When you think about what makes your custom home feel personalized and luxurious, unique design and lifestyle features probably come to mind. But there is something else that lends any space a sense of elegance: tidiness!
We know, it’s not the most glamorous concept, but actually it can be. Imagine the walk-in closet or library of your dreams … no matter how expertly designed, its “wow factor” will be lost if clutter is tossed about everywhere. Still, we also know that the modern day has most of us living some pretty hectic lives, and organizing can end up last on the list. So, we thought we’d put together some top organizational tips to make it easier!
Keep reading to create a haven where there is a place for everything and everything is in its place.
#1 For Custom Homes Put Everything in Containers
Photography Courtesy of The Container Store
It’s time for a trip to The Container Store! We’re going to start off by touching on the concept that has made the queens of organization, Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin of The Home Edit, household names: containers everywhere!
While it might seem counterintuitive to add more objects into the mix when you’re trying to organize, the addition of containers can establish a guide for you in your organizational journey! They encourage you to categorize and define, which is an essential part of organization that lasts. Why? Because in the midst of your everyday routines, you’ll know exactly where any item should be placed without having to think about it too much.
And voila! That’s how you avoid messes building up over and over again.
#2 Use Color In Your Luxury Custom Home
Photography Courtesy of The Container Store
Speaking of lifestyle and organizational brands like The Home Edit, you’ve probably noticed that they love a good rainbow. That being said, others, like Marie Kondo, do take a more neutral route if that’s your thing!
But whether we’re talking about sage green and beige or hot pink and cerulean, it makes sense to pull like-colored items together in a given space. Obviously you aren’t going to put your red shoes next to your red kitchen appliance (although, if you want to, you do you!), but there are ways to use color to your advantage. In the closet, consider coordinating clothes by color. In the pantry, group foods by packaging color.
This method makes things more organized for two reasons. First of all, the brain likes to group by color, so it will give you the feeling that things are easier to find and put away. When you need to put a beige pair of shoes away, you won’t have to think about where they go. When you’re looking for the Cheerios, instead of making your brain think about where you put the cereal, it simply needs to think, “yellow!” Call it a psychological trick, if you will! Second, it just makes things look pretty, and for many of us, that is the real goal behind organization.
#3 When Building A Custom Home, Go Vertical
Photography by Max Vakhtbovych
Too often, we keep things locked into a traditional way of organizing, but when you have a custom home, you have the chance to personalize and optimize. That means that instead of having a small mud bench for shoes, backpacks, purses, umbrellas, etc., you could create a “mud wall” that uses up vertical space.
When brainstorming customized organization solutions, the concept of going vertical is a good one to contemplate! For whatever reason, many of us forget to use the space that moves upward. That’s a waste! And the number one rule of organization is, of course, to waste no space.
#4 Take High-Use Items Mobile With Your Custom Made House
Photography Courtesy of The Container Store
One of our favorite modern-day organizational boons is the rolling cart. Not only does it offer flexibility. It also provides a special space where you can showcase items that all fall into one smaller category. For example, if you love to read, you could put all of the books you have yet to read on your rolling cart. If you like to sew, store your sewing supplies there!
This is also a fantastic idea for you parents! Put all of your diaper changing or breastfeeding supplies on a cute little rolling cart (which can now be moved from mom and dad’s bedside to baby’s nursery and vice versa—another win!). If you have older kiddos, create a craft station on the rolling cart.
There are so many ways to utilize this organizational trend, and having a station specific to one task or activity that can move wherever you need epitomizes the beauty of a well-organized life!
#5 In Building A Custom Home Checklist, Don’t Get Stuck on Perfect Categories
Photography by Liza Summer
For our final tip of the day, we want to give you some advice related to your perspective on the organizational process in your custom home. Whatever you do, don’t get too stuck on the idea that your categories have to be conceptually flawless. For example, if you have a perfectly color-coded closet lineup, try not to let those two multicolored floral dresses drive you bonkers.
When we get excited about embarking on our custom home’s organizational journey, it can sometimes become an all-consuming obsession! It’s always important to remember why you’re doing this in the first place: to make things more accessible and simple to find. Two floral dresses at the end of the rainbow aren’t hindering that, are they? You still know where they are!
So, there you have it! We hope these 5 organizational tips for your custom home will end up being helpful and inspiring.
If you’re looking for a custom home in which to take your next organizational journey, maybe it’s time you explored our floor plans page to see what you could be working with at Upper East River.
