13 Beautiful Organizing Ideas for the Home

Banishing clutter is a hot topic these days. For all the articles, books and television shows on de-cluttering, it appears to be an on-going problem for a lot of people. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I have successfully worked with many clients and helped them figure out how to live with less clutter and create a calm and peaceful home. After 30 years in the business, if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that the clutter problem will not be solved by simply putting it in a basket and adding a label.

There are many different theories and suggestions on how to organize a home. From Marie Kondo’s ‘Does this spark joy?’, to Peter Walsh’s Reverse Clothes Hanger trick. You may have tried some of these methods already and perhaps for a while it helped contain the clutter. But for me, I have found that the best way to get ahead of clutter is to pay close attention to how you live day to day.

Understanding how you live is the first step towards creating a calm and peaceful home.

Minimizing the use of overhead cabinets for heavy items is beneficial for those who find lifting over shoulder height difficult, or for households with young children. Placing high use items in a drawer makes them more accessible and easy to see.

By understanding daily habits, schedules and preferences, a home can be organized for real life. Every consult I do with new clients involves analyzing their routines and how they go about their lives. We discuss how they eat, gather, play, rest and celebrate. I want to know where they put their keys when they come home, who hangs up coats and where shoes go. Do they do puzzles, who does the cooking and most importantly, does everyone in the family have a special place they can relax and unwind?

It’s these conversations that allow me to come up with beautiful organizing solutions. I meet people where they are and work with them to develop creative systems. My goal is for everything to have a home that is accessible, easy to maintain and looks beautiful.

I had this cabinet built to look like a wall with the tv mounted flush. Hidden from sight, but within easy reach,
are the children’s toys, family board games and table linens. If a new toy or board game arrives, it has to fit in
the drawer or something is eliminated to make room, keeping clutter under control.

If you’re reading between the lines then you’ve probably figured out that there is no one size fits all solution as each of us moves through life our own unique way. Taking time to dig deep and analyze day to day living is the first step in the journey to solution based designing. It means being realistic and making hard decisions while facing the truth of real life versus holding on to a vision of a perfect life.

Final Word

Simplicity is never simple. It involves a lot of thinking and work to evaluate, pare down and pay attention to what is necessary. Rather than minimalism, I prefer essentialism. Each of us is unique with differing needs and priorities. Only when this is understood will organizing systems lead to a calm and peaceful life. In the hope that it kindles a creative enthusiasm for your own journey, I want to share with you 13 organizing solutions. These are real life examples that helped my clients simplify, alleviate frustrations and make everyday life a little bit easier.

1. Concealed Appliances What happens when he likes the toaster handy and she doesn’t like appliances on the counter? Hide them behind a cabinet door! Open the door, lights come on and power is sent to the toaster so it’s ready to go.

2. Coat Hooks and an Indestructible Wall This small entrance has minimal room and it’s used by the kids all the time.To create a bit of a mud room, we put a basket for hats and mitts, cute coat hooks on the wall and a washable rug. To prevent scuffs and dings in the drywall, we panelled the wall in a sheet of laminate that was run through the CNC machine to create a custom design.

3. Hidden Shoe Storage Under a Built-In Bench Sharing spaces with someone often means compromising. For the person who just can’t/won’t/doesn’t want to put their shoes away in the hall closet, it means coming up with a creative solution. This storage idea, based on an Ikea cabinet, makes storing shoes easy. And since this was a custom piece, we made it strong and wide enough to act as a bench.

4. Hidden Shoe Storage Behind a Faux Wall The entry to this condo wasn’t very wide. We made a narrow cabinet and angled the shelves so shoes could be stored and hidden behind closet doors. The doors to the cabinet are sleek with a reveal so it looks like a wall instead of a bulky closet.

5. A Television that Easily Disappears Televisions are big black soul sucking boxes that can overtake a room. As much as it would be nice to not have televisions in living spaces, I know that’s not really a choice. Hiding the tv is a great option and I have had my cabinet maker do several variations of cabinets with a TV lift. Press a button on the remote and up pops the TV.

6. Proper Storage for Daily Use Items There’s nothing pretty or sexy about having the right storage, but does it ever make life better. When I had the chance to design my own kitchen, I knew I wanted a cabinet that could easily store my oversize baking sheet. With a family of 3 teen boys, I used this all the time and was tired of digging through the closet to get it out. Cooking became so much easier having this accessible.

7. Kitchen Command Central Having a home in the kitchen for family calendars, schedules, notes, files, computer cords and to do lists is a priority to me when designing kitchens. Even with home offices, most families have piles of papers in their kitchen that they need to keep close. Having a designated space makes things so much tidier keeping papers and cords off the counter.

8. Tea Towel Storage and Drying Rack One of my favourite Aunties lived in a 1950’s bungalow that she kept immaculate but never fully renovated. Even as a small child I was intrigued with her tea towel storage and knew I wanted the same thing. This is one of the first things I included when designing my own kitchen. No tea towels hanging on the stove handle to dry.

9. Secret Liquor Cabinet When we renovated this home, he wanted to keep the bar and she was set on having a cozy space that didn’t include a bar. After much back and forth and listening to both their reasonings, we came up with hidden storage for beverages. When entertaining the door slides over, lights come on and beverages are readily available. When party’s over, the door slides back and it becomes a sleek looking panelled wall.

10. Easy Oil & Spice Access There’s always a few spices, oils and vinegars that get used the most. Having those easily accessible makes prepping everyday meals so much easier. In most kitchens I install, we do a pull out oil and spice drawer with cutting board storage on the bottom.

11. Artistic Coat Hooks Calgary has the most unpredictable weather necessitating having every type of outwear one owns readily available, making closets quite full. When guests come over it’s nice to have an easily accessible place to hang their coats. I like to put up coat hooks that look like art when empty and function as a coat/purse holder for guests.

12. Combination Dining Room and Office If a dining room is only used for very special occasions a couple of times a year, that’s a lot of space in a home sitting empty. Creating a multi purpose room is a better use of space. For this client we made the dining room multifunctional as it acts as a library, games table, part time office and a dining room when needed.

13. Grouping Collections There’s a fine balance between having a clutter free home and a home that’s stark and lacking personality. In this home we decided the best way to showcase grandma’s watercolours was to group them all together and hang the collection from 2nd floor to basement. It makes one bold statement and looks solid and quite impressive.