Subtract before you store
Organizing is what you do after you have fewer things, not instead of it. Buying bins first is the classic mistake, because it produces neatly boxed clutter and costs money. Work one category at a time rather than one room at a time, pulling every coat or every mug into a single pile so the duplicates are obvious. Keep what you used in the past year and what you would buy again today at full price. Move the rest out of the home within the week, since a donation bag sitting in the hallway is still clutter. Then measure the shelf, the drawer and the gap under the bed before buying any container.
Prime space and deep storage
The zone between your knees and your shoulders is the valuable real estate, and it belongs to the things you use daily. Weekly items go just above or below it. Seasonal and rare items go up high, under the bed, or at the back of the closet. Bed risers add five or six inches of clearance, enough for a full row of lidded bins. Store things where you use them and not where they seem to belong.
Room by room
- In the closet, slim matching hangers, a second rod hung below the first for shirts, and shelf dividers can nearly double capacity.
- In the kitchen, shelf risers, hooks under the cabinets, a magnetic knife strip and the insides of cabinet doors all recover space that stands empty.
- At the entry, three hooks, a tray for keys and a shoe rack stop the pile that otherwise forms on the nearest chair.
- For paper, scan what you can and keep one file box for the rest, holding tax records for at least three years.
Renters can do most of this without drilling, using tension rods, over-door racks, freestanding shelves and adhesive hooks.
Making it look bigger
A small room reads as cluttered long before it is full. Closed storage calms a room more than open shelving does, so put small items behind doors or in matching boxes and leave a third of any open shelf empty. Keep the floor visible, choose furniture on legs, clear the flat surfaces, and hang a large mirror opposite a window to double the daylight.
Tip Think hard before renting a storage unit. At a hundred dollars or more a month, a year of fees usually exceeds the value of everything inside it.
