If you’re dealing with clutter, “THIS” is probably not happening.

What’s THIS?  A designated home for each item.

And not just any home, but a SMART home. Why so important? Because chances are, items that don’t have smart homes will turn into CLUTTER!

Keep clutter at bay with these four tips:

Four keys to SMART homes when organizing any space – at home OR work:

1. Thoughtfully Grouped

Create zones in your space (whether it’s your pantry or closet or your workspace or digital filing system) and set up categories within each zone.

This is a client’s pantry I’m in the process of organizing now that her kitchen remodel is almost complete. I’m creating zones (breakfast, dinner, snacks, canned goods, baking, etc.) and then categories within each (e.g., Dinner zone has these categories: pasta, rice, quinoa, Thai, Mexican, etc.) Do this BEFORE the styling part!

2. Well Contained

Place grouped items in container of some kind whenever possible. This keeps category borders well defined and makes your newly organized space easier to maintain. Not to mention, it’ll make it look better!

If you have too much in a category, you either need to get a bigger home / container or pare down that category.

Using containers of some kind is important part of the organizing process. Once you’ve categorized (purging if necessary!), utilizing containers like @simplyorganized did here KEEPS those newly sorted categories in order.

3. Well Known

Everyone who uses the item should know where to find it. BONUS: This gives them no excuse to not put it back when finished with it!

TIP:  Use labels to clearly mark what goes where. I’ll often use labels for things that just pertains just to me. To not even have to think about where something is saves not only time but cognitive energy. And I’ll take as much of both as I can get!

Think of having a friend come over to cook a meal. Would they have to ask, “Where’s this?” and “Where’s that?” Or would they be able to find what they needed just by opening the pantry or cabinets. Even though we’re familiar with our on pantries (closets, papers, etc.), being able to seamlessly find what we need, when we need it is invaluable.

4. Easily Accessible

If an item is hard to get to, it’ll be hard to put back. Which means that it’ll probably sit there until later. Before you know it those “I’ll put away later” items turn into piles of clutter.

TIPS:  Utilize prime real estate for items you use most often. And even those items that are used only on occasion, make sure their homes are easy to locate and well contained (vs. stuffed into too small of a space, for example).

Set up items used daily in an easy to get to place. Love this smoothie station from gracefulorder.com. The minutes saved each day with this smooth set up add up!

When you get into the habit of designating smart homes for your things, you’ll notice your environment is not only neater looking, it’s so much easier to maintain. Not to mention, being able to find what you need when you need it is priceless!