Home organization doesn’t have to be a big, huge Marie Kondo affair. It can be quick, fairly painless, and yes, inexpensive. That is, if you use these DIY home organization ideas.
That’s right, if you’re tired of the clutter and chaos in your home and want to transform your living space, you’re in the right spot. These tips range from using everyday items—like hangers, binder clips, and ice cube trays—in unexpected ways to simple organizational hacks that will help you create a more tidy and efficient home.
From repurposing old items to easy DIY hacks, these tips will help you transform your home into a tidy and organized haven without breaking the bank. So, let’s get started and say goodbye to the mess and chaos in your home! Find out the easy way to organize annoying cords and cables, how to use hangers in creative ways, and even how to organize your coupons.
Got the home organizing bug? Check out these other articles for fresh inspo:
- Genius ways to organize your kitchen cabinets
- Dollar Tree organization ideas
- How to get your Tupperware under control
- Clever pantry organization ideas
1. Create a toothbrush organizer out of a cutlery tray.
This toothbrush organizer idea will keep your family’s toothbrushes all in one spot and tucked away neatly in a drawer. Write each person’s name directly inside a non-skid organizer with a Sharpie, or lay down a liner and write on that instead.
Pull the whole thing out to wash it, and if you don’t use a liner, toss it into the dishwasher. Use the top compartment for toothpaste, dental floss, dental picks, and more.
Need to stock up on all things dental? Use toothpaste coupons and toothbrush coupons in order to save the most money.
2. Make a magnetic organizer to keep bobby pins easily accessible.
Get yourself a magnetic strip with adhesive on the back and stick it to the inside of a bathroom cabinet. This will keep metal bobby pins in place so you’ll be able to find them, but also so you’ll stop worrying about accidentally vacuuming them up. (Maybe that’s just me.)
Look for Goody coupons when you need to buy more bobby pins.
3. Use hot glue to turn a hanger into a clothes organizer.
One huge threat to home organization is clothes that constantly slip off hangers. One closet organization idea is to use a hot glue gun to add a bit of “stick” to the tops of your hangers. This works best if you have wooden or plastic hangers.
Make a little squiggle with the hot glue gun and let it dry completely. Then hang tank tops, thin shirts, or spaghetti strap dresses and watch them stay put.
Read the best laundry hacks of all time for more tips like this.
4. Create a cord organizer out of empty toilet paper rolls.
USB cords, phone charger cords, cords, cords, cords. If your house is as full of rogue cords as mine is, consider this little trick to keep them tidy and in one spot.
You can line empty toilet paper tubes up in a drawer to create a vertical “honeycomb” effect. Rolls don’t need labels with this method — just put a cord away inside an empty one.
Another idea is to label the tubes so everyone knows which cord goes where.
You know you’ll need to buy toilet paper soon. Why not use toilet paper coupons next time?
5. Use binder clips to make a freezer organizer.
Freezers are never big enough, nor are they known to be helpful for organizing food. That’s not an issue when you use this little freezer organization idea.
Clip opened bags of vegetables, fruit, or whatever to the bottom of a shelf in your freezer using larger binder clips.
Look for frozen food coupons to save money next time it’s on your grocery list.
6. Create a cable organizer out of binder clips.
Who knew binder clips could be so dang useful? Say goodbye to rummaging around behind your desk for your Mac charger, only to come up with another USB cable.
Clamp binder clips to the edge of your desk and thread the cables through both of the loops of the binder clip. You’ll have to snap the metal clip out of place for a second in order to do this. The loops will hold the heads of your cables so you can see them, and you can even pull them through to plug into your device without a snag.
This works best if you set the binder clip cable organizer up close to your power source.
7. Store sheets inside matching pillowcases for some genius linen closet organization.
This is a trick my grandma taught me. Fold your fitted sheet, flat sheet, and one of the pillowcases into a neat rectangle. Slip the stack inside the leftover pillowcase. Then you can stack the bundles in a pyramid of sorts with king-size sheet sets on the bottom all the way up to twin size on the top.
Not only are you eliminating the mess that comes from so many hands digging and tossing sheets around in the linen closet, but you’ll always be able to find what you need.
Check out these bedding deals when it’s time to replace your sheets.
8. Use a clear hanging shoe organizer to hold snacks.
Not only are snacks easily accessible, but you’ll quickly be able to see what needs replenishment with a quick glance. (Use snack coupons when you go to replenish!)
This trick isn’t just for snacks either! You can store any small items that otherwise get lost in the back of the pantry.
(Psst…these pantry organization ideas will change your life.)
9. Turn a hanging shoe organizer (…again) into a wrapping paper organizer.
Wrapping paper is one of the hardest things to organize. I’ve tried the upright plastic bins dedicated to the task, I’ve tried the flat, plastic bins you slide under a bed. It’s all just bulky and in the way.
Hanging your wrapping paper in a hanging shoe organizer is the way to go. Hang the whole thing in the hall closet (or whatever closet has the most space). Need a spot for bows and ribbon? Just toss those in too. They’ll sit at the base of the garment bag, but everything will be in one spot.
See all wrapping paper deals.
10. Use a carabiner as a hair tie organizer.
If you happen to live with someone with long hair, you know the particular pain of finding hair ties everywhere: on the kitchen counter, scattered around the floor, inside the dog’s mouth.
At least when they’re all loaded up on a carabiner, you can wrangle them into one spot. Heck, have multiple carabiners around the home, but still, at least they’re not floating around, waiting to attack your vacuum cleaner or cat’s digestive system.
Now all you need to do is convince your long-haired loved one to use the system!
11. Use a tension rod to make a cleaning supplies organizer under the sink.
Find a short tension rod and set it up underneath your kitchen or bathroom sink. Next, hang all of your cleaning supply sprays from the handle.
You can also slide a roll of paper towels on the tension rod for easy access. Plus, it’s an ideal spot to hang dish towels to dry.
Best part about this trick is that you get the bottom of your cabinet back and you can set up bins or other cleaning supplies organizers in that space.
12. Turn an accordion file into a coupon organizer wallet.
Paper coupons aren’t as common as they used to be as digital couponing grows. But they certainly still exist and in many cases, we see the highest value coupons in newspaper or printable form.
But how to manage all the coupons? Get a small accordion file and label each tab by coupon category: Food, Paper Products, Diapers, etc.
This way it’s easy to see what you have and to use your coupons before they expire. Read more about coupon organizing, including how to keep track of receipts for rebate apps and how to manage loyalty program memberships.
13. Create a DIY jewelry organizer out of ice cube trays.
Ice cube trays fit nicely inside a bathroom drawer and they’re ideal for organizing eyeshadow singles. You can quickly see all shades at once and choose the one you want. No more raking your fingers through eyeshadow singles and picking up each one to find out what color it is.
If they’re small enough, you might be able to fit blush or powder containers in the ice cube trays too.
See all makeup coupons and deals.
14. Turn a magazine holder into a hair tool organizer.
My hair tools used to take up an entire bathroom drawer. No more! Now they sit on bathroom counter space that was previously unused.
Of course, wait until your hair tools are cool to the touch before you store them in a magazine holder.
But this is a great way to keep them tidy, and to keep you from digging through tangled cords to find what you need.
15. A regular hanger can double as a scarf organizer.
A huge part of home organization is saving time. When your things are tidy, you can find what you need faster and get on with your task. This little trick for organizing scarves does just that. Plus, it’s easy to turn your hangers into a scarf organizer. Just fold your scarves in half and thread the open end through the loop end and pull tight. This keeps them from getting wrinkled, or slipping off the hanger (if you just fold them in half over the straight part of the hanger).
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