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One of the cheapest yet most effective ways to give your home a new lease on life is to declutter. You can do this by creating a DIY organizer or other creative storage solutions. They will keep everything within reach in an organized, fashionable manner.
Here we take a look at some of our favorite projects that help keep clutter at bay.
PLUS, they give you a chance to broaden your DIY skills and get creative in the process 😉
First – Get Rid of Things You Don’t Use!
The success of shows like Netflix’s Tidying Up with Marie Kondo is perhaps a testament to our desire to get rid of all the unnecessary stuff accumulated over the years. Most of us only have a certain amount of space available. No matter how cleverly you pack things away, continuing to add to your junk can’t go on forever.
Tip: If you battle to throw away items that have sentimental value, taking some pictures to keep as a memento instead might be helpful.
If something is useful, but you never actually use it, then there’s no point keeping it around when it could be sold or given to someone who actually will! Appliances –especially things like kitchen gadgets – are a prime candidate.
Holding onto a bread maker when you never bake bread, or a fancy coffee machine that you never use because you only have your first cup at the office, for example, is quite literally a waste of space.
Be honest with yourself – if you haven’t used it in the past six months, you’re never going to use it. Turn it into cash that you can put away into savings for future home improvements.
Just don’t use it to buy more stuff, okay? Unless it’s something, you really need 😉
If you have broken or damaged appliances lying around, commit to getting an appliance repairs expert to fix them once and for all, or make sure they’re recycled appropriately if they can’t be saved.
With that out the way, let’s dive into the projects!
Install a DIY Organizer Pegboard
You bought the best portable workbench out there, you don’t need it cluttered up with junk.
Placed above your workbench or desk, pegboards are a great DIY organizer to keep clutter off your work surface. Best of all, you can customize your storage to your heart’s content!
They’re also great for children’s rooms or the places where you do arts and crafts together. It’s easy (and even fun!) to see at a glance where something needs to be put away. You can then make tidying up time a game for your kiddos. Score!
You can buy a ready-made pegboard and hang it if you’re covering a large space, or make one entirely from scratch if you’re feeling more ambitious!
Remember they’re so simple to paint too. Good old spray paint will do so you can easily match them up with your existing décor.
Repurposing a Shoe Hanger is an Easy DIY Organizer
We owe Jessie Harding, inventor of the humble shoe hanger, a big thank you! Installed behind a door, they’re an excellent solution for all those things that generally take up oodles of space.
From spices in the kitchen to cleaning supplies in the laundry room, they’re one of the simplest DIY hacks. Even suitable for complete beginners!
If you’re handy with sewing (or want to learn!), then you can even sew your own from scratch – with the bonus that you’ll get a chance to use up all those bits and bobs of old fabric.
Shelves Can be Vertical too!
Whether it’s baking sheets in the kitchen, poster board in your studio, CDs in the living room, toilet paper in the bathroom, or even sheets in the linen closet, sometimes vertical dividers make a lot more sense than horizontal shelves.
If you find you’re always having to dig items out from underneath their mates in a cabinet -ruining all your previous organization efforts in the process- it’s usually a good indication that DIY organizer vertical dividers would work better.
Keep the Momentum Going
Decluttering is not just a ‘do it once and forget about it’ exercise. You don’t have to tackle the whole house or even an entire room all at once.
Decluttering can take place over the space of weeks – keeping your eye out for areas you could incorporate more storage or items you rarely use.
The great news is that once living a more clutter-free life becomes a habit; the battle is won forever!
Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.
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These are all great ideas. I like the pegboard hack!
Thanks, Dana! Pegboards work wonders in our garage.