Become Organized by Knowing Yourself Better
As a child and young adult, I loved to look at beautiful organized spaces and imagine having spaces like those. But it felt like an unobtainable dream, because I was perpetually disorganized. I could not get my spaces to look like those you find in magazines or on Pinterest. Then, on day, I found out that all I needed to become organized was to know my organizing personality. Not everyone organizes the same way, and chances are you live with someone who organizes differently than you.
Discovering organization systems that work for me has had the biggest affect on my life. (Besides joining the church, getting married, and starting a family, that is). Now my home and spaces can look beautiful and organized. I just have to organize them in a way that works for me!
Not only have I been journeying to becoming organized, I have also taken a course to become a Certified Organizational Specialist. With this certification I am hoping to be able to help you all more in your journeys of family life.
Organizing Personality
Most people struggle with organization or some kind of clutter problem. There are plenty of organizational systems and books out there. But the problem is these systems are mainly geared to detail-oriented people who like visual minimalism. These systems don’t work for everyone, and maybe they don’t work for you. And unless you are living alone, there are probably other people in your house with a different organizing style.
There are four main organizing styles, and you may find that you fall somewhere in between two of the styles. Or perhaps you prefer one style for your workspace and another for your living room. Either way, knowing what your style is and how to organize in a way that works for you will transform your home and your life.
Organizing Personality Traits
Trait One: Beauty Style
When it comes to icons, art, or interior design, we all have different preferences. I really like nuevo-russian style icons (like Sofrino icons). Other people prefer reproductions of original icons using the natural paints and even keeping the signs of aging. Our organizing personality is also affected by our preferences. Do we want to be able to see all the things we use daily? Or perhaps we want to be able to see some things and not others. Finally, you might prefer to have empty counters and minimalist walls – that is an example of preferring hidden organizing systems.
What Is Your Beauty Style?
Visible – Your organizing beauty style is visible if you like to have your things in sight. You like to have your items where you can see them, because out of sight is out of mind! If you put your shirt in the dresser you might forget you own it! You like organizing systems with clear containers so you can see your stuff. Things you use every day need to be on your desk, counters, and walls and not behind cabinet doors or in drawers. If you went to school, you might have struggled with binders and school desks. Wall hanging systems, and desk magazine holders with clipboard work much better for us with a visually oriented personality.
Check out my Pinterest board: Visible Organizing. If you like the aesthetic in these photos, you probably have the visible organizing trait! Now you just need to to find your second organizing trait below.
Frosted – If you like to see some things, but get overwhelmed with too much visual stimulation, your organizing beauty style is frosted. Frosted bins balance the need to see what you own with your need to minimize visual overwhelm. If you like to see some things, and not others, you have a more flexible organizing personality.
Check out my Pinterest board: Frosted Organizing. If you like the aesthetic in these photos, you probably have the frosted organizing trait!
Invisible – The last of the beauty traits is “invisible.” While you may not be a minimalist, you want minimal stuff out on walls and counters. You might find the Visible Organizing photos to be the visual manifestation of a migraine! If you like to hide your things behind closed doors and drawers, you probably have the invisible organizing trait.
If so, check out my Invisible Organizing Pinterest Board.
Trait Two: Big Picture Little Picture
Every organizing personality has two traits. The first one a beauty trait. Either visible, frosted, or invisible. The second trait revolves around how you naturally think. Are you a big picture thinker? Or do you get caught up in the details? Let’s look at the different organizing traits that relate to how we think.
What is Your Thinking Style
Grand – The first thinking trait is grand. This is a reference to big picture thinkers. Big picture thinkers are always looking at the next big thing and focused on long term priorities. And so, those with the grand organizing trait don’t focus on putting things away. This is why they need organizing systems that are fast and easy to use. Think one big bin for all legos. Or a large cup full of pens and markers. Although a grand thinker won’t spend a lot of time putting something away, spending a few minutes looking for the exact wanted item is no problem. Large containers and bins without lids work well for grand organizers.
Moderate – The next organizing trait is for moderate thinkers. Moderate organizers want a bit more detail than the large macro systems used by grand thinkers. But they still want their systems to be quick and easy to use. Both for finding things and putting it away. A moderate organizer might keep red, orange, and yellow markers together in a jar. And then blue, green, and purple next to that. Then just greys and browns in the last jar.
Like with grand organizers, you want to keep lids off containers. However, you can use somewhat more detailed categories for storing your items.
Detailed – If you a small picture thinker, your organizing trait is detailed. You want to be able to find something quickly when you need it, and are willing to spend the time putting things away. Small picture thinkers are often perfectionists, and are more concerned with short term consequences than worried about the long term. A detailed organizer can stack containers with lids, and use smaller containers to organize items. Just keep in mind that upkeeping detailed systems take time.
If you have small children you might have to compromise on your style for the time being. Also, other people in your house may not be able to keep up with your system. So make sure your detailed systems are for spaces and things you mainly use by yourself.
Tips to Get You Started
The Prep Stage: Sorting and Purging
2. Get three bins/baskets together. And a large garbage bag. Label one Donate, one Keep (in this room or near), and one For Other Rooms. The garbage bag is for garbage. Then go through the drawers, closets, shelves, etc in the room and sort things into the three bins. Toss any old, expired, empty, or other garbage into the bag as you go. If you don’t have a lot of time for organizing. Do this part in 15 minute chunks. But you’ll be surprised at how much you can get done in 15 minutes.
3. Remove the garbage and donate piles from your space, and move them where they need to go accordingly. Then take the “belongs in other rooms bin” and if you have the time move those items to those spaces now. If you don’t, move the contents to another location and give yourself 15 minutes another time to deal with those items.
4. Now you are quite possibly left with 1/4 of the stuff you had in the room this far. If you didn’t purge quite that much don’t worry, you can go back and make more decisions later.
Your Personality Stage
Now comes the fun part! Making homes for the items you’re keeping. How you do this is going to depend on which organizing traits suit you best. Another thing to keep in mind is anyone who is using this space with you.
For example, you are a grand visible organizer and you share a bathroom with a grand invisible organizer you are going to want to opt out of using clear bins and baskets, and use large labels as a visual signal to your mind instead. Or, if you are a detailed invisible organizer and you live with a grand invisible organizer, you can put the stuff you use away in a micro-organized system. But have the stuff your spouse uses put away in macro-systems, like a basket for face care products used in the morning, which can be taken out and put back in the cupboard quickly and easily.
When you have to combine styles, always default to macro systems if there is a grand organizer in the group. Also be sure to include large labels if there is a visible or frosted organizer in the group. If you have children who are too young to read, they are probably grand visible organizers for the time being. You can use picture labels instead of words for them, and clear bins and baskets work well.
Because each personality set has different individual organizing solutions, in going to go through how you can make a space work for several styles. For the sake of this exercise I’m going to pretend we are working in a bathroom, with just one person using it. You can use my tips for combining styles above. And remember, you only need to combine styles with items that more than one person uses.
The Moderate Invisible Organizer
When putting things away you’ll want to make the most of cupboard and behind mirror space. Use baskets inside the cupboard to hold like items. This will increase your storage potential. Keep this macro organized. You may want to have one for makeup, one for extra toothbrushes, soaps, and toothpastes, and one for for hair care items including brushes, combs, and other hair products. Because you like less visual stimulation, you probably want to pick baskets with a simple colour scheme. Pretty baskets or baskets that match throughout your house work lovely. You can also use these baskets on open shelving to help your home look uniform. Finally, putting labels on these baskets will make it more likely you’ll put things away in them.
Drawer dividers are very helpful for you. Leave bins and baskets open (no lids) and put things away where they are easily accessed. A Pinterest example of this style can be found for a pantry in this image: https://pin.it/tusaahc3wgnpo3.
The Grand Visible Organizer
You’ll want to get a lot of clear bins. Have clear baskets behind any cupboards, but only put items like extra toothbrushes, unopened soaps, or things you use less than once a week behind the closed doors. Or just take the doors off the cupboard to maximize visual shelf space. You can have clear baskets or baskets in your favourite colour for the open shelves. Sort your items into macro categories, like makeup, hair care, or face cloths. When you’ve assigned these categories to baskets, add large labels as an extra visual cue for where things go. Make sure to leave lids off baskets and bins.
Adding a vertical organizer behind the door could add more visual storage to your bathroom. If you own your home, install hooks and open shelving wherever possible. If you rent, 3mm hooks work well even for heavy items like coats. Over the door hooks are also great. A Pinterest example of this style can be found for a pantry in this image: https://pin.it/k7vm3chypajxsl.
Moderate Visible Organizer
If you haven’t got a lot of time, start with macro systems as described for the Grand Visible style. When you have more time you can go back and micro organize theses spaces, and it will take less time to do so. You’ll want to get things like clear tool sorter kits or sewing kit containers for sorting small items such as makeup. You could get a tiered spice rack to shelve your hair care products, and use a shower caddy or kitchen drawer caddy to hang your brushes and combs from. Or put a 3m hook up on the wall. Clear bins, jars, or other containers work best for you. But you’ll also do well with colour coded systems and pretty bins. Add large pretty labels to your containers.
You also may want to take the doors off the cupboard so you can see your items. A vertical over the door organizer will also work well for you, as well as peg board organizers. When organizing your main investments should be in open shelving and hooks. These are just the best choice for your style. You can use bookshelves to store more than just books! A Pinterest example of this style can be found for a pantry in this image: https://pin.it/d6ohd4yknxeqvh.
Detailed Invisible Organizer
if you haven’t got a lot of time to set up the perfect micro system you’d like, start with the macro systems suggested for the simple minimalism style. It will save you time later when you do go to micro organize because things will already be sorted. You’ll want to get stack-able bins and boxes.
When you organize you can keep the lids on! Also when selecting bins you probably want to go with a monochrome colour scheme to help minimize visual clutter for you. Or selecting one accent colour for each room.Like with the detailed visual organizer, you may be able to use micro sorting containers for your makeup or other small items, and store then behind a cupboard door.
One thing you can do to help yourself stay organized is to have an open bin or basket for new things coming in to go. That way it has a temporary home for before you have the chance to organize and put away the pile, that isn’t just clutter on the counter. Solid containers, drawer dividers, small labels, and closed storage all work well for you. Finally, while you can probably remember where things go without labels, it is good to add them anyway. In case someone else comes and uses your system. It isn’t always obvious where things go to someone who didn’t set a system up.
A Pinterest example of this style can be found for a pantry in this image: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/233483561915115595/. Check out the Moderate Invisible pin as well, as I think that is a better image. Just imagine it being more detailed and that is your style!
The Test
On our Pinterest we have boards full of different organization ideas! New posts are always shared to Facebook. And my husband runs our Twitter (@TheByzLife) and Instagram accounts (username: thebyzantinelife)! And if you want to support our work at TheByzantineLife.com, consider joining us on Patreon. For as little as $5 a month you can get exclusive access to special posts, photos, and updates from our family! https://www.patreon.com/thebyzantinelifeHave a good week! Here’s to an organized home and life!
