How to Organize the Most-Used Rooms in Your Home—and Keep Them Organized

When you live in your home for any extended period of time, there's a pretty high likelihood of accumulating quite a bit of "stuff." Junk drawers are overflowing, the pantry is a dark zone, and the space under the bathroom sink is crammed with shampoo bottles that may or may not date back to your move. Sound familiar? If so, we completely get it. Navigating the chaos can feel overwhelming, but the benefits far outweigh the time and energy spent.

"Being organized increases the amount of time you have in your day and the amount of money you have in your pocket," says Stacey Agin Murray, a professional organizer and author. "When you're organized, you're able to spend less time searching for things, which gives you more time to be productive and focus on what is important to you."

We asked experts to share their best tips for sprucing up your home's central spaces, so carve out some time for a weekend project and get excited about being more organized.

The Living Room

The living room is where you and your family spend the majority of your time together, so it's only natural that this might be the most cluttered room in the house. Here's how to keep it in order.

Define How the Room Will Be Used

Before you decide how to tackle the job, Adriane Weinberg, an organizing and home staging consultant at An Organized Approach, suggests first defining how the space will be utilized. "Will it be used formally for hosting guests or, more informally, for a family room?" she says. "If kids play here, set up an area or corner with a small table and chair, a cabinet for toys and activities, and shelves for books."

Go Vertical with Storage Pieces

Living rooms are multi-purpose spaces that benefit from both open and closed storage. Agin Murray recommends investing in furniture that doubles as an organization system, such as TV cabinets, entertainment centers, and bookshelves. "Regardless of the size of the living room, I always advise clients to go as close to the ceiling as they can with their storage pieces," she says. Her motto? "When you can no longer organize outward, organize upward!'"

Utilize Baskets

Felice Cohen, a professional organizer, recommends utilizing matching totes, baskets, or bins for storing or hiding certain items that don't add to the décor landscape of this room. "You can put the labels on the sides if you don't want to see them—one tote for electronics, one for office supplies, school supplies, toys, etc.," she says. "This makes organizing the space at the end of the day easy to do."

The Bedroom

Bedrooms are designed for sleep and storing clothes, but they can easily attract clutter from the rest of the home, says Murray. These tips will help keep your bedroom a serene haven.

Organize Horizontal Surfaces

As a good first step, she recommends clearing out nightstands and dressers, which can be catchalls for miscellaneous things. "Create a bin or space for items that need a 'home' or need to be returned to a 'home'—or another room—and make decisions on those items when you're most energetic," she says.

Filter Out Clothes by Season and Formality

Professional organizer Ben Soreff of House to Home Organizing suggests this system for clothes: Sort and review what you are keeping, make note of its seasonality, and then determine where it should live in the house.

"When space is limited, do the winter-summer swap," he says, noting to put out-of-season garments in clear bins and store them elsewhere, if not under the bed. "Additionally, when closet space is limited, consider taking out all the formal clothes you wear infrequently. Store them in the guest room closet—or even the attic or basement."

Organize Clothes and Accessories

When it comes to the clothes and accessories that you do plan on wearing in that given season, Weinberg recommends organizing everything in a way that makes sense to you. "For example, you can organize closets by category (slacks, dresses, shirts, and so on) or color," she says. "You can also organize accessories the same way—sorting jewelry into categories such as real or costume, silver or gold, or by type."

Make Use of Wall Space

"Cubbies or shelves that go up to the ceiling can store a lot of stuff," says Cohen, who recommends using matching colored boxes or baskets to store (and hide) items—and make your room look neater overall. "There are storage boxes with whimsical designs and colors that can match or add to your bedroom décor," she says.

The Kitchen

If the living room is the heart of the home, then the kitchen is the brains, says Cohen. As one of the most-used rooms in a home, keeping it organized is key! Start with these tips.

Get Rid of What Doesn't Belong

"We spend a lot of time in kitchens, not just eating, but passing through, congregating, and for many, working," she says. "The kitchen also has the most counter space and often becomes a landing strip for random items."

She recommends grabbing a bag or laundry basket and looking around for anything that doesn't belong in the kitchen—from soccer cleats or a stack of towels to homework—and distributing them to the right room.

Nix Bulky Packaging and Place in New Containers

A simple tip that immediately provides more space in a small kitchen is to remove the original packaging from your grocery items before storing them. "Just removing the cardboard packaging from your soft drinks can offer more storing solutions like stacking the cans vertically," says Leslie Lehr, a professional organizer. "Also, removing original packaging and relocating to storage containers saves time when managing your inventory because you can see clearly what you need to replace."

Double Your Storage Space

One of the easiest ways to double the storage capacity of your kitchen is to invest in helper shelves, also known as shelf risers. "Helper shelves are used for doubling the horizontal space on a shelf in a cabinet or pantry, offering more space above it and below it for the storage of canned goods, boxes, and bottles," Murray says. "They come in a variety of widths and heights as well as different finishes (plastic, metal, etc.) and are not just for food—they can also be used for doubling the storage space of dinnerware, mugs, and other glassware."

Remove Mismatched Food Containers

Chances are, you have a ton of plastic food storage pieces, but not all have matching lids. In other words, they aren't doing you much good. Cohen recommends taking them all out and pairing them up. Set anything with a missing partner aside and store the remainder by stacking them one inside the other. "Once you remove the excess, it's easier to keep your space organized," she says.

Designate a Spot for Mail

This is also the space where letters, and especially bills, pile up. "While most of the mail can be tossed, there are often important papers you don't want to misplace," Cohen says.

Instead of leaving it on the counter, she recommends designating a drawer or basket for any important notes. "This way, you'll know where to find it when you have the time to go through it—and won't chance misplacing a bill and paying a late fee or forgetting about a juror summons," she says.

The Bathroom

Never overlook the importance of having an organized bathroom. As the smallest room in most homes, it has the potential to become overwhelmed with disarray—and nobody wants to start (or end) their day with that.

Utilize Unused Walls

Whether your bathroom's small or large, it's always smart to take advantage of the wall space. Add shelving above the toilet and incorporate hooks for hand towels and clothing (while you wash). You can even place an over-the-door organizer over your bathroom door to store cozy robes and towels.

Give Each Family Member Their Own Space

If your bathroom is large enough, Cohen recommends giving each person in the household their own drawer and shelf in the medicine cabinet. "Store in those spaces only the items you use daily, such as a toothbrush, face wash, hair gel, and deodorant," she says. Now, grab those extra food storage canisters with missing lids; Cohen recommends using them inside any drawers to help corral smaller items, such as dental floss, aspirin bottles, lipsticks, and more.

Keep Linens in a Separate Storage Area

Cohen suggests putting all linens—as well as backup toiletries and medical items—in a separate area, like a linen closet. "These items are best grouped by category (oral, hair, first aid, etc.), and it's great to store them in plastic totes with covers that are all the same size—you can stack them and save space," she says. "Just make sure to label them, as this keeps everything organized and allows you to find items easily when you need them in a hurry, whether it's a bandage or aspirin."

Purge Personal Items Frequently

"A bathroom is a small space, and bottles and jars multiplied by the number of people using the bathroom adds up quickly," says Murray. She recommends purging personal items a minimum of once a month to check for expiration dates that have come and gone; also, consider donating anything you haven't used in a while. "The perfect times to purge products are the day before your garbage is collected, the day before heading to the store, or anytime!" she adds.