy as you want, he says. “The biggest thing is have a place for everything.”

Want to add space for free anywhere in the house? “When you bring something in, you have to throw something out,” says Hydeck. “If you don’t, you start accumulating stuff.”

More On Getting Organized:

  • Organize your financial paperwork
  • How to organize credit card debt
  • Organize clutter in your financial life

6 of 7

Purge, purge, purge © Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com
Purge, purge, purge

Get rid of the damaged, chipped and outdated stuff, Lowell says. If it’s waiting for repairs or a tailor to take it out or in, it goes.

“Any time a tailor touches that garment, it’s $4 to $13 for every single thing,” he says. “You may be able to go to the Gap and get that shirt for less.”

Plans to fix that broken whatever-it-is? Calculate what that time would cost at your present salary, he says. “Then decide whether or not it’s worth it.”

Six down-and-dirty tips for day-to-day organization:

  • “Go paperless as much as you possibly can,” Lowell says.
  • For mail: Put a tray, bowl or basket on a foyer table or by the bed for mail. “Once a week, it needs to be purged,” he says.
  • For kitchens: “If you can’t build out, build up,” he says. In a tight pantry, double-decker spinners “will allow you to use that entire cupboard. Seeing what you already have also saves money at the store.
  • Inexpensive drawer organizers “will save your life,” Lowell says.
  • Or use trim material, cut to fit, says Hydeck.
  • Have favorite tools you reach for every time? Get rid of the duplicates, he advises.

More On Getting Organized:

  • Organize your financial paperwork
  • How to organize credit card debt
  • Organize clutter in your financial life

7 of 7

Make furniture and rooms serve you © photobank.ch/Shutterstock.com
Make furniture and rooms serve you

Selecting new items? Look for pieces that fit your needs and also add some storage space, Kelly says.

A trunk serves as a coffee table or end-of-the-bed bench, while adding a “closet” for blankets, clothes or other supplies. Window seats with cupboards or dining banquets with drawers are popular choices, she says.

You can also repurpose old pieces you already own. A dining room hutch becomes a bookshelf. “Give it a fresh coat of paint and change out the hardware and it could look great in an office or another part of the home,” she says.

Another hot item for storing and organizing supplies: bar carts, which run the gamut in price, she says.

Design your home around your life, not the other way around, says Lowell. That means an unused formal dining room can become a library, Internet cafe or playroom, he says.

“As you become aware of what you use, you realize there is so much space in your house,” Lowell says. “Don’t be afraid to reassign conventional formal space to something else.”

More On Getting Organized:

  • Organize your financial paperwork
  • How to organize credit card debt
  • Organize clutter in your financial life

You may also like

  • The 10 best and real work-at-home jobs

  • 7 legal ways to make money with your body

  • Capital gains tax on real estate

  • States with no income tax: Better or worse to live there?

  • 7 things that could turn off homebuyers

  • 5 dirt-cheap home-staging ideas

Related Articles

  • Should you purchase an extended warranty?

  • 9 cash-saving tips that pay big bucks

  • Cloud computing: A threat to your money?

  • 10 ways to save money on your utility bill

  • Savings challenge: Are cheap home security measures a safe bet?

  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Affiliate Center
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Advertise With Us
  • Latest News
  • Popular Topics
  • Glossary
  • Compare Rates
  • Bank Reviews
  • Understand Bankrate's Averages
  • Privacy Policy / Your California Privacy Rights
  • Terms of Use
  • GLBA Annual Notice
  • Licenses
  • Sitemap
How we make money

Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. Bankrate is compensated in exchange for featured placement of sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. This compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear. Bankrate.com does not include all companies or all available products.

Maximize Your Money. Get Expert Advice & Tools. Master Life's Financial Journey.

You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for four decades.

Our tools, rates and advice help no matter where you are on life’s financial journey.

Follow Us

© 2019 Bankrate, LLC All Rights Reserved.

United States United Kingdom