Spring cleaning is a cliche, but there really is something about warmer weather that makes us want to find a good organizing hack and transform our entire home.
It’s one thing, though, to watch an endless scroll of ASMR tidying videos on Instagram or TikTok, yet it’s quite another to actually sit down and sort through piles of stuff in your own home. Most of our organizing journeys usually start the same: we’re ready, we’re motivated, we have a fresh roll of trash bags at our side. And then we get completely overwhelmed or bored, and the clutter lives to see another day.
We’re here to help! We consulted some of your favorite cleaning influencers on both TikTok (a.k.a. #CleanTok) and Instagram and asked them for the one simple organizing hack they always return to that can help you kick-start your own journey.
The hanger-turning trick
At the beginning of the year, turn all of your hangers backward. As you wear things, hang them back up, but this time with the hanger the correct way around. More and more of the hangers will be the right way around as you move through the year.
At the end of the year, the hangers that are still round the wrong way will show exactly what you haven’t worn all year. This helps when decluttering as it proves that you haven’t worn them so it’s easier to let things go. At the end of the year, you declutter and start the whole process again. —Anna Louisa, @anna_louisa_at_home
Try “habit stacking”
It doesn’t always make the most sense to place items that are alike together. Instead, consider where you would usually use an item, then put it there! This is also known as habit stacking.
For instance, if you usually use an LED mask while watching TV, place it in a bin by your sofa instead of keeping it tucked away in your bathroom. —Caroline Solomon, @neatcaroline
TikTok content
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Take advantage of your vertical space
My biggest organizing tip is that I always try to take advantage of any vertical space possible. We love adhesive organizers that utilize space that would typically be forgotten. This maximizes storage and is so accessible. —Jeanette Colley, @neatlyembellished
Deploy the one-minute rule
I live by this: the one-minute rule. If it takes less than a minute to do, do it right now. Put the scissors back in the drawer. Toss the junk mail. Hang up the jacket instead of draping it over the back of the chair.
These tiny decisions add up. One minute may not feel like much, but it’s the difference between “my house is a disaster” and “oh, this actually feels manageable.” Future you is already giving you a standing ovation. —Jennifer Johnson, @theorderlyspace
Instagram content
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Cut down to keep up
One hack that I wished I had learned sooner: If you can’t keep up, you have too much. This sounds dramatic, but think about it. If you can’t keep up with the piles of laundry? Declutter your wardrobe by half. If you are tired of the mountain of dishes sitting in the sink? Reduce the number of place settings you keep on hand.
By seriously cutting back on the extras, you will have to keep up on the laundry in order to have clean underwear and socks, or do the dishes each night in order to have clean bowls for breakfast. You can’t just keep grabbing more, more, more while the piles grow out of control. —Kirstyn Lofshult, @declutteringinspiration
Evaluate your emotional connection
When you embark on a decluttering journey, it’s vital to acknowledge it’s never about the stuff. It’s all about the emotions that sit behind the stuff.
Once you have understood what emotions drive your reluctance to part with something or your desire to keep it, then you can start to make the progress you need. Before we do the “‘doing,” we have to focus on the thinking. —Lesley Spellman and Ingrid Jansen, @declutterhub
Instagram content
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Ask the dog-poop question
My top tip I wish I’d learned sooner: If it had dog poop on it, would you keep it? Seriously—would you keep it, clean it, and try to make it work, or just get rid of it?
It’s a simple mindset shift I now use with clients who struggle to let go of stuff. When you frame it like that, the decision gets a whole lot easier. It sounds silly, but I’m here to help clients declutter any way I can. —Rachel Burditt, @thedeclutterdarling
Store swimsuits smarter
“One organizing hack I wish I had learned sooner has to be the swimsuit bag hack. When I first started editing and organizing closets, swimsuits were one of the hardest items to keep looking neat, and they never seemed to fold in a uniform way in a drawer.
I would try everything from folding them together and file-folding in a drawer to keeping them in bins, but nothing seemed to be a great long-term solution until I discovered poly bags with zipper closures that I can easily label with the exact contents and style. It makes them easy to find, uniform in a drawer or bin, and even easy to throw right in your beach bag or suitcase. A complete game changer for me and my clients. —Risa Kostis, @risakostis
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