There’s always something about the start of a new season that makes me want to reset our home. Whether it’s the changing weather, back-to-school activity, or simply the feeling that life is about to get busier (!), it’s the perfect time to tackle spaces that just aren’t working. Over the years, I’ve shared lots of home organization ideas on the blog, from quick storage solutions to full-home organizing resets, so today I’m rounding up some of my favourite projects all in one place. If one area of your home has been feeling overwhelming lately, I hope you’ll find an idea here to help you get started. Okay, let’s dive in! 
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11 HOME ORGANIZING IDEAS TO START THE NEW SEASON
1. Set Up a Simple Family Command Centre
Sometimes the simplest systems are the ones that get used the most.
Our ‘family command centre’ is located along the side of the refrigerator and holds most of what we need to stay on top of daily household needs without becoming another source of clutter.
It contains a shared calendar (with magnet backing), storage pockets (also magnetic) for paperwork, pens, magnets, clips, and a few note pads – it’s really all we need.
Whether yours lives in the kitchen, mudroom, hallway, or home office, having one centralized place for schedules and reminders can make busy weeks feel a lot more manageable.
To take a closer look at our set up with all the ‘doo-dads’ check out Our Uncomplicated Family Command Centre (Why It Works for Us).
2. Desk Organizing Ideas for Small Spaces
A small desk doesn’t have to mean an unorganized one.
When I was trying to organize my own home office workspace, I had one major challenge: a small IKEA desk with cubbies but no built-in drawers. Yet somehow it needed to support 3 functions: my day job, my blog, and my Etsy shop.
Instead of relying on furniture that wasn’t there, I simply added things like stackable paper trays and storage cubes like these or these (in the adjacent cubbies)…
…and stackable drawers (beneath).
When working from a small desk, the goal is not to fit more on the desk, but to make use of the space around it so that the desktop can be used for that day’s work (papers, writing utensils, note pads, etc).
In my post How to Organize a Small Desk with No Drawers (My Real-Life Setup for Running 3 Jobs in One Space), I take you down the rabbit hole with loads of ideas for working in tight spaces!
3. Entryway Organization Ideas That Reduce Clutter
The entryway is one of the busiest places in any home (understatement of the year). It also seems to be where clutter starts collecting quickly with all those jackets, shoes, bags, keys, mail, etc.
While I do enjoy watching renovation projects that maximize storage in entries, foyers, and mudrooms, I do find them exhausting, too! I just don’t have the budget for renovating every space in our home. Instead, I generally work within the ‘bones’ of the existing design.
And it doesn’t take much to maximize its use – as I’ve seen in our own builder-basic foyer. Things like:
- Maximizing the closet with baskets up top and tiered shoe organizers along the bottom
- Creating a designated drop zone for everyday essentials (mail, sunglasses, etc)
- Using trays or bowls to corral small items (keys, etc)
- Including a place to sit (whether it’s a small stool or a bench like ours), depending on the space available
Even a narrow entryway can be more functional with the right wall organizer for keys, mail, and sunglasses or a slim storage solution.
In my post, Entryway Organization Tips: How I’ve Kept Our Foyer (Fairly) Tidy, 6 Years In, I share how I turned our mess of a foyer into a functional and – dare I say – cute space. I also offer really practical tips to help you do the same at home, even on a tight budget.
4. Small Linen Closet Organizing Tips
Linen closets – especially small ones like ours – can become catch-all storage spaces over time. Once I took control of ours and organized this space – despite it’s small size – it has been so much easier to keep it tidy.
My approach? Before buying anything, I started by editing what I had: donating worn or unused items, then grouping similar products together. Pretty simple stuff, really. BUT, sometimes we need a little reminding to NOT PANIC! Just take your time.
Once you clear out some of the clutter, then take a moment to figure out the best storage solutions.
Keep it simple.
Find some fabric cube storage (I use ours for extra paper towels and tissue boxes), round woven baskets (I use ours for toilet paper) or sturdy wire baskets (we have overflow cleaning supplies in ours).
And under-shelf baskets make better use of vertical space, too.
Simple categories make everything easier to find.
If you’re looking for more small linen closet organization ideas, you’ll find plenty of practical tips in my post, How to Organize a Linen Closet & Maximize Space.
5. Finally Get That Junk Drawer Under Control
Most homes have that drawer that slowly, imperceptibly becomes a home to all sorts of oddball items. Things like batteries, tape, matches, elastic bands, pens and pencils, (and in our case: cat toys and catnip, too!).
The BIGGEST improvement you can make – without buying a thing – is to declutter first. I am a BIG proponent of this.
Once you’ve relegated items to the trash bin, donation bin, and keep pile, then consider buying an organizing system like interlocking drawer storage trays, adjustable drawer dividers, or expandable drawer organizers like these (or the ones I have which include both expandable dividers and adjustable compartments).
Or simply make them out of small shoe boxes, kleenex boxes, etc. Whatever fits your budget – it’s your junk drawer, after all 🙂
Tip: Make sure to MEASURE before buying anything. There are SO MANY ‘standard’ size options that don’t always fit.
Once it’s done, it is SO SATISFYING and makes it easier to keep things under control later on.
In my Junk Drawer Organization & Decluttering Tips, I share how to make the process smooth and simple, and include links to a wide assortment of drawer organization options.
6. Cutlery Drawer Organization Ideas
Speaking of drawers…kitchen drawers also deserve some attention. After all, we reach for cutlery daily and if the cutlery drawer is a shambles, I bet eating meals feels a little more stressful, too.
In our case, I went through a mad tear a few years ago, decluttering the cutlery (and utensils drawers) in our kitchen and was so happy I did. It’s been one of the easiest set of drawers to maintain.
As with any drawer, dividers or compartments are a great option. Ours happen to be these lovely expandable bamboo drawer organizers with compartments.
And I also have another expandable bamboo storage with long compartments to fit my utensils, too.
Tip: As with any drawer, measure, measure, measure! Never rely on ‘standard’ inserts as these may not be the right size for your drawers.
7. Multi-Purpose Craft Room Organization Ideas
If you love a variety of crafts, then you likely have to get creative with how you organize your crafty bits and pieces.
In my case, I have a large and spacious craft room that’s actually a multi-purpose workspace that functions as a home office, an Etsy shop studio, and a general purpose craft room.
EVERY INCH OF IT needs to work efficiently.
I chose to organize around multiple IKEA cubby storage systems and then, fine-tune my needs from there.
Some of my favourite detailed organizing systems – and slightly more unusual – include:
- Wall-mounted or retractable hangers – I use mine for embroidery hoops, weaving samplers, and wreath forms, but they’re also great for hanging fabric rolls, project bags, or works in progress.
- Tiered rolling organizers & frame storage – Mine store canvases, photo frames, and foam boards, but they’re also perfect for sketch pads, scrapbook paper, foam boards, or finished/unfinished signs.
- Under-shelf baskets – I use these for yarn, but they’re just as handy for fabric scraps, felt sheets, patterns, or other works-in-progress.
- Dollar store dish racks – I repurposed mine to organize small frames, but they also work well for paint palettes, stencils, cutting mats, cardstock, sketchbooks, or vinyl sheets. (And you can also do the same with vertical file organizers, too).
- Over-the-door storage – Mine is packed with yarn, but it’s also ideal for fabric, ribbon spools, Cricut supplies, or other frequently used craft materials.
Quite honestly, I have so many oddball organizing solutions for this space. For more, see my entire list of 19 Oddly Specific Organizing Ideas For Your Multi-Purpose Craft Room.
8. Yarn Scrap Organization Ideas
If you enjoy knitting, crocheting, weaving, punch needle, or other fibre art crafts, you probably have all sorts of leftover yarn tucked into all sorts of corners of your home or craft space!
For too long, I thought that the ONLY way to organize my yarn scraps was to wind every single leftover strand into a neat little bundle. That’s what so much of the organizing advice said that I was SUPPOSED TO DO.
In reality, that was far too time consuming to keep up with. Instead, I stopped treating each scrap the same.
Longer leftovers get wound onto diy cardboard (or wooden spools).
Tiny snippets (great for adding pops of colour in a weaving or punch needle project), get sorted by colour into resealable bags with simple diy cardboard dividers.
And other bundles – whether wound or not – live in clear, stackable drawers until I’m ready to use them.
These storage systems for all my scraps have made SUCH A DIFFERENCE. No more loose bundles or scraps get lost among the large skeins!
If you’d like to know exactly how I organize my leftover yarn, How I Organize Leftover Yarn: 5 Storage Ideas That Really Work walks through the system that’s currently keeping my stash tidier these days.
9. Hidden Storage Ideas for Every Room
Sometimes, it’s nice to keep some things out and others, hidden.
Most of my favourite organizing solutions are hidden behind cabinet doors, inside furniture, or stored neatly in storage cubes inside cubbie storage systems (like these or these) or woven baskets tucked neatly on a shelf.
Things like storage cubes and even woven or plastic baskets help reduce visual clutter while still keeping the most-used items close at hand. You can even find ones with lids if you want to stack them.
I especially love furniture with built-in drawers and shelves for storing everyday items.
In 9 Hidden Storage Type We Regularly Rely On, I delve into all of my furniture pieces with hidden storage features and all the ways we use hidden organizing systems throughout our home to keep things tidy and practical, too.
10. Create a “Decor Shop” at Home
As a decor enthusiast, I’ve collected my fair share of home decor that I rotate through from season to season.
But at some point, I realized I needed a better system than simply stuffing things into random boxes or closets. While I’ve always had my Christmas supplies grouped together, it’s those EVERYDAY ACCESSORIES that needed to be coraled.
I now keep my extras grouped together in a couple of key spots by category: candles, vases, throw blankets, and other pieces. Each have their own home.
One of my ‘decor shops’ lives in the bottom half of our foyer storage cabinet.
The other is located in the mudroom, in this section of the closet.
Having my extra decor pieces organized this way makes it easier to locate them without losing pieces (or accidentally buying more than I need).
It’s become one of my FAVOURITE organizing systems at home.
In Organizing a ‘Decor Shop’ for Extra Accessories, I break down the easy storage system I use with basic supplies like dollar store bins, hangers, baskets and more that keep everything organized.
11. Install Simple Shelves for Extra Storage
For anyone who is DIY-shy, this one is really, really easy. With a little guidance from my husband, even I managed to get the job done.
Basic shelves using simple inexpensive brackets can add extra storage almost ANYWHERE you need it – from bathrooms to laundry rooms to offices, bedrooms, and hallways.
But as open storage, I would suggest making CAREFUL SELECTIONS with what is stored here. Otherwise, it CAN QUICKLY BECOME MESSY.
I suggest using a mix of practical and pretty items, OR, use them for storing one type of item like books only, for example, for a clean look.
Open storage like this is perfect for storing everday items like books, plants, baskets, cups and plates, and, of course, decor.
If you’ve been nervous about tackling a simple DIY project like this (myself included), installing shelves can be a good place to start. Check out my tutorial on How To Install Basic Shelves with Brackets.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Organization isn’t really about having a perfectly organized home. It’s about building systems that make everyday life a little easier.
Over the years, I’ve seen how small improvements have a way of creating momentum that have made finding what we need a little easier and our routines a little bit smoother, too.
Happy organizing,
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