3 Steps Toward An Organized Home & Why I asked for help

 

 

Welcome in!

Feel free to pour some water in the fridge and make yourself at home. Clean marble counters for entertaining. Large white rug to stretch out on. These are just a few of the calming feelings of an organized home, but in a small apartment – it didn’t always feel this way.  

When I first moved to New York, I had to say goodbye to stylish oversized couches, a dining room table, and many many college sweaters just to fit everything into 350 square feet. I purchased bins and figured I would find something to put inside them to keep my life organized. Deliveries would ring my doorbell and stress would seep its way into my small home with the opening of each box. I would hold something in my hands and spend too much time thinking, “Where should I put you?” 

Just a few items on the couch turned into many. I would cycle through moments of fervent cleaning, then the next day more packages would arrive and I would be back where I started.

Then one day I woke up and decided this isn’t the home I want to keep.

So I decided to make a change. 

Home Decor

 

 

 

3 Steps toward an Organized Home

Step 1 Read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

If you want to reorganize your home on your own, then this book will help reframe your mindset on organization and how to use space efficiently. I really loved reading this book & will probably gift it to many first home buying friends! 

“Keep only those things that speak to your heart, then take the plunge and discard all the rest” – Marie Kondo 

Step 2 Let Go + Group together + Find them a home base

This step is all about getting your hands dirty & going through everything you own. Organization is about categorizing items, so when you are in a hurry you know exactly where to find them. For my home, I have a drawer dedicated to all of my hair tools and hair brushes making it easy to find & quick to put away. This is the main takeaway from Marie Kondo’s book. I just cleaned it up a bit 😉

Pro Tip: Don’t start your organizing experience by buying bins first. Start by letting go of what you don’t need and finding an organization bin that is the right size for the items you have left. Otherwise you will have extra bin space and make excuses to keep items you don’t need just to fill them. 

Step 3 When you can’t do it on your own, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Hire an Interior Organizer. 

Growing up most of us are taught how to clean our room, but we were never taught how to organize it. Analyzing a space and picturing the most efficient way it can be used isn’t a gift everyone has and is exactly why I called a professional.

After quite a bit of research I chose to work with New York based millennial makeover organizer, Jolin at Sage Organization. She was truly wonderful! Like a breath of fresh air, she helped declutter and transform my home in 2 1/2 days. 

She helps you feel good about your space and comforts you to know that it’s okay to not have a perfectly organized house in this moment, you just have to think of where you want to be and what type of person you want to be. It has been months since Jolin created a flow of how things enter and leave my space. Ever since I invested in an interior organizer my home and my heart have been lighter, I can confidently say I have never been happier.

After all, your home is a direct reflection of your heart. 

Pro Tip: Follow @SageOrganization on Instagram for promotions and discounts on organizing your own home!

Organization In My Home

 

 

Your home is your haven.

I decided to change the way I felt about organization and you can too! Please let me know if you found any of these tips helpful or if you have any tips of your own – I’m always learning from you guys too. Loved sharing this piece – thank you for reading along!

 

P.S. Today’s Outfit Now on Sale!

Photographer: BeLightPhotography

Hair & Make Up: Artistry By Danielle B

10 Comments

  1. Sadie
    October 3, 2017 / 2:55 pm

    Nice

  2. Greta
    October 3, 2017 / 2:56 pm

    You are beautiful Caila ur hair to that outfit. Great steps on organization and glad u asked for professional help as well.

  3. Rebeckah
    October 3, 2017 / 3:12 pm

    Would love to see how you organized each section of your apartment: kitchen, bathroom, etc. What types of stuff did you keep and what did you part with?

  4. dee
    October 5, 2017 / 3:10 am

    Lovely

  5. Laura
    October 5, 2017 / 5:54 pm

    You mean to tell us you posted a blog about interior design and you only posted 2 pictures of your designed space and those two pictures was barely about the design.

    Come on girl. We want to see the space not some pictures of you fake laughing and the reason we read the post in the background

    • Caila Quinn
      October 19, 2017 / 10:10 am

      Hi Laura,
      Thank you for reading the post & totally understand where you are coming from! The post was meant to show people 3 steps toward organizing their own space (ex. perfect book to read, simple steps, who to call when they need help) instead of organization tips. But you are right, could have included more design pics.

      If you check out sageorganization.com there are more tips and organization pics.

      Will keep this in mind in the future.
      Best,
      Caila

  6. shannon
    October 8, 2017 / 12:41 am

    Great job and thanks for sharing this. I’m getting an organizer now after reading this Caila

  7. Jackie
    October 8, 2017 / 12:43 am

    Hair goals Caila and wonderful on getting more organized with life by getting someone to help with ur home. It turned out beautiful. Wonderful outfit as well.

  8. Hannah
    November 4, 2017 / 4:01 pm

    Hey!
    Earlier this week, I went to Target to buy a book on low carb diets but instead, I came out with The life-changing magic if tidying up. Today, I read your post and your post definitely made me more excited to read it! My husband was thrilled that I bought a book on organization. He is organized and I’m…everything that is messy. Haha (:

  9. Christy
    November 26, 2017 / 8:14 pm

    Where is your chair from?