Organizing Guides

Most organizing advice starts with buying something. We think it starts with looking at what is actually going wrong in the room, because the right box for the wrong problem just moves the mess somewhere else.

The order we would do it in

1. Empty the space, not the room

Take everything out of one drawer, one shelf, or one cupboard. Not the whole kitchen. A single surface finished properly beats four started and abandoned.

2. Sort into three piles

Keep here, keep elsewhere, and let go. The middle pile is the one people skip, and it is usually the biggest. Half of what clutters a room belongs somewhere else in the house.

3. Measure before you buy

Depth is what catches people out. A shelf that is 11 inches deep will not take a 12 inch basket, and a drawer with a lip at the front is shallower than it looks. Measure the inside, not the outside.

4. Put the everyday things at hand height

Between your hip and your shoulder is the easiest space to reach. Whatever you use daily lives there. Seasonal and spare things go high or low.

5. Give everything one home

A thing with two possible homes ends up on the counter. Decide once, and keep the decision.

Guides by room

• Small Space Ideas, for flats, shared rooms and anywhere short on floor space.
• Pantry Planning, for kitchen cupboards, shelves and the food that never stacks.
• Closet Planning, for wardrobes, drawers and the things that never stay folded.

One last thing

Tidy is not a state you reach and keep. It is something a room makes easy or hard. The aim is a room where putting things away takes less effort than leaving them out.

If you are not sure where to start, tell us the room and what is not working, and we will point you at what would help.