When a new year looms, many see it as a chance for a fresh start. And so, we can generally expect many people in our lives to tell us about their plans to get healthier and follow their dreams.
But it's also pretty common for us to take a new look at our living spaces and feel the need to get them as organized as we want our lives to be. And luckily, these life hacks will make those plans a little easier.
Say No To The "Laundry Chair" And Set Up Racks
When clothing is not necessarily dirty but not overly clean, many people result to something called the "laundry chair," a place to put said clothing they don't want to put away.
Well, say no to the laundry chair this New Year and, instead, set up some hanging racks for those dirty but not-too-dirty clothes.
Use Magnets To Store Smaller Items
If it's unclear what this person did, they hot glued some small magnets to the inside of their cabinet doors to make sure these items stay attached until they're needed.
Just note that you should exercise caution before trying this one if you're renting because the hot glue could affect the finish on the cabinets. Wouldn't want to lose your deposit, right?
Use A Shoe Rack For Something Else Entirely
Instead of searching under the sink for medicines, think about hooking a shoe rack to the back of the door.
To make this even more organized, think about putting headache and cold/flu medicine in the top rows, medicine that deals with the stomach and the rest of the upper body in the middle rows, and the stuff that concerns the lower body in the bottom rows.
A Muffin Tin So No Bolts, Screws, Or Nails Are Misplaced
When putting something together or taking something apart, nails, screws, bolts, and other tiny objects might roll under furniture or get misplaced altogether.
To ensure this doesn't happen, think about utilizing a muffin tin! Each time a screw is taken out, place it in one of the molds, so the tool doesn't roll away. An egg carton also works.
A Pop Tab Keeps Outfits Together
If a person has an outfit that goes together perfectly, have no fear! There is an easy way to keep the articles of clothing together instead of searching through drawers and the closet. As seen here, it involves using soda can tabs to join clothes hangers together and stack articles of clothing while they hang in the closet.
It's also a useful idea if you're finding that a rack is a little too crowded by hangers to grab outfits easily.
Do One Thing At A Time
While many life tips involve repurposing common items to take away some hassles in our lives, others rely a little more on strategic thinking. For example, one person advised against cleaning a house and organizing it simultaneously. These are different jobs, and trying to do them both at once will just make both tasks take longer.
Instead, they suggested cleaning first and then organizing everything that revealed itself during that cleaning session when you're done with that part.
Make A Wire Grid To Store Reusable Water Bottles
If you have a lot of water bottles and tumblers, you've no doubt had to deal with them falling around inside the drawer and getting lost or stuck. Well, one person found that if you create a grid of wire hangers, you can both keep them organized and keep them standing upright, so that doesn't happen.
And believe it or not, this is how many bottles they had after they threw a bunch away. Apparently, this family has a lot of kids.
Toilet Paper Roles Make Great Cable Organizers
As you might notice, this organization hack involves saving your toilet paper rolls for a while.
But once you do, you'll have a way to store your cables in a way that's all but guaranteed not to stress you out when you actually need them. How haven't we been doing this all along?
Never Lose A Pen Again!
It is no secret that pens, lighters, and other small items have a tendency to get lost in a car, especially when a person needs them the most.
Instead of searching underneath the seats, try this hack out for size. All it takes is a bit of stretchy fabric and glue. Once completed, slide items into the holders!
Clip Frozen Food Bags For More Space In The Freezer
If all the frozen foods in our freezer don't leap out when we open the door, they're usually at least a little cumbersome to sift through. And that's why somebody got the fascinating idea to hang them from the rack for much easier access.
It's amazing what you can accomplish with nothing but some simple binder clips sometimes. And we thought whoever started using them to close up chip bags was thinking on the next level.
Repurpose A Broken Rake
When a rake breaks on you, you might want to hold off before you throw it away. That's because it turns out that the head of the rake can be really good for holding up kitchen utensils that you can just grab as you go while you're cooking.
Another person put their rake head to similar use when they were figuring out what to do with their miscellaneous wrenches, so that's another idea for you.
Old Game Cases Make Great Dresser Drawer Dividers
If you're having a tough time keeping different kinds of clothes separate in the same drawer, one gamer has an interesting solution. They put together these old game boxes in place as some clever makeshift dividers. If you're not into video games, any DVDs you don't watch anymore could likely serve the same purpose.
Maybe I'm just biased because Bioshock is one of my favorite games, but I'd personally use some that I didn't care as much about for this purpose.
A Carabiner To Grab Grocery Bags All At Once
It's a hard sentiment to explain, but so many of us feel like we've failed if we can't get all of our groceries in the house in one trip. One might expect us to just swallow our pride when we're juggling all this stuff or when the bags cut off our circulation, but one woman understands that this is just not what people are willing to do.
So instead, she thought of a way to make it easier. If you spend a few bucks on a large carabiner like this, you won't need to settle for two trips again.
Put A Bowl Where You "Automatically" Put Your Keys
For some people, it is muscle memory to place their keys, sunglasses, and even wallets in one location. Sadly, those locations might be a bit cluttered, and those items might get lost in the mix.
To keep things organized, think about putting a small bowl on the counter, designated solely for those "auto-piolet" items.
Think And Plan Before You Unpack
One person shared some advice their father gave them and that's to plan where everything goes in the kitchen carefully when you first move in.
As they put it, "Once you finish unpacking you aren't going to want to reorganize anything, and by the time to do you'll be used to the setup."
Zip-Ties To Organize Wires
Even when they're plugged in, a lot of the cords that power our electronics tend to wander and tangle themselves up in each other. That's always an annoying problem, so that's why one person has held them in place and kept them apart with this handy little hack.
And as you can see, it only takes a few zip ties to save yourself a lot more frustration. It is hard not to admit that some lifehacks are more trouble than the problems they're supposed to solve.
Keep Bed Sets Together
This is not only a handy way to organize your bedding, but it has the added bonus of making it look really satisfying. If you're wondering what you're looking at here, these are pillowcases that have been packed with their own matching sheets.
It may take a little work to set them up like this, but it makes changing sheets a lot easier when all you have to do is basically just reach into the closet and grab a bag of bedding.
Ceiling Organizers For Large Items
A tried-and-true way of dealing with clutter is to put a lot of the stuff that would otherwise sit all over the floor in higher places. In this case, it seems one person had a shed full of pool floats. But after they put this cargo net under their ceiling, all of those floats can just sit tight until it's time to pull one of them down.
Granted, this is only a good idea if you actually have something to reach them with.
Label Leftovers With A Chalk Pen
When we have enough leftovers in one fridge, it can sometimes be a little tricky to remember exactly what meal certain foods came from. And while labeling it could be useful, that's only true either for a couple of days or if you only put the same stuff in that container from now on.
That's why one person decided to invest in a chalk marker like the one you see here. It rubs away when you don't need it, and it helps clear things up when you do. You're welcome.
Put Take-Out Napkins In A Tissue Box
As much as we try not to be wasteful, we can sometimes find that it's hard to find a place for some loose items that came with a fast food meal and didn't get used while we were eating. And while a classic example of this little problem concerns the packets of condiments and sauces we get, we can also sometimes find that the same is true of the extra napkins.
That's why one person saved an empty Kleenex box, thus giving us an opportunity to wait until these napkins are actually needed.
A Hairclip To Keep Wires From Tangling Together
When you get enough people together under one roof for long enough, the time will eventually come when they need to charge their phones. That makes a charging brick like this a huge asset, but it can be a little tough to tell which cord is right for which phone when they come together in a web.
That's why one person had a stroke of inspiration when they noticed their girlfriend's hair clip and came up with a way to keep them all in place.
An Icecube Tray To Organize Sauce Packets
If you open someone's fridge, chances are good that you'll find a few random sauce packets or condiments from fast food restaurants. But rather than just let them sit in there and forget about them, one person decided to lay them all out in an ice cube tray, so they're more likely to be in sight and, therefore, in mind.
Maybe now, they'll actually get used. They've got the best chance, I'd say.
A Small Hole In A Bin To Keep Yarn From Completely Unraveling
It's not exactly reinventing the wheel to store our stuff in a clear plastic bin, but one person actually did turn that simple concept into a brilliant idea. Thanks to some clever little holes they cut into the lid, they can simply feed the yarn they need through the bin and use just enough for whatever project it's all intended for.
And, of course, the clear plastic makes it nice and easy to see which bundle will look the best for a given design.
A Small Carabiner To Keep Tools Together
There are a lot of ways to keep your wrenches sorted at home, but it can be a little trickier when you're on the go. That was the problem this person experienced, as they often found themselves having to root through and almost empty their toolbox to find the right wrench.
But with the help of a simple carabiner, that search is suddenly a lot easier and more akin to finding the right key on a keyring.
Search For A Lid First
There are all sorts of ways that Tupperware can be useful in our daily lives, but one little practice can help us deal with one of its biggest drawbacks. Namely that no matter what we do, we'll always find a way to lose the lids on these containers after a while. They're like the socks of housewares.
That's why one person advised grabbing the lid first whenever you need to use some Tupperware. You're more likely to find the container it goes with.
Throw Things Away!
Although a lot of organizational hacks emphasize clever ways to store things, that's not the only part of getting a home organized. One aspect that's just as important but often overlooked is knowing when it's time to get rid of something entirely. And while a lot of people judge this based on what sparks joy, one person advised thinking about it in a more practical way.
As they put it, "If you're having trouble throwing things out, think, 'would I pay a dollar a year to keep this?'"
Repurpose A Gum Container
When we're used to seeing something a certain way, it can be easy to overlook the other ways we can use it once it's served its purpose. For instance, most of us probably are inclined to throw this plastic container away once we've run out of gum.
But as we can see here, they can be pretty handy for storing small objects like cosmetics when you need something a little more firm than a Ziploc bag.
A Cork Coaster To Keep Earrings From Together
Someone got pretty creative when they thought of a way to keep their earrings organized and easy to peruse. And to give you a sense of scale, all they needed to achieve both goals was a cup coaster.
However, you may notice that the coaster should be made of cork for this to work, as the material is just right to poke the sharp parts of the earrings into and to keep them embedded.
Binder Clips To Organize Hats
We tend to have racks for our stylish outfits and our coats, but our hats are usually either stacked together or tucked away in a hatbox. So in the interest of making them a little more visible as he decides which one to wear, one person decided to dangle a few of them from this hanger using some binder clips.
Although he reported that his wife doesn't like the idea very much, it seems to make him happy, and it's definitely fascinating.
Take A "Before" Pictuer
Before you take advantage of any organizational life hack, one person thought of a helpful way to motivate themself through those times when it doesn't seem worth it. And their idea is pretty simple and widely used but easy to dismiss when you don't intend to post what you're doing on the internet.
So what are you supposed to do? Simply take a "before" picture. That way, you can always be reminded of the difference you're making as you go through a monotonous process.
