Organizing your home always leaves you feeling accomplished. However, after living in your
clutter-free space for some time, you might realize you missed a few spots.
When you have those forgotten places to organize it can make areas of your home cluttered. But finding ways to get organized at home is going to make this process easier.
Think of it as an opportunity to create a more pristine space for greater comfort and
organization. Here’s a closer look at places people forget to declutter and ways to maintain your tidied home.
Why Do Some Spaces Get Overlooked When Decluttering?
People may overlook certain spots while organizing their homes for several reasons. Some
places are more hidden than others or less frequently visited. For instance, you might have
focused on areas you spend the most time in, such as the kitchen and living room, instead of
the attic or crawl space.
Other areas may be harder to reach, leading you to put them off until you have more energy and time. After tackling two or three rooms in one go, do you have the stamina to climb a ladder to organize the top shelf in your garage?
Setting unrealistic goals for yourself while organizing, having trouble letting go of sentimental items and growing accustomed to stuff piling up also contribute to forgotten messes.
However, the awareness of what you missed encourages you to address the situation head-on.
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6 Forgotten Places To Organize In Your Home
Just when you thought you finished cleaning your house, you realize you’ve forgotten some
places.
Although frustrating, you are well aware organizing is not a one-time event. Here are six areas in your home requiring more careful attention the second time around.
1) Behind the Furniture
You cleared away the stacked magazines on the coffee table and took down some of the
trinkets in the bookcases — but did you remember to clean under the furniture?
Dust bunnies typically accumulate under sofas and tables and behind bulky items. Too much dust in your home increases your risk of allergies and respiratory conditions — already affecting 20 million Americans in 84% of U.S. households.
Improve your health with better indoor air quality by sweeping up or wiping away dust whenever you declutter your home.
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2) Under the Sink
Decluttering and reorganizing your kitchen cabinets makes it much easier to find the right pots, pans, and utensils for easy cooking. However, the cleaning supplies under the sink may still need some attention.
Cleaning supplies must always remain in the lower cabinets to prevent contaminating food, but knowing what’s in there is essential. Go through the different products to determine if anything is worth moving to the garage.
Also, check for expiration dates and discard what you no longer use or need.
3) Attic and Basement
The attic and basement are usually out of sight and out of mind. Unless these areas are finished and lived in, they often become dumping grounds for personal belongings.
Installing shelves and establishing storage zones are excellent ways to stay organized and
optimize downstairs organization. Likewise, label all containers and boxes in the attic so you
know what you’re grabbing without having to sift through everything.
For example, keep holiday decorations together and seasonal clothing in proper storage bins until the weather changes.
4) Medicine Cabinet
Over-the-counter medications and prescriptions tend to build up until they overflow your
medicine cabinet, whether kept in the bathroom or the kitchen.
Go through each medicine to determine whether you still need it — then check the dates to
ensure they haven’t expired. Do the same for non-prescription medications and separate them.
It may help to keep prescription and over-the-counter medicines on different shelves and neatly organized in a drawer.
Just be sure you can access the most frequently used medicines easily.
5) Vehicles
You spent days cleaning your garage, rearranging your tools, and adding organization to the
chaos. However, it’s possible you skipped over your car. We use our vehicles frequently,
making them a hot spot for accumulating stuff.
Sit in the driver’s seat and look around. Can you remove anything from the front, such as the
cup of coffee you bought on the way to work or your winter gloves and hat? Then, move to the backseat to see if anything is out of place. Your trunk might have also become a makeshift storage area over time.
Consider buying a trunk organizer to keep items from moving around while driving. Seat back organizers also help keep accessories in one place. An auto litter bag is another convenient product to throw away trash while on the go.
Related article: Simple And Easy Car Cleaning Hacks You Will Love
6) Pantry
Cleaning out the refrigerator leaves you with a refreshed feeling in your kitchen. However, many people forget or put off cleaning out their pantries.
Americans accumulate 40.7 million tons of food waste annually, much of which occurs at the
consumer level. You often don’t realize how many stale or expired items are on the shelves.
Empty your pantry and go through each item. Designate certain shelves for specific food items you’re putting back.
It is best to organize by putting soon-to-be expired items in the front and longer-lasting items toward the back.
This way, you’ll use whatever you have without creating further waste.
Tips to Stay Organized at Home
Decluttering is a process and could take quite a while to complete. As such, you don’t want your home to end up in disarray again so quickly.
Maintaining organization is just as important as your efforts to tidy up.
These tips will help you with the long-term upkeep of your home.
Create a Cleaning Schedule
Stay on top of clutter by setting aside time each week to go through your belongings. You’ll be surprised how much accumulates within a few days, from mail stacking up on the counter to paperwork flooding your home office.
Take 10-20 minutes each day to tidy up your house. You may also set aside an hour weekly to
adopt a more in-depth organization and cleaning regimen.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, although 40% of people complete housework on the weekends, 62% do cleanup activities during the week.
Related article: How To Create A Cleaning Schedule That Works
Create New Habits
People often find themselves living in clutter because they leave items out. Your new mantra
should be to put it back where you found it. Keeping a tidy, well-organized home becomes
second nature if you get into the habit of restoring items to their proper place immediately.
Of course, this takes practice, and you may still end up with clutter either way. Consider creating areas to drop items off — for instance, is there a spot where you can hang your keys near the front door?
You could also include a convenient mail bin to open bills and letters.
These drop-off areas help keep clutter in one place until you have the time to put everything
away.
Related article: How To Copy 5 Habits Of Organized People
Purchase Wisely
Shopping addiction is real — many people purchase goods when they’re stressed, emotional,
bored or trying to forget about something.
Before they know it, five shipments are on the way, leading to more accumulated clutter.
Think before you make your next purchase. Do you really need the item? Do you have the same one or something similar already?
It’s even better to borrow something from a friend, family member, or neighbor and return it to them when you’re finished using it. Then you have one less thing lying around the house to worry about.
Likewise, encourage people to gift experiences instead of stuff — you might even do the same for them. Cooking classes, theater tickets, and massages are excellent alternatives to receiving unnecessary items.
Tap Into Tech
Numerous apps and digital tools help you stay on track with your home’s organization. Utilize calendars for scheduling time to clean up your space and to-do lists to remind yourself of what you need to do around the house.
Sync your calendars from your laptop or desktop to your mobile device so you can review and update your schedule from wherever you are.
Apps make staying on top of the most essential items much more manageable.
Foster Collaboration
If you live with your family or housemates, loop them in on your goals for maintaining an
organized and decluttered home. Assigning roles and responsibilities to different people will
inform others what they can do to help you.
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Participation makes upkeep easier. Remembering your stuff isn’t the only mess accumulating
throughout the different rooms is also important.
Each household member should be accountable for organizing their possessions.
Related article: How To Best Use A Family Home Management Binder In Your Home
Keep Clean Where You Least Expect the Mess
It’s easy to overlook little nooks and crannies when organizing and decluttering each room.
Once you’ve figured out the places you missed, work on straightening things up.
You’ll be much happier in a thoroughly tidied home. Don’t let these forgotten places to organize in your home go unattended any longer.
Article written by: Evelyn Long is an interior design writer who is passionate about helping homeowners keep their homes tidy and decluttered. She is the editor-in-chief of Renovated Magazine, where she writes about current interior design and organization trends.