3 Inexpensive Home Organization Ideas

There’s never room, is there?

young caucasian woman standing in clean house holding cleaning products, looking at tidy room

It seems to be the case no matter where you live. You can be trying to squeeze a decade worth of belongings into the same matchbook-sized New York City apartment you’ve been renting since college, or you may have just moved into a spacious Louisiana mansion after months spent scouring Baton Rouge homes for sale. It’s never enough. Like a mask-clad killer in a horror movie, the clutter keeps coming back. Again and again and again.

Every villain has a weakness, though, and that’s as true for disorganization as it is for Jason Voorhees. Ready to take a stand and finally get the chaos under control? Arm yourself with these three inexpensive home organization ideas.

Shoe Organizers Are Good For More than Just Shoes

Shoe organizers are great for organizing shoes. No duh, right? Even if you’re not drowning in footwear, though, shoe organizers can be a huge help. In fact, I recommend keeping one in every closet, if not every room. The best ones are those that can be hung on the inside of a door. With their plethora of pockets, you can store all kinds of odds ‘n’ ends.

Put one on the front door to help you keep track of gloves, sunglasses, car keys, umbrellas, and scarves. Put one in the pantry to better sort your oven mitts, spatulas, can openers, and seasonings. Put one in the bedroom to consolidate your makeup, one in your craft room for your tools and supplies, and one in your bathroom for toiletries, combs, and medicines. The possibilities are endless.

Cut Cardboard Boxes Down into Versatile Dividers

Staying organized isn’t easy. Even if you buy a whole bunch of new shelves, bins, or cabinets to help give your clutter a place of its own, it isn’t long before everything ends up mixed together. Want me to let you in on a little secret? Size matters. And when it comes to organization, smaller is better.

No, seriously. Think about it’s easy to keep track of the big stuff, it’s all your smaller belongings that seem to wind up misplaced. Sure, you can throw everything together on a shelf or in a junk drawer, but when you really need one specific item, that just results in you digging through a mixed-up mess to find it. Most store-bought storage options are too big, or lack enough useful nooks and crannies. Don’t waste money buying smaller storage items to put inside your big ones, though. Just cup up some old cardboard boxes to create dividers that can go anywhere!

Wash Out and Reuse Old Jars for EVERYTHING

Jars a gift from the universe. I know, when you’re struggling to open a container of pickles, it doesn’t seem like it, but really, it’s true. Why? Because when you’re done with those pickles, you have a handy-dandy organizational tool for life. Just don’t reuse them for food. That’s a no-no.

Jars have a lot of things going for them. They’re see-through, so you don’t have to label what you put in them. They come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. They’re sturdy, so you don’t have to worry about damaging what’s inside. And best of all, you get a new one practically for free every time you buy pickles, jelly, salsa, mustard, protein powder, or whatever. Tasty snacks and a useful storage tool? Yes, please!