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The art of organizing homes
While an organized house looks nicer, some people feel more comfortable in disorder. Most of the time, however, people simply do not know how to arrange their belongings, leaving their rooms packed and jumbled.
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Illustration of an organized home. (Shutterstock/File)
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ou may be preparing a presentation and need reference books, but you cannot find them anywhere. After a lot of time and effort, the books turn out to be nestled with other books and maps in a cabinet.
A glance at a friend’s house will give an idea about how they perceive tidiness. While an organized house looks nicer, some people feel more comfortable in disorder. Most of the time, however, people simply do not know how to arrange their belongings, leaving their rooms packed and jumbled.
When people cannot find space for new furniture, tools or toys, they may think of renovating their house, but it could just be time to learn about home organization.
“The skill of organizing possessions is most needed with the ever shrinking residential spaces,” said Bayu Fristanty from Rapi-Rapi Professional Organizer.
Neat houses, he believes, will make the occupants healthier because the homes are easier to clean.
With increasingly smaller land plots, houses are made more open without partitions.
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“This makes rooms look more spacious, but goods are more likely to be messily arranged,” said Rabani Kusuma Putra from Nimara Architects.
“Many people are searching for small houses rather than apartments in order to gain home ownership status and the possibility of expansion,” added Rabani.
Such demand has prompted architects to develop spacious layouts that maximize the use of every corner of a small house.
Organizing homes of unmarried people is different than organizing those of families with children. The efforts to create a neat home will depend on the needs of the house owners.
“Single people can easily tidy up their homes on weekends, which is difficult for people with children,” said Bayu.
“Sometimes we have the habit of putting automobile keys anywhere, only to experience panic the next morning trying to remember where we put the keys,” Bayu said.
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Firman suggested that unused possessions should just be disposed.
“One of the causes of jammed houses is stacking old articles even when new ones have been obtained,” he said.
This can be difficult. Some people keep them for sentimental reasons, while others expect to reuse them in the future. However, once they get rid of unnecessary items, precious extra space will be revealed.
Both Bayu and Firman recommend what they call periodic goods auditing.
“Audit time can be adjusted to the rhythm of family activities. Frequent purchases of new items of course requires more regular auditing,” Bayu said.
In order to better manage unused items, families can put them under several categories, such as things to be discarded, donated or sold in garage sales, such as charity garage sales, where people sell second-hand items for donations.
“A lot of people have garage sales where we can also sell our unused items,” added Bayu.
Other items can be gifted to relatives or friends, like baby equipment, tools and books.
“The mushrooming e-commerce deals also give us an opportunity to sell usable old possessions,” noted Firman.
By reevaluating one’s possessions on a regular basis, most houses can become clutter-free.
“So, before deciding to expand your home, household goods should be audited to free up space,” Firman said.
Furthermore, without sorting through belongings, a big house can turn into an even bigger mess. Tidy homes do not only promise easier cleaning, but also minimize missing items that can create drama the next morning.
