How to Organize Your Home to Help Manage Your Family Life

Let's face it, it's easy to lose track of your family's schedule. Keeping track of all the school meetings, sports practices, doctors' appointments, and recitals can be overwhelming. One easy solution to stay on top of things is a Family Organization Station (FOS). Not only will your family be organized and on the same page, but your home will be more functional and clutter free.

Are you interested in creating your own FOS? Remember, you are only limited by your imagination. There are no wrong answers; it will all depend on what will make your space functional for your family's lifestyle.

Identify a Major Drop Off Zone in Your Home

A "Drop Off Zone" is typically located at the entry that is most used in your home. It is a space for transition in and out of your outdoor clothing, and any other accessories you might use throughout your day such as shoes, purses, electronics, umbrellas, and books.

If you always use your backdoor to get into the house, your drop off zone might be the kitchen; for others, it could be the end of the long hallway as you walk through the front door. That awkward space between rooms in your home that you have no idea what to do with since the day you purchased your home, can also be the perfect area for an FOS. Utilize your unused space!

What Will You Feature?

Much like the drop off zone, the essentials your station will need are going to be varied from case to case. For a busy family, it could include hangers for backpacks, an area for shoes, charging stations for electronic devices, and a large wall calendar. For others, an FOS might not include a Drop Off Zone, but might only consist of a calendar to keep track of monthly activities and nothing else.

Your FOS should focus on displaying those things that clutter up your space the most and it should be featured in a comprehensive way that's easy to access and understand. Labeling will be your best friend, especially if you have young children in the home. Keri from shaken together life provides great examples for why labeling works in an FOS.

Let Your Creative Juices Flow

You are creating the space to organize your life, so decorate it in a way that enhances it — a neat display will keep your mind at ease. It's important to note that keeping the space clean and orderly will also do wonders — creating space between hung items, editing and updating calendars regularly, and tossing expired schedules or paperwork will keep you up to date and create peace of mind.

Remember, at the end of the day, the best part of this is that you can be as creative as you want, so don't limit yourself! Gather inspiration from places such as Pinterest which can help with color schemes and theme ideas for your station. You can replicate stations you like or just take bits and pieces from many. When it comes to the functionality and décor of your project, anything goes!

Rules Will Keep Your Home Decluttered

Since you intentionally designed the space to reflect what was giving you difficulties with clutter,   it shouldn't be a problem to keep things organized. But just in case, you should make some ground rules, as far as what belongs and what doesn't belong in the area, to keep it from becoming an unloading zone.

Color coding and labeling will be really useful in helping to identify what belongs and what needs a new home. Designate an area for bulky, random and unwanted items early on; otherwise your new FOS will be useless.

By applying the aforementioned, you will be on the road to an organized year — no more worries about missing events and losing important paperwork. Not to mention that you will reclaim cluttered space, and may even find use for a space you had given up on all together!