Organizing A Small House – Six Must Do’s!

One of my guilty pleasures is searching on Pinterest for home organizing and decor inspiration. I love being inspired by beautifully decorated and organized homes. However, the problem is their bedroom is usually bigger than my entire house. There’s no doubt that organizing a small house has its unique challenges.

In case you didn’t know, our family of four lives in a small house of around 1,o00 square feet. We’ve lived here for many, many years. Plus, it’s an older home with very limited storage. Keeping our small home clutter-free and organized has always been a challenge.

For the record, I love living in a small house. Yet, to be truthful, there have definitely been times where I’ve longed for more room!! Sometimes there’s a little too much family togetherness if you know what I mean!

Nevertheless, we’ve made it work while still managing to love each other. In fact, I’ve learned several tricks over the years for organizing a small house. With these tips, we’ve been able to live comfortably in our small house.

These Are Six Must Do’s For Organizing a Small House

Before we get into the details I want to mention that I’ve read lots of articles on how to get organized when you live in a small home. A recurring theme seems to be suggestions for “maximizing every inch of space” and “going verticle with your storage”. While yes, both of those can be helpful in moderation, I’ve found they generally make your small home feel crowded and cluttered.

Instead, when organizing a small home it’s vital to keep some clear spaces and keep a handle on the clutter. With that in mind, let’s get started on the must do’s for organizing a small house.

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Declutter, Declutter, Declutter!

As I said keeping a handle on the clutter is vital when it comes to organizing a small home!

In fact, it is literally impossible to organize a small home BEFORE you declutter. Not only that but until you declutter the things you neither love nor use, you’ll never be able to create that cozy, peaceful feeling that allows you to relax and destress from the day. There is virtually no point in trying to organize your clutter, it can’t be done!!

On the other hand, when you declutter and then organize, you are left with only those things you truly love and actually use.

When it comes to starting the actual decluttering process in some ways it’s harder to declutter a small home than decluttering a larger space. For one thing, you can’t drag everything out and place it in the middle of the room. Rather, you want to declutter in bite-size pieces.

Basically, it’s best to focus on one area at a time, this is the best way to see your progress. Take it one section at a time and complete each area before you move to the next.

As you complete each section box up the items you want to donate and take them directly to your car. You don’t want to leave them taking up space in your home. The next time you are out running errands you can drop them off.

This method will stop you from getting overwhelmed and allow you to make quick progress!

Create a Daily Cleaning Routine

Now that you’ve gone through the clutter it’s very important to create regular cleaning routines to maintain a clutter-free home. If you allow your flat surfaces to become drop-off points for mail, papers, and dishes or you come home and toss your jacket on the back of the chair or couch it won’t matter how much you decluttered.

When living in a small house, cleaning up after yourself is non-negotiable. The best way to make sure this happens is by implementing a regular cleaning routine.

As part of my regular cleaning routine, I have two 15-minute tidy up’s each day. Everyone pitches in for 15 minutes to put things away that were left out. This prevents any clutter from piling up and keeps our small home organized and tidy!

As long as you deal with the clutter and keep things put away, it’s pretty darn easy to clean a small house.

Keep Floor Space Clear 

When organizing a small house, keep floor space clear!!

Of course, rugs and furniture are definitely okay. But what I’m talking about here is using your floor space as a storage space or covering every square inch of space with something.

Things stored on the floor have a way of attracting other things. The area will soon become a dumping ground for backpacks, pursues, shoes, and pretty much anything else. Keeping as much clear floor space as possible will keep your entire house neat and organized.

Not only does having the floor clear help to curb the collection of clutter, but it also makes it so much easier to sweep, vacuum, and clean the floors. We’ve always had German Shepherds and they shed like crazy in the summer. Once I started keeping the floors clear it was so much easier to sweep up all that fur. After all, it’s hard to feel organized if you have to move a bunch of items every time you need to clean.

Make the Most of Hidden Storage

One of the biggest drawbacks of living in a small home is that they tend to lack storage space. Needless to say, this increases the challenge of organizing a small house.

To overcome a lack of storage you have to make use of hidden storage areas. I’ll be honest here, I am not a big fan of under bed storage because it makes it so much harder to clean. However, I do have a few storage bins we keep under the bed. I use bins similar to these to hold our second set of bed linens, out of season clothing, and gift wrapping supplies.

My “junk” drawer is actually housed in a decorative basket like this one. Baskets are actually great for helping to organize all types of items, while still allowing your home to look beautiful!

Another great alternative is when out shopping for furniture look for items with built-in storage. Storage ottomans are great, they can be used for putting your feet up or double as a coffee table and store extra blankets, pillows, or even toys! These help keep everything organized, off the floor, and out of the way!

Create Zones 

As helpful as it is to make use of hidden storage, the reality is you can’t hide everything. For those things, you need to pinpoint where clutter collects and set up ways to contain it.

The best way I’ve found to do this is by creating zones.

Entryway

Living in a small home means your rooms serve more than one purpose. For example, most small homes do not have an entryway. The front door usually leads directly into your living room, as mine does. However, you can create your own entryway with a dresser or cabinet. This creates extra storage and makes a separate zone for the entryway. Add a pretty tray or bowl to corral keys or other items.

This will help define the space and give you much-needed storage space at the same time.

Home office

When organizing a small house, finding space for an office is a big challenge. Setting up a family command center is a great option. A  family command center is just a designated space for maintaining your calendars, all incoming and outgoing papers, notes, messages, etc. They take up a small amount of space but create a perfect office zone.

Toys

If you have little ones, creating a zone for toys makes organizing a small house 1000 times easier.

Toys were always one of the biggest challenges we faced when my kids were little. To solve the problem we created a special zone just for toys.

If at all possible invest in a storage ottoman, something like this. But really any bin or drawer will do. You want to make the toys accessible but also keep them corraled.

Your kids are much more likely to help clean up their toys when they have a designated place to go. However, you don’t want to make every toy accessible. Keep some toys in a bin, on a top shelf in their closet. This way they have to ask to be able to play with them. Just rotate the new box with the ones that were out.

When you do this your small home will feel organized and so much less cluttered!

Honor Your Space Limits

The biggest challenge to organizing a small house is the limited amount of available space. So knowing your space limits is key to getting and staying organized in your small home.

Before bringing something into your home you need to ask two very important questions:

• Do I have room for this?
• Will this enhance the functioning of your small home?

If the answer to either of those questions is no, do not purchase or accept the item.

I know this is hard, especially as Target has seriously stepped up their game in the home decor department!

When it comes to your decor, do not purchase oversized furniture. Instead, look for furniture with built-in storage. Decorate with cute wicker baskets, they are very in right now! I use baskets all over my house. Baskets are my favorite organizing tool and are perfect with my decor.

Also, look for items that serve multiple purposes. I’m in love with this bean bag puff, that you fill with stuffed animals.

You really need to be very mindful of what you allow to come into your home. I know it’s hard at times, but it is necessary in order to maintain all your hard work of decluttering your home.

When you do bring new items into the house, also try to get rid of something else. I promise the clutter isn’t worth bringing things into your home that you do not have room for!

Living in a small space can make organizing a small house a challenge, but it’s not impossible! When you declutter often and find ways to make the most of your space, you will begin to love living in a small home!