How to Organize Your Home for Free

Becoming organized at home is a priority for many people. Everywhere you look you find articles and TV shows on organizing your life. Often the organization involves a large amount of very expensive organizational furniture and accessories. This seems to make it difficult for the average person without any extra cash to get their office or laundry room in order. It may take some creative thinking, and it may not be as attractive as what you see in your favorite magazine, but it is possible to get organized using items you already have or items you could easily find at the homes of friends and family.

The first step in any organization project is deciding what area you will organize first. It is best to pick a small area, like your closet or a bookshelf, instead of an entire room, unless of course you can't get to the closet or bookshelf without de-cluttering the room first! Breaking up your organizational projects into smaller projects will make them seem less overwhelming and once you get done with one you will feel more excited about moving on to the next.

The next step in organizing costs little to nothing, and will help organizing your clutter much easier, and that step is getting rid of the clutter you do not need. Go through everything in your closet, bookshelf, or that drawer that seems to be as deep as Mary Poppin's bag, and get rid of what you really do not need. If you haven't used it in over a year then chances are you will never use it. Often this step is free and could even gain you some money if you sell the things you no longer need in a garage sale but if you are cleaning out a large space like a garage with old appliances and such then you may have to make a trip to your local dump which could cost you a bit of cash but will be well worth the space and peace of mind you will get in return!

Before you dump the clutter you don't need go back to your organizational project and look at the clutter you kept. You may have been going to toss all those baskets you got over the years that held gifts from that person who didn't really know what to get you but they could come in handy when you are organizing your project. Baskets can be used for numerous things. A basket on the coffee table could hold all of the remote controls in one place. Line baskets on a shelf in your closet to hold ties, scarves, belts, and even all those flip flops that you need to store until next summer. Baskets can also hold toilet paper or towels in the bathroom and a basket next to the door can hold keys and mail. As you can see baskets have a lot of uses!

Tin cans are also good for storage. This is also a great way to recycle all those cans of fruits and vegetables. Be sure to use an opener that takes the top off without leaving jagged edges and give it a good cleaning. The can is then available for use! Wrap it in pretty paper or fabric and put it on your desk to hold all your ink pens and pencils or check out this page for some very unique ideas on what to do with your tin cans. I especially like the idea of using larger tin cans to hold your spatulas next to the sink.

Another cheap way to organize things are all of those extra shoe boxes. Shoe boxes are not that attractive in themselves but they can be dressed up with paper or fabric. These little boxes are great to hold pictures or craft supplies. Leave the top off and you have a great CD holder that allows you to see and flip through the CD's you have.

Milk crates may bring back fond memories of college but placed on top of each other and hidden in your closet they can hold shoes, purses or even linens.

It is important to look at each thing you store and see how it can be used to store other items. If you have ice coolers then pack inside of them your camping or picnic gear and a fancy box in your living room can hold some yarn and a crochet needle.

There are many ways to organize your home for free. Remember to look at each item in your home and see if it can be used to organize another area, if it cannot then it may be time to let it go. You do not have to spend a lot of money to have a place to put your clutter!