Homeownership, Suburban Living

5 Organizing Tips For Your New Home Straight From The Home Edit’s New Book

If Marie Kondo is the queen of all things tidying (and folding), the women behind The Home Edit take the crown on organizing. By way of pretty labels and rainbow colors, THE has garnered a cult Instagram following who are devoted to learning how to better edit their own homes and maximize the spaces they live in.

Now with a New York Times Bestseller under their belt, the masterminds behind the low bar lifestyle are sharing tips within their aesthetically perfect coffee table book. We took on the hard task of reading through it and gawking at beautiful images of well-organized drawers, so that you could tackle this new stage of your life while being guided by some of their pro tips.

We know how hard it is to navigate mortgages, pre-approval, or getting to know a new agent, so consider these lifestyle tips your reward for making it through the first time home-buying process.

Low bar lifestyle

We mentioned this above, but we wouldn’t mind tattooing it on our forearm so we never forget it. The founders of The Home Edit push using the low bar lifestyle mentality when doing just about anything. Basically, this means setting yourself up to feel fulfilled and successful no matter what and building yourself up as you go. In the case of organizing, we’re talking starting with the smallest drawer in your home instead of the pantry. Give yourself a W with the drawer and keep tackling organizing from there.

It’s all in the group(ings)

This is the section where The Home Edit’s magical labels come into play. You want to group and you don’t want to subcategorize until you have your groups set and decided. Think: breakfast, dinner, shirts, pants, before you start breaking things down by cereal types or leggings versus jeans. Having the anchor groups will help you figure out whether you need the subgroups or whether living with the larger groups is what will bring you the most peace.

5 edit questions

The Home Edit book outlines each of these, but they bear repeating as a single mantra of sorts — “Do I need it? Do I ever use it? Do I ever want to use it? Do I like it? Is it sentimental?” Asking yourself these questions will give you a fact based place to start when it comes to organizing and deciding what stays and what doesn’t. The questions ask for “yes” or “no” as an answer, so try not to give yourself too much room for grays within it.

ROYGBIV it. ROYGBIV it.

Say it twice so you don’t forget it. Err on the side of organizing by rainbow colors. This is an especially important habit to put into place if you have little ones in your home. Grouping by color means that you won’t be the only one who can organize and pick up messes. Encourage your little ones to bring all the colors together neatly – whether we’re talking crayons or shirts – and make it as fun of an experience as you can.

One in, one out

This is probably the hardest and most important tip The Home Edit book shares. It’s the key to success if you want to make sure your time spent organizing doesn’t go to waste. Decide (and promise yourself) to only add into the mix the things that need replacing or have run out. The Home Edit focuses less on minimalism and instead on making sure that you’re respecting the space you do have and not cramming things in it just for the sake of it. Being intentional with it will help you feel like you’re in sync with your own space.

The best part about the home buying process is that no matter how small or big your new home, it’ll most likely have more square footage to play with than your past apartment did. Follow along with the blog and our Instagram or Facebook accounts for more lifestyle tips that will help you turn your house into a home.