5 Key Spaces to Organize Before School Starts

Today, we’re sharing 5 key spaces to organize before school starts!

This week is all about catching up for us as we ease back into a more regular summer schedule and begin prepping for all things Fall.

Honestly, we couldn’t be more excited to be back home because as much as we love traveling, we’ve been out of town at least 2 or 3 weekends every month since the beginning of the year.

While all those trips were an absolute blessing, can I just be honest with you a sec?

It shows we’ve let things slide a bit over the past month *the minute* you walk through our front door.

You know what I’m talking about…the travel bags left in the aisle of the entry, the mountain of clothes piled up in our laundry room, the stack of beach towels that still need to be put away, the list of projects waiting to be completed, the flowers on the front porch struggling through the heat…believe me, I could go on and on.

Now that we’re back at home for longer than a few days at a time, we’re excited to get started on our list of 5 Key Spaces to Organize Before School Starts.

Even though we don’t have kids, our family follows an academic calendar which changes our schedules every August to accommodate the littles and all their activities.

Thankfully, there is still plenty of time over the next month for lots of family adventures, as well as, time to start sorting out the spaces that could easily overwhelm even the most seasoned organizer.

If you’ve walked through your own front door lately and realized you may have let a few things slip this summer this post is for you!

Here’s a list of 5 Key Spaces to Organize Before School Starts… 

The Kitchen

Decluttering and organizing the kitchen may take a while but you’ll reap the rewards of an orderly kitchen on a daily basis.

You can read more about how to organize your kitchen into work friendly zones here. Until then, here are a few simple ideas to get you started….

Create Kitchen Zones:

Creating multiple and functional zones in our kitchen a several years ago was one of THE best things we’ve ever done to consistently keep our kitchen organized.

Take some time to think about how you actually use your kitchen before you get started, it will save you a lot of effort in the long run.

Creating a kitchen zone is really easy! You just have to gather and organize all the elements needed for each zone in advance.

For example, mixing bowls, cake pans, cooling racks and cake decorating supplies would all make up the baking zone.

Here are a few other kitchen zones to create and organize before school starts…

• Cooking Zone
• Food Prep Zone
• Baking Zone
• Drinking Glasses/Mugs Zone
• Lunch Prep Station Zone
• Smoothie Station
• Coffee Station
• Paper Goods Zone
• Cleaning Supplies Zone

Organize the Pantry and the Refrigerator:

I can honestly say our pantry has been consistently organized for YEARS and is probably one of the easiest on the list of 5 Key Spaces to Organize Before School Starts!

It took a few days to declutter, organize, create a dish pantry, a pet feeding station and shop for baskets but it has been worth every penny we’ve invested.

You can read more about our pantry organization tips made easy here.

Organize The Laundry Room Before School Starts

The laundry room is one of those spaces that can get overwhelming in a hurry!

Whether you do your laundry once a week or do a load of laundry each day, keeping the laundry room decluttered, organized and maintained can feel like a full-time job, you know what I mean?

Here are a few tips that can help you keep the laundry room organized…

Establish a Consistent Laundry System:

The biggest tip we can offer for keeping the laundry room neat and tidy is to understand from the get-go that a load of laundry means – wash, dry, fold, put away.

The “put away” step is the one most people seem to struggle with but honestly if you can tame that one task your laundry room is more likely to stay tidy.

Utilize Baskets and Hampers:

Keep dirty clothes off the floor and clean clothes off the top of the washing machine by assigning a basket and/or hamper for each member of your family.

Store Laundry Supplies on Shelves or Cabinets:

Laundry soaps and other cleaners can be stored and organized in pretty glass jars or hidden behind the doors in cabinets. This helps cut down on visual clutter and allows the items you use each week to stay neat and tidy.

Bedroom Closets & Drawers

Bedroom closets and drawers might be the hardest of all the 5 key spaces to organize before school starts. But it will definitely be worth the effort!

Here are a few tips to consider before you get started…

Organize All Items by Category:

Start by organizing all the shirts in your closet, then organize all the shirts in your drawers BEFORE organizing the next category, say pants for example.

It might seem counterproductive at first.

But this technique will help you efficiently organize two different spaces at once and will also allow you to organize each category in a way that best fits your schedule.

Here are some popular closet and drawer categories to consider…

• Shirts
• Pants
• Shorts
• Dresses
• Skirts
• Shoes
• Handbags/Travel Bags
• Jewelry
• Pajamas
• Intimates

Separate Items Into 3 Boxes (Keep, Donate, Throw Away) AS YOU GO:

You guys, there is nothing worse than cleaning out your closet and throwing everything on the bed only to be exhausted a few hours later and have to put it all back!

Keep the clutter down to a minimum by having bags or boxes at the ready so you can organize what you want to keep, donate or throw away as you go.

Keep Hangers, Shoe Organizers and Drawer Dividers Uniform:

It might seem like a small thing but keeping all the hangers in your closet the same, using all wood hangers for example, immediately helps to cut down on visual closet clutter.

The same sentiment applies to shoe, jewelry and bag organizers.

Keeping all your drawer dividers the same will allow you to easily find things in your drawers without having to dig and disrupt overall tidiness.

Organize The Bathroom Before School Starts

You might think keeping the bathroom neat and orderly is all about making sure wet towels don’t end up on the floor but it’s actually about a three-pronged approach.

Use Laundry Baskets and Hampers to Coral Dirty Clothes:

This will immediately help to keep clutter off the floor and make it easier to haul dirty clothes to the laundry room.

Use Hooks for Wet Towels and Bathrobes:

Having hooks available for wet towels is an easy way to allow them to air dry during the day and gets them off the floor too.

Hooks are also great for keeping bathrobes handy after baths and showers.

Keep Cabinets & Drawers Organized with Boxes, Bins, and Baskets:

No matter which container you decide to use, creating a solid organization system with boxes, bins, and baskets will help your bathroom stay neat and tidy throughout the year.

My best advice is to make this system SIMPLE and EASY to use there are no excuses as to where something should go.

That way each family member (provided the task is age appropriate) can pitch in and put away his/her items in the designated space.

Your Car

Keeping our cars clean after a summer of travels and constant car pools is not always easy.

That said, given you probably use your vehicle every day, make it easy on yourself and your family by using time saving tips to keep your car consistently organized.

It’s another really easy space to organize before school starts!

While we don’t need to rush through or skip over what’s left of summer, now is a great time to begin working on our home decluttering and organizing projects.

If we tackle each area, one at a time, we’ll be more relaxed once school starts and ready to embrace all things Fall.

Let us know what your 5 Key Spaces to Organize Before School Starts are or if you have any additional tips to help us get organized for Fall!  Until next time, I’ll see you on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Other Posts to Help Keep You Organized:

• 13 Ways to Feel More Organized Every Day 
• The 15 Minute Task We Use to Cut Clutter 
• 7 Time Saving Kitchen Cleaning Tips 
• Pantry Organization Tips Made Easy 
• How to Organize Your Kitchen Into Work Friendly Zones 

Many blessings,

CoCo