Organization Skills that Backfire

Do you fancy an entire afternoon at The Container Store? Does your label maker have a prominent place on your most-used craft shelf? Is the organizational section at IKEA your idea of a perfect date? Then chances are you’re obsessed with how your home is organized and how functional it is. But did you know there are common organization mistakes that can actually make your home look more cluttered or not actually help you at all? It’s true! Read on to find out if some of your tricks aren’t actually working. 

Color-Coded Closets

In theory, the idea of organizing your closet by color may make sense or at least look aesthetically pleasing. However, it’s super high-maintenance and not altogether practical. Instead of organizing by color, you’re better off organizing by season. That way you’ll at least know what garments make the most sense to wear depending on what season we’re experiencing. 

Labeling Every Small Item

Chances are, if an item is in your home, you tend to have an idea where it belongs. Spending a lot of time organizing individual items (like socks or scarves) only serves to create extra steps in your list of chores. If you’re intent on labeling, spend your time using your label maker where it matters… like differentiating different kinds of baking ingredients that tend to look the same. That way when your husband uses powdered sugar in  the place of flour and wonders why his cookies melted all over the oven, you can ask if he read the label. Ask me how I know. 

Organizing Books by Color

Now this one might start a bit of a debate… but experts caution against organizing your bookshelves by color. Of course, it’s your home and you are welcome to display your items in whatever way catches your eye and is pleasing to you. The thought process behind not doing it is that it’s often harder to remember what book you’re looking for based on its color. Usually, people reference books based on their genre or by the author. If it makes more sense to organize your shelves based off those guidelines, then do it! Otherwise, make those shelves as beautiful as possible. 

Here are a few other common organization tactics that you might not need to do. 

But we really want to know… how do YOU organize your bookshelves? Tell us in the comments!