Tips for organizing your home while you are under Quarantine.

First walk around your home and make a list of each space that you would like to organize better. Then prioritize your list by numbering each space in order of importance to you. Next decide how much time you can dedicate to organizing. Being quarantined may mean there are kids at home or you may have a working spouse that you need to work around. Make sure you are realistic in your expectations when looking at what time you can dedicate to organizing. Getting others in the home on board with helping you or not interrupting you and distracting you can help a lot. Is it small like 15-30 minutes a day? A few hours at a time? Or a whole day? Scheduling out chunks of time will help you choose from your prioritized list. Example. If you have 15-30 minutes and want to declutter and reorganize your kitchen first then you would need to do a drawer or two a day. If you have an entire day then it’s okay to do your whole kitchen at one time.

Now that you have which area you want to work in and know how much time you have it’s time to get started! Grab some bags or boxes to put any garbage or donate items in as well as a place for items that need to be kept but relocated to a different area of your home. Remove everything from the space you are decluttering/sorting/organizing. As you are removing items sort like items with like items and make your decisions on what to keep, trash, donate or relocate. This is a good time to wipe down the area if needed. When you are putting items back keep like with like. Choose items you use most often and put them in the easiest to reach places. If you have large items it’s a good idea to decide where they will go early in the process to make sure you have room for them. Remember most donation centers are closed so you may need to hang onto your donations until things reopen. If you end up with too much trash you can order a bulk pick up, but they are usually a couple weeks out so plan ahead.

Organizing products. If you are doing an area like the garage or under a sink you can measure and get the proper shelving and bins or containers that will fit in those areas ahead of time. Great stores to look online for organizing products like containers, bins and baskets are The Container Store, Amazon and Target. Costco and Home Depot or Lowes are great if you need garage shelving. Some stores are offering curbside pickup so you don’t need to get out of your car. Check to see if your store is currently closed which would make them online order only. If you aren’t sure what sizes you will need for a certain space you can wait until you have decluttered and put things back where you want them in anything you have around the house like shoe boxes and then make a list of sizes you will need. Make sure you measure before buying anything!