How to properly organise storage in a large family home?
Being a part of a growing family is one of life’s greatest blessings, but it’s not without its challenges and obstacles. While there is no shortage of daily fun and joy with your loved ones, keeping a large family home operating smoothly on a day-to-day basis without losing your mind is kind of like managing a constantly booked hotel – it requires plenty of skill, patience and strategic thinking.
Because when kids become a part of your story, something is bound to slip through the cracks, and it’s usually the issue of storage space. No matter how much you pick up after yourself and your family members, there never seems to be enough space to accommodate all of your needs. Here to help you properly organise storage in your home are the room-by-room decluttering tips every family should follow.
Organising your bedroom
The truth is, there is probably enough space in your home, and there is no reason to introduce new storage units in essential rooms in the house, save for the garage, basement and attic, which we will discuss later on. The key is to keep it simple and organised by decluttering thoroughly on a weekly basis. So what does this mean, exactly?
First off, understand that a bedroom serves many a purpose other than being a place to sleep – it’s also a place where you should rest your mind, body and soul, an oasis unburdened by the stress of the outside world. As such, it shouldn’t be cluttered with too much furniture or clothes.
Start by decluttering your drawers. Take everything out and ask yourself: does it belong in the bedroom, and do I need it? Next, you want to keep flat surfaces clean and clear of clutter, so refrain from layering on the bedside tables. On a daily basis, take the time to put your clothes away in the closet instead of leaving it on the chair or the corner of the bed.
Decluttering your living room
More than any other room in the house, the living room tends to become a war zone when you have children running around, playing, leaving toys behind them and making a mess. Bless their hearts, they should have their fun, but at some point, the living room starts to lose its purpose if it’s constantly cluttered and disorganised. The purpose of the living room is the offer a space where everyone can unwind, relax and enjoy quality time together.
So your first order of business is to enforce a strict “don’t leave stuff lying about” policy every family member (even the dog) will abide by. Then, you want to turn frequent decluttering into a routine and put everything that might have wandered into the living room back in its place. Keep the decor line simple and organised and use floating shelves to remove layers of clutter from the table tops.
Utilising basement and garage storage
So how do you keep clutter from accumulating in the essential rooms of the house? Simple, by utilizing the storage potential of your ancillary spaces! Your basement, garage and attic are all excellent choices for storing large quantities of, well, everything from seasonal clothing and various tools, to preserves.
But you don’t want to just stuff these spaces without organising them first, so use adaptable shelving to your advantage in order to maximise storage space and keep everything neatly packed, stowed away and organised. Take the entire concept one step further by labelling all shelves and storage units to make items easy to find at a moment’s notice.
Keeping the kitchen clutter-free
The kitchen is arguably one of busiest rooms in the entire household. As such, it can prove darn near impossible to keep clean, decluttered and organised. Like it’s not enough that all of your kitchen essentials from appliances to utensils and cookware are cluttering the space as it is, but you also have to deal with clothes, toys, school backpacks and what not draping from the sides of chairs and the kitchen island.
The first thing you want to do to keep your kitchen organised is to divide it into zones. You want to define your cooking zone where nothing but cookware is to be kept, then you need to organise your seldom-used accessories and supplies in the pantry and on the floating shelves away from the main traffic areas in the room. Finally, be sure to give your cleaning supplies, storage and garbage bags, as well as similar items their own space under the sink.
Tidying up the kids’ room
Last but not least, there is a need to organise the kids’ room in order to avoid losing a kid or two for a couple of days in all the clutter. The key to keep your kids’ room(s) neat and tidy lies in, again, setting up some ground rules for your little munchkins to follow.
Let them develop the habit of keeping the place tidy by putting everything back where it belongs, and refrain from buying new stuff until your kids really need it. What’s more, instead of pilling up toys on top of other toys, let your kids decide which ones they would like to donate to other children in exchange for a new one. That way, you can keep the room clutter-free and instil positive habits in their little hearts and minds.
Keeping a large family home clean, organised and clutter-free is no walk in the park, and it does involve planning, strategizing and constant work. However, if you follow these steps and implement several prudent solutions, you will have no problem keeping the place neat and tidy for years to come.
Author BIO
If one thing is true about Lillian Connors, her mind is utterly curious. That’s why she can’t resist the urge to embark on a myriad of green living/home improvement projects and spread the word about them. She cherishes the notion that sustainable housing and gardening will not only make us far less dependent on others regarding the dwellings we inhabit, but also contribute to our planet being a better place to live on. You can check her out LinkedIn.