Did you know that we all have an organizing style whether we are organized or not? In this blog and the video above, I show you how to maximize your natural tendencies to look for and put items away according to the six different organizing styles. And, I show you how they work in a small linen closet.
I’m Terry Elisabeth, author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps” where I show you how to organize your spaces according to your personal organizing style so that your spaces can finally stay organized.
If you need help organizing or just love organizing videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!
If you haven’t already, I want to remind you to grab my free organizing resources here. That way, you can get jump started on your organizing journey and finally have peace, order, and beauty in your spaces!
Now let’s talk about the organizing styles. I will be using the linen closet today as an example. In these examples, they illustrate what your linen closet would look like if you were to maximize your organizing style. There is a difference between being “The Disorganized Stasher” and “The Organized Stasher”. For each organizing style, I will be explaining your natural habits, where you get into trouble, and what works for you regarding setting up organized systems. I will be showing you how to store towels, linens, back up toiletries, and other supplies for your organizing style.
“The Piler”
YOUR HABITS
You leave things out in the open as visual reminders where you can easily grab them to use again. You like things in a certain order and your piles are very logical. You may have the perfect system in your head but until you can set up a perfect system for your piles, your perfectionism paralyzes you until you find the time.
WHERE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE
When you leave too many things out (due to your paralyzing perfectionism), that is when you get into trouble. That thing you left out to remind you to use and make it easier to “find” becomes difficult to find when you have left so many things out that you cannot find anything. Others who do not have your organizing style tend to clash with you.
WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
You can benefit well from removing your linen closet doors as open shelving works better for you since you tend to be quite visual. But removing your closet doors is a matter of preference in how well you maintain your spaces with or without them and your aesthetic.
You can also benefit from specific labeling. For example, you can label each spot for each product if you would like. But, my warning to you is to not wait until you have the perfect label maker (paralyzing perfectionism) or whatever else it might be that may hinder you from getting organized. Go ahead and create general labels for now and then refine your labels, even color-coding them. In this example, we have a color per person: grey for dad, taupe for mom, and white for Olivia. The items that can be used by mom, dad, and Olivia have all three colors in the label. Mom and dad’s sheets and towels have their two colors.
Containers that work for you are any that are easy to reach into and out of like these. For any items, you need to store in here that you may only need to access occasionally, you will want to use clear bins.
“The Stasher”
YOUR HABITS
You like your surfaces clear as this helps you to clear your mind. Visible messiness bothers you whether it is in your own space or even a public area. (Raising my hand and pointing to myself … except I am an organized “stasher”.)
WHERE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE
When you stash too many things away without an organized storage system, that is when you get into trouble. You put things away in haste and cannot easily retrieve items and can feel overwhelmed by the disorganization hiding in your secret corners.
WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
You benefit from creating zones to keep items in or close to where you use them. So, if you happen to throw your cleaning supplies in your linen closet, you will want to create a section for your cleaning supplies.
Containers that work for you are anything with dividers for your specific needs. Creating a labeled and divided section for your items helps you to “stash” them where they belong instead of having them in a jumbled mess when you are trying to clear your surfaces in haste. And you don’t have to have your items perfectly aligned like they are in this example. You can get away with throwing your sheets and hand towels in labeled totes, for example. The key for you is to create labeled spaces where you can “stash” or throw items.
For any items, you need to store in here that you may only need to access occasionally, you will want to use opaque bins with large print labels.
“The Collector”
YOUR HABITS
You tend to have a lot of interests or like to work on multiple projects or hobbies that require lots of supplies. You can tend to stockpile things you think you may need in the future. Even if the items you have are not being used or will not be used any time soon, you may keep items because they are ‘new’ or unused or because they cost of lot of money.
WHERE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE
When you cannot get rid of anything and continue to purchase items, that is when you get into trouble. You may have dealt with some events in your life that required you to learn how to survive on less or you may have been raised by a family who has experienced such events.
WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
You can also benefit from removing your linen closet doors. But, again, removing your closet doors is a matter of preference in how well you maintain your spaces with or without them and your aesthetic.
In this example, you like to make your own products. You will have every tool you can think of in order to do that. So, you will have tackle boxes and/or dividers within these bins to contain all the little parts for your supplies. Bins that stack well, like these simple shoe bins, also work well for you because they maximize space to hold all of your supplies
Be sure to label everything so that you can easily find what you need.
“The Tosser”
YOUR HABITS
You love sticking to your essentials. You do not care one bit for clutter. You rarely purchase new items, as well, unless you find there is an absolute need. When you do purchase new items, you are easily able to let go of the old. Items do not hold much sentiment for you as you find more value in their memories.
WHERE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE
You easily throw things away … even new items. When you throw other people’s items away though or even your own personal sentimental items, that is when you get into trouble.
WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
If you live with others you will be mindful of creating systems in consideration of other people’s things.
Bins labeled per person will be very helpful for you in the linen closet. And the bins don’t even have to be for back up toiletries like they are in this example. If your linen closet is centralized in your home, you can use bins or baskets labeled per person to toss their items into if you come across them in the house.
My mom is “The Stasher” like me, for the most part, but she is also “The Tosser”. She has thrown our things away in haste when cleaning … even homework! So, if you realize this is you. It would be great if you could get your household together to decide if you will put their items away in their rooms as you come across them or if you will use a centralized location like the linen closet. You will also want to take the time to understand what items are important or sentimental to them so that you are extra-mindful to not throw those items away in haste. For example, your child may have a favorite toy that they love even if it’s broken. To you, you may find it invaluable, but to them, it’s special.
“The Tidier”
YOUR HABITS
You tend to like things looking tidy and aligned. There may be no rhyme or reason to how your items are stored but you like them to look as if they are organized by straightening them up. You may think that if something is out of sight, it is out of mind, so you leave things out to not forget they are there.
WHERE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE
When you do not categorize your items, that is when you get into trouble. You will have straightened up piles, but do not know what is in your piles.
WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
Once you have purged your unneeded items, since you like to keep things tidy, you will not have trouble maintaining your systems … especially if they are decorative. These more decorative baskets will make you want to put your items away in the labeled areas.
Since you also are very visual like “The Piler” and may have to transition out of your fear of “out-of-sight-out-of-mind”, you can also benefit from removing the doors on your linen closet. As you come to understand the organizing process, that fear will reduce over time, and you will be able to keep your spaces organized, whether open and closed.
“The Defyer”
YOUR HABITS
You tend to look disorganized but feel that you know what you have and can find things when you need them. When you begin to evaluate your spaces, you will find that you have an organizing style dominating in one or more of the styles previously described.
WHERE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE
When you experience stresses like ridicule for ‘looking’ disorganized or overwhelm due to life experiences, that is when you get into trouble. You do not see your spaces as having a problem, so you leave ‘well enough’ alone so it gets to a point where you really cannot find items.
WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
Your best bet is to be resourceful. You can re-purpose deli meat containers or any containers you lost the lid on to store different categories of items. You can keep a wipe off marker nearby to label these bins.
If you know you won’t fold your sheets and towels, you can also throw those into bins or, even better, you can install hooks on the back of your linen closet doors. Hooks work really well for you as you can just drape your towels over them in a snap.
Over time, as you reap the benefits of getting organized, you may find you have one of the previous dominating organizing styles and refine your organized systems further.
I hope this snippet of the organizing styles as displayed in the linen closet has been helpful for you in beginning to discover your organizing style. Keep in mind that you can have a combination of organizing styles. You can also have a different organizing style for different areas in your home. You can be “The Stasher” in your closets and “The Piler” with your paperwork. Remember though, that you can maximize your natural tendencies to look for and put items away in each of these areas once you learn how to maximize your organizing style.
What is your organizing style? Do you think you know it yet? Share in the comments below. If not, I can make a post on how to discover your organizing style. Go ahead and let me know in the comments below. Don’t forget to grab your FREE 7-step guide to organizing any space along with my organizational goal-setting resource. That way, you can get jump started to organize your spaces and reap the many benefits of organizing including peace of mind and increased productivity! Who doesn’t want that! In my next post, I will show you how to print on sticky notes so that you can create calendars and vision boards to increase your productivity. So, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the notification bell, so you can know the moment it is up and never miss another organizing video.
Happy Organizing!
Author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps“