After helping people organize their homes for more than 18 years, I’ve learned that organizing isn’t really about containers, labels, or finding the “perfect” place to start.
If I woke up tomorrow and my entire house was completely disorganized, I wouldn’t begin by buying bins or heading to the Container Store.
I’d start somewhere completely different.
In this episode, I’m walking you through the exact process I would use to organize my home from scratch today, including:
- Why I wouldn’t start with organizing at all
- How to decide what matters most in your current season of life
- The three questions I always ask when choosing where to begin
- Why success creates momentum
- What to expect when organizing temporarily makes your house look worse
- Why completing one space at a time builds confidence
- How to use the SPACE organizing method in every room
- Why organizing is a skill, not a personality trait
- How to treat each organizing project like a project manager
- The role accountability plays in finally following through
If you’ve ever wondered where to start organizing your home or why you struggle to stay organized, this episode will help you create a home that supports the life you actually want to live.
Your Organizing Coach,
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Exactly How I’d Organize My Home If I Started from Scratch
If I woke up tomorrow and my entire house was completely disorganized, what would I do first?
After more than 18 years of helping people organize their homes, I can tell you one thing with complete confidence: I would not start by buying bins.
I wouldn’t head to the store for labels. I wouldn’t order a beautiful set of matching baskets. I wouldn’t even choose a room right away.
Instead, I would begin somewhere that might surprise you.
I would start by getting very clear on the life I want my home to support.
That may sound philosophical for a blog post about organizing, but I’ve learned that organizing isn’t really about the stuff. It’s about creating a home that supports the life you actually want to live.
If I had to organize my home from scratch today, here’s exactly what I would do.
Step 1: Get Clear on Your Future Before You Organize Anything
Years ago, when I first became a professional organizer, I would have jumped straight into sorting and decluttering. Now I know that before you organize your house, you need to organize your vision.
Ask yourself some important questions:
- What season of life am I in?
- What will my life likely look like in one year?
- What about five years from now?
- How do I want to feel when I walk into my home?
- What am I optimizing for?
These questions matter because your home should support your current life, not the life you lived ten years ago or the life you might live someday.
Personally, I’m entering a completely different season than the one I started raising my family in. My children are grown and nearly all out of the house. Because of that, my priorities have shifted.
I no longer want to spend my time managing stuff.
Instead, I want to feel peaceful. I want to feel elevated. I want to feel calm, free, and minimal. I want a home that could be listed for sale in a weekend if necessary. More importantly, I want to leave my children a legacy, not a storage unit full of things they’ll eventually have to sort through.
Every room in my house should support the life I want to live today.
When I walk into a space, I want to smile because the only things there are the things I love, the things I use, and the things that fulfill that room’s purpose.
That’s the real goal of organizing.
Step 2: Decide What Matters Most
One of the most common questions people ask me is, “Where should I start?”
The truth is, there isn’t one correct answer.
Instead, I ask three questions.
What is causing the most friction?
Pay attention to the places in your home that create stress every single day.
Perhaps your kitchen counters are always cluttered. Maybe you can never find important paperwork. It could be that laundry has become overwhelming or that your closet makes getting dressed frustrating every morning.
Those areas deserve your attention because they are affecting your quality of life right now.
What would make you the happiest?
Sometimes the most strategic place to start isn’t necessarily the one causing the most problems.
Imagine how you would feel if one space in your home was completely transformed.
Would a peaceful bedroom help you sleep better? Would an organized office make working from home easier? Could a calm living room change the atmosphere of your entire house?
Choose the space that would bring you the greatest sense of peace and satisfaction.
What would be the easiest win?
Success creates momentum.
A quick victory can provide the confidence you need to keep going.
That easy win might be your purse, your car, one kitchen drawer, or a single cabinet. The important thing isn’t the size of the project. The important thing is experiencing the feeling of finishing something.
Step 3: Choose One Area and Commit to Finishing It
Once you’ve chosen where to begin, stop questioning yourself.
There is no perfect place to start.
There is only the place you’ve decided to start.
After making that decision, tell yourself that this is the exact right place for you. Commit fully. Decide that you are going to finish what you started.
Every completed space becomes evidence that you can do this.
Even if all you organize is one shelf or one cabinet, you’ll have something tangible to look at every day. You’ll be able to remind yourself, “I did that. I can do this.”
That confidence matters more than people realize.
Step 4: Expect Things to Get Worse Before They Get Better
This is something I wish more organizers talked about.
When you begin organizing one area of your house, you’ll inevitably discover items that belong somewhere else.
Suppose you’re organizing your living room and find office supplies. You’ll move those supplies to your office, even if your office isn’t organized yet.
As a result, other areas of your home may temporarily become more cluttered.
That’s normal.
In fact, it’s a sign that you’re actually organizing.
The goal is to put items as close as possible to their eventual home. If office supplies belong in the office, put them in the office. Don’t stop your current organizing project to organize the office immediately.
Stay focused.
Temporary chaos does not mean you’re failing.
Temporary chaos often means you’re making progress.
Step 5: Finish One Space Before Moving On
Most people try to improve every room in their house at the same time.
I would do the opposite.
Rather than having ten rooms that are twenty percent better, I’d prefer to have one space that’s fully transformed.
That finished space becomes your proof that change is possible.
A client once told me that she cleared a small section of her kitchen counter and maintained it for weeks. Every time she walked past it, she felt proud and happy. Later, she cleared another section. Then another.
Little by little, she created a completely different experience of her home.
You don’t have to organize an entire room at once.
Organize one corner.
Then maintain that corner.
After that, move to the next area.
Progress creates motivation.
Step 6: Follow the SPACE Method Every Time
No matter what room I was organizing, I would always follow the same process.
S: Sort
Gather similar items together.
You can sort an entire room or simply sort one category at a time. Both approaches work.
P: Purge
This is where you decide what stays.
As you’re making decisions, ask yourself questions like:
- Does this support who I’m becoming?
- Does this support this season of my life?
- Does this make me feel lighter or heavier?
- Is this truly essential?
For me, one of my favorite questions right now is:
“Does this help me feel elevated?”
That question reflects the season of life I’m currently living.
Your question may be different.
A: Assign Homes
Every item needs a designated place.
This step takes longer than many people expect, but it’s one of the most important parts of the process.
Once an item has a home, you always know where to find it.
C: Contain
Only after you’ve decided what you’re keeping should you think about containers.
Before buying anything, shop your own house.
Use baskets you already own. Repurpose drawers. Reuse containers.
The container simply defines the space available for the items you’ve chosen to keep.
E: Energize
This is where maintenance happens.
Create routines that help you maintain your spaces without having to think about them constantly.
For example:
- Tidy the refrigerator before putting away groceries.
- Straighten a clothing drawer after putting away laundry.
- Reset the kitchen every evening before bed.
Organizing is not a project you finish once.
Organizing is a skill you continue practicing.
Step 7: Treat Every Area Like a Project
One of the biggest mindset shifts I would make is this:
I wouldn’t say, “I’m organizing my whole house.”
Instead, I would say:
“I’m organizing my pantry.”
Or:
“I’m organizing my bedroom.”
Each project gets:
- A start date
- An end date
- Specific tasks
- Time blocked on the calendar
If organizing sessions aren’t scheduled, they often remain wishes instead of actions.
Your calendar is where intentions become reality.
When you complete a session, celebrate it.
If you don’t follow through, get curious instead of judgmental.
Ask yourself what you were thinking that led to your actions.
Then learn from that experience.
Step 8: Build Accountability From Day One
Research consistently shows that accountability dramatically increases follow-through.
You don’t have to do this alone.
Support might come from:
- A spouse
- A friend
- A coach
- A professional organizer
- An accountability group
- Organized Life Academy
Most people don’t fail because they don’t know what to do.
They fail because they’re trying to do something difficult entirely by themselves.
Sometimes what we really need isn’t another organizing tip.
What we need is someone helping us see our thoughts, challenge our beliefs, and continue moving forward when we want to quit.
The Real Secret to Organizing Your Home
If I had to organize my home from scratch tomorrow, I wouldn’t start with containers.
I wouldn’t start with labels.
I wouldn’t even start with a room.
I would start by deciding who I want to be.
Then I would create a home that supports that version of me.
Because organizing isn’t really about the stuff.
It’s about creating a life that feels like home.
And when your home supports the person you’re becoming, organizing becomes about far more than cleaning up clutter.
It becomes about intentionally creating the life you want to live.
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Until next week, have a fantastic day!
