Each home is totally different and there is not a perfect way to keep organized. Organization rituals should be crafted to suit you and your family’s lifestyle, habits and tastes. De-cluttering will help re-discover your best things and will ultimately save time, money and stress. I’ve assembled some of my best tips to help you feel a new level of zen at home.

1) Keep a donation bag in your closet

The best time to de-clutter your closet is – constantly. Each time you try something on and do laundry, consider what you no longer need. Your laundry can really reveal your go-to wardrobe and what items are just taking up space. Rather than doing a purge twice a year and dedicating an entire weekend, get this time back and sort in the moment. This donation bag is also a great place to “test” whether you do really want to donate an item, like a holding zone. If you make a mistake – you can dig in and correct it!

Greatest news – you can make a really positive impact by choosing a local, deserving cause.

2) Your routine is your inspiration

Take a minute in each of your rooms and consider;

What do you use most often? These should be placed in the easiest to reach spots and support your routine. If you use your daily routine to prioritize your home organization, you’ll reach an all time high of efficiency. Pro-Tip: If you are building a new routine, make sure you set yourself up to do so. For example, finding a yoga or meditation practice is accelerated by dedicating a place in your home to practice with a mat, pillow and the right view. Similarly, hanging gym clothes on hooks behind doors to make groggy, early morning workouts easier to get started.

What is used occasionally? If you don’t use something often it could be stored behind a drawer or in a container. It shouldn’t slow you down, so these items are truly giving more room to the frequently used items. Occasional items might be seasonal or festive items. Pro Tip – To maximize room on extra deep bookshelves, consider which books you’ve already read or self-help style books, and create a second row. Bookshelves will appear clean and sorted, but you have double the capacity. Sorting by genre, book color, or family member is a fun twist on the norm.

What do you want to showcase? Select a few key things that are the room’s feature. Get rid of as much as you can to truly make the focal point shine. Afterall, this should be the conversation starter when company visits.

3) Start Big – Scale Down

Start your organization journey with your full home and then move to rooms, sections and then compartments. Once clutter is sorted into the right rooms, then you can tackle each room one by one with more focus and momentum. Divide each room into subsections and mini-challenges. For drawers and cabinets, consider using dividers within the drawers to keep sorting even clearer. The more compartments or “homes” for your belongings that exist, the longer the work will last organized and more time you’ll save over time.

Pro-tip: Wine boxes come with heavy-duty cardboard dividers that are excellent for storing stemware for parties or even sorting and storing your haircare tools.