Interior Design Tips to Keep Your Home Organized

There’s a delicate balance between designing the home you want and creating something that you can maintain. Being organized and keep your home organized and tidy isn’t just about sweeping and cleaning— it’s about the foundational systems you put in place through smart design strategies.

If you’re revisiting how you design your home to maximize efficiency, try these five designer-recommended tips.

Have a Command Center

Many families fall victim to the flat surface syndrome. When this hits, your family is overwhelmed by the compulsion to drop papers, keys, and other items on the dining table or kitchen counter. This adds to the general chaos of the day and will quickly add to the clutter in your home.

Creating a command center can help maintain pieces of mail and other little things that usually gravitate toward the kitchen counter. Set up a side table or desk near the front door with a bowl for storing keys and a simple mail filing system. Add a small garbage and recycling bin underneath so that the unneeded things get tossed as they come in the door.

Not only will this help keep things to one small area, but it will also prevent those last-minute panic sessions when keys or wallets go amiss.

Use Built-in Shelving

Installing built-in shelving is by far the best way to organize your home. If you have a large picture window in your living room, you can frame it with shelves for functional storage and add a bench for extra seating.

When you use built-in shelving, you can add balance and design features through the use of bins and baskets. Spice up the decor by adding bold wallpaper or an accent color behind the shelves.

Built-in shelving also works well in bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens. If space is really limited, consider installing recessed shelves in an interior wall between studs.

Buy Specific Storage Pieces

Don’t buy bins and baskets because you know you need a few. Instead, start by decluttering your home. Aim to keep things that have a function or sentimental value. Use a junk removal service to take away things that can no longer find a new use. Have in mind that some junk removal services also offer to donate whatever you feel like you no longer need. Instead of dragging out these chores, you can use these services in more than one way to get rid of your home’s clutter. 

After you’ve decluttered, take a look at what’s left and divide it into groups. When that task is complete, then you can go out and purchase specific storage pieces that suit your needs. Consider the space where they’ll be stored and what will be held inside.

Think beyond shelves and consider your bathroom drawer, your utensils, your linen closet, and your garage. Choose one thing to organize and store before moving onto the next batch.

Use Hooks and Fixtures on Blank Walls

There’s a lot of wasted space in homes that can be utilized for extra storage. If you go about it the right way, your storage solutions will look like works of art.

Use hooks and fixtures on walls to store hats, tools, scarves— everything that doesn’t quite fit in a drawer. You can hang pouches to store shoes or wires from which to hang jewelry.

Get creative when thinking of design solutions for wall storage. An antique ladder can adhere to the wall so that you can hang pots and pans in the kitchen. Add magazine racks to store cutting boards inside kitchen cabinets. The options are endless.

Less is More

When designing your home to be more organized, it’s important to remember that less is more. The more things you have in a room, the more things you’ll have to maintain. Having numerous pieces of furniture means more surfaces to collect junk and dust, and more obstacles to clean around.

Create a simple flow with furniture and design elements that make sense for your lifestyle. If you live alone with one other person, having three sofas doesn’t make sense. Take inspiration from the minimalist movement and create simple, eye-catching design schemes.

By using these design tips, you can create a functional home that’s easier to maintain and keep organized. Start by decluttering, then plan methods for organizing the items you need and love.