5 Steps to Creating a Useful, Organized Space

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Last updated on April 8th, 2022 at 11:34 pm

Just over a week ago, my office was pretty bland. It looked like any other home office. And then …BAM! We reworked it into a more useful and organized space that is also much prettier to look at.

Our homes are designed for each space to have a purpose. The kitchen is for cooking and eating. The bedrooms are for sleeping. The bathrooms are for, you know. But there are a lot of things that happen in between the eating a sleeping that need to be done, like playing or paying the bills. Those types of spaces are up to the inhabitants’ discretion, which means it’s extremely important to make sure each space serves a purpose so things stay organized.

How do you create a space that can serve all the different purposes and still come out super organized?

Today I’m sharing the 5 steps I took to create a useful, organized space.

Step 1: Do an audit

In order to make your space useful, you need to know how you’re currently using it. What kinds of activities are you doing in each room? For example, do you make your kids work on art projects in the kitchen so you can keep an eye on them? Do you pay the bills in your office or standing at the kitchen counter?

Once you understand what you do in each room, you can start understanding how that room should function.

In the office I work, teach preschool, store needed paper files, pay bills, schedule appointments, store craft and hobby supplies, among a few other things. The biggest function I wanted the office to serve was to boost my creativity while I work. That meant switching out utilitarian pieces for prettier, functional pieces.

Step 2: Take inventory

Now that you know what you do in each room, what exactly do you have in them? It’s possible that there are a bunch of extra things in that space that don’t need to be there. The entryway might have a bunch of extra decor that doesn’t function well and gets in the way. Or you might have a desk nook you never use that’s become a landing zone for papers.

While I had exactly what I needed in the office, I also had some things that didn’t necessarily need to be there. We were able to move the boxes of donations out of the office closet to a donation center, and now donations will be kept in a box in the garage.

Sort the stuff you don’t need in your space by donate, discard, or relocate. In fact, you can get some pretty labels exactly like that in the resource library when you sign up here. They’re super cute!

Step 3: Identify the problem

Next, you need to figure out why the space isn’t functioning as it should. Shoes might be piling up in your entryway, making it impossible to open the door easily. Your food storage containers might be spilling out of your cabinet because everything gets thrown in.

You might have my problem where everything you need is in the room but you can’t get to it. Every time my daughter wanted to paint or do a craft project, I would have to dig through piles and boxes in the closet to find what we needed. So not useful!

Step 4: Space planning

Now decide if there’s actually enough space in the area to make it function the way you want! If the space is too small, you’ll have to get creative to find the right solution. (This is where it’s fun to browse on Pinterest for ideas).

Measure the space before deciding on new furniture, or mess around with the layout using the furniture you have.

I decided to move our filing cabinets into the closet and add a larger shelf for supplies. I wanted the room to look less cluttered, so taking furniture out of the main part of the room was a huge part of space planning.

Step 5: Add function and beauty

Finally, it’s not enough to make a space functional. You have to make it at least a little pretty and inspiring! Add storage pieces that do double-duty as both storage and decor.

Instead of picking up any old shelf like I did before, we bought a large IKEA Kallax shelf for its functionality and variability. It’s easy to make the shelves look nice with pretty books and boxes.

Supplies are stored on the bottom in the bins I picked up at Target, and to avoid a mismatched look, I turned the books around, spines facing in, for a more uniformed look.

One of my favorite ideas was to use a bar cart for my printers instead of stacking them on the filing cabinets like I did before.

The last piece is figuring out the wall decor that can serve a purpose for planning and inspiring creativity. I think that’s going to be the hardest part, but I’m taking my time!

Those are the 5 steps to creating a useful, organized space. Start by auditing the space and taking inventory of what’s in the room. Next figure out the problem and plan out the space so you can fix it. Finally, add pieces that add to both the room’s function and decor.

Want to take the hard work out of organizing? Get a personalized, step-by-step plan for your space using a Virtual Organizing Plan. Schedule a free 20-minute discovery call here >>>