Organization Ideas for the Home: The One Thing I Do Before Anything! {Printable}

I love searching Pinterest and some of my favorite blogs for organization ideas for the home. The pretty containers, the sun-filled rooms, the perfectly organized drawers — they all get to me. They make me feel motivated, excited and ready to get my home in order. But, before I touch one single item to get rid of or purchase one container for storage, there is something  I do with every room of the house.

This is the exact thing I also had my clients do when I owned my own Professional Organizing business, and they actually told me they loved this process.

I define the space.

What does that mean exactly?

It means I ask some simple question about the room or space I’m organizing. Each room has a purpose and defining that purpose helps me know what to get rid of, what to move to another room and even how to arrange the furniture.

Let me give you an example: the master bedroom.

What is the purpose of the master bedroom? For my home, it’s for sleeping, relaxing, hiding away (let’s be honest here) and it even serves as my workspace. Knowing these are the purposes of the master bedroom, I can then answer a few questions about the space. 

I actually write these down so I can refer back to them throughout the organizing process. I have a handy dandy printable for you at the end, so be sure to grab it!

1. What is the purpose of the room?
2. What happens in this room?
3. How does this room make me feel when I walk in?
4. What would I like to feel when I walk into this room?
5. What do I like least about this room?
6. What do I like most about this room?
7. Who primarily uses this room?
8. Does this room have enough light?
9. Does the decor bother me?
10. What pieces of furniture must stay?
11. What pieces of furniture do I like the most?
12. What pieces of furniture could go?
13. What are my dream items to purchase for this room?

Here’s how I would answer these questions for our master bedroom:

1. What is the purpose of this room: It’s a place to relax, sleep, reconnect with my husband and hide away when I need some alone time.
2. What happens in this room: sleeping, reading, working, storing items I don’t know where to put (which needs to stop), relaxing
3. How does this room make me feel when I walk in: When I first walk in I see the bed which makes me feel good. I like our bedspread, the decor and there’s no clutter. But when I look to the left, there’s my giant desk that I hate, piles of paper, boxes from shipments I’ve received and mix-matched decor that doesn’t really speak to me — that part makes me feel stressed.
4. What would I like to feel when I walk in this room: Instantly relaxed, happy and like it’s a little retreat area
5. What do I like least about this space: The section that is my office, the dresser, no curtains, decor on left side of room
6. What do I like most about this room: The bed area, bedspread, end tables, lamps, candles and wall decor by bed
7. Who primarily uses this room: My husband and me
8. Does this room have enough light: Yes, it’s the best place in the house for natural light
9. Does the decor bother me: On the left side yes. It has no flow
10. What pieces of furniture must stay: The bed, end tables, dresser (could be updated with paint and handles) and couch (husband uses it for relaxing and sometimes napping)
11. What pieces of furniture do I like the most: The bed and end tables
12. What pieces of furniture could go: Possibly the desk
13. What are my dream items to purchase for this room: A big  lounging chair or chaise, flat screen TV and Blu-ray player, two pieces of artwork, either a new dresser or update the old one

After going through the room and answering these questions, I can see that what bothers me the most and needs to be dealt with is my desk area. That’s when I would go a step further and evaluate that area asking myself what needs to be done, what could I change about it, what has to stay, etc.

Some options for that area could be to purchase a divider to section off the office area from the bed area. I actually do most of my work downstairs on another desk, so I could possibly get rid of the desk in the master bedroom and switch it out for a big chair to use when I do need to go upstairs to get some work done.

After answering these questions and really evaluating the space, I now have a great foundation to work from when it comes to de-cluttering and organizing the room. I now know I really need to figure out something about the office space that is driving me nuts! I knew this space was an issue for me, but I never knew how big of a stress it was until I really stopped to evaluate and define the space.

Does your home need some organization help? Is there a room in the house that constantly stresses you out and is an eye sore? By defining the space and knowing what you really want out of it before you do any de-cluttering and organizing, this can help ensure the space will turn into a place you feel really good about. A space that works for you and not against you day after day after day.

Here’s a printable I created for you to print out as many times as you need it. Just click on the image to print.