I’m a decluttering pro – 5 viral organizing trends that changed my life & you could easily adopt them too
TRENDY organizing hacks often seem too good to be true, but decluttering experts can find the cream of the crop.
One busy mom tried out a number of viral hacks, and five worked so well that she uses them every day.
Kallie Branciforte speaks candidly about running her household on her YouTube channel, But First, Coffee, sharing parenting tips and home hacks with her 859k subscribers.
Branciforte said that she’s often skeptical of viral organizing hacks.
“I see them and I’m like ‘I don’t know if that would really work,'” she admitted.
But a few strategies won her heart once Branciforte put them to the test, and the super-organized mom said they changed her life.
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“Once I started doing them, I absolutely loved them,” she said.
DECANTING
An ultra-popular strategy that you’ve probably seen in kitchens across Instagram, decanting is a favorite of influencers.
Whether it’s quinoa, sugar, tea bags, q-tips, soaps, or any other household staple, social media stars can’t get enough of moving new purchases out of their boxes and into cute, reusable containers.
“Obviously this looks really really nice, but there was always a part of me that wondered if it really worked,” Branciforte admitted.
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Using the strategy in an unexpected area changed her mind, and the mom called it a “lightbulb moment.”
She decanted all her kids’ toys, which she’d been keeping in their original packaging for storage, into stackable plastic bins.
“Everything came out of the boxes and the bins and the packaging that it came in,” she recalled.
Immediately, Branciforte realized how much easier the plastic bins would make organizing her kids’ toys.
“The tops stayed on, it’s easier to get the toys in and out, these things fit easily on shelves now,” she said, showing clips of her kids’ super-organized toys.
When decanting the toys was a success, Branciforte decided to expand.
“That’s when I started implementing it in places like our spice cabinet,” she said.
Especially when cooking, she said, being able to see ingredients saves time and lets her quickly decide what to make. Plus, she no longer buys excess food at the grocery store – she can tell what’s running low and what’s plentiful in her kitchen at a glance.
“It’s well worth the few extra minutes that it takes me,” she said, adding that she decants food as soon as she brings it home from the grocery store.
LABELING
Of course, what would decanted containers be without labels?
This was another tip Branciforte resisted, in part because she was the primary person who put things away, anyway.
“Is it really necessary to label something in a house where you live?” she had asked. “You know where the stuff goes.”
Once she put the labeling practice in place, Branciforte realized it wasn’t excessive at all, referring to it as a “shortcut” for her brain.
“Our working memory can only hold on to so many pieces of information,” Branciforte said.
Labeling, though, makes it possible to put things away without really thinking. You don’t need to try and remember where the scissors go, or which containers are meant for dry goods.
The practice tends to “keep things more organized because it’s mindless,” she explained. “It helps things happen more automatically.”
USING BINS
Branciforte uses bins in every room, but she warned other would-be organizing obsessives not to buy up all the cute baskets and containers at Target just because they’re pretty.
To make this hack work, you’ll need to go in with a plan.
“Sometimes we can convince ourselves that we need another bin, and that will solve all our problems,” Branciforte said.
“You don’t need another bin,” she corrected. “You need the right bin.”
As an example, she showed off the clear bins where she keeps food storage containers.
The divided bins keep tops with bottoms, and help incentivize the family to put things away in the proper place when they aren’t being used, Branciforte explained.
Before buying bins, she said, “you really need to think about what you need to organize first, and the space that you are organizing in.”
FILE-FOLDING CLOTHES
Like many families, Branciforte started “file-folding” her clothes when she realized how much easier it made getting dressed.
“Instead of putting your clothes into a dresser the way we usually do, we fold them so you can stack them horizontally,” she explained.
“Sure, this looks really really nice, but it’s actually so much more practical.”
Being able to see all her clothes at once makes picking an outfit fast and easy.
In fact, Branciforte started using this method for her kids’ clothes, and then put the practice to work in her own closet.
“I adopted it in my own dresser,” she admitted. “It was such a game-changer.”
BUNDLING LINENS
Branciforte’s final tip is a lifesaver for anyone who hates struggling to put their fitted sheet on the bed, then hunting down a flat sheet and matching pillowcases.
Here’s how she stores linens now: She folds her fitted sheet, folds the pillowcases alongside it, and then wraps it in the folded top sheet, tucking in the ends of the fabric.
“Now I have an entire set of sheets I need for a single bed all stored in a nice little package,” she said.
The bundles of linens stack neatly in the linen closet, and whether she’s changing her own bedsheets or making a bed for a guest, Branciforte saves lots of time.
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“It’s such a breeze now,” the mom said.
“I can go into the linen closet, they’re in a nice little package. I take them out, and I’m good to go.”