7 Rooms Which Need a Home Organization Makeover Post COVID

Has your first (and hopefully last) worldwide pandemic made you want to S-C-R-E-A-M at your home because it’s sooooo disorganized? Is your frustration boiling over? Can you relate to the following?

• You ‘attempted’ to manage those Zoom calls for work from your make-shift home office (AKA your kitchen table). Your dog was barking and your ‘little angels’ (AKA your kids) were fighting in the background. Not exactly the professional image you were looking to portray.

• You’re ‘trying’ to keep some semblance of order in your mudroom. It’s an uphill battle. With everyone at home due to the pandemic your mudroom went from bad to worse.

• You’re ‘taxing’ your brain looking for storage places for extra T.P. (IF you could find it), paper towels and ‘mass quantities of food and drink’ (as the Coneheads used to talk about on Saturday Night Live). Your pantry and kitchen cabinets are already packed. Where can all this stuff go?

Didn’t this pandemic bring out the WORST in your home?

Well it’s high time to end your home organization and storage frustrations. It’s time to whip your home into shape and eliminate this chaos. And this article is written to serve up practical strategies to straighten out the craziness in 7 rooms in your home which were ‘blown-apart’ more than ever during COVID.

So, let’s dig into ways to organize these top 7 (or bottom 7 depending on how you want to look at it) disorganized rooms in your home.

Room #1 which needs a home organization makeover post COVID – your home office (if you have one)   

Who ever thought in one day you AND your spouse AND your two ‘perfect’ (sarcasm intended) kids would all be sent home from school and work? You’d all begin ‘working from home’ starting…. NOW! Can you say crazy?

If COVID made your den/home office even more of a disaster than it already was, here’s 3 ideas to get this space in better working order:

• Idea 1 – Add upper cabinets – While most home offices have a desk, a desk alone is often not capable of providing enough space for extra copier paper, manuals, printer cartridges etc. But wait (as the cheesy commercial would say) …here’s a simple idea which can help. Improve your (lack of) storage by using the ‘volume’ in your room. Add upper cabinets to claim untapped storage potential.

• Idea 2 – Clear your desktop by using drawers more effectively – If your home printer and copier make it IMPOSSIBLE to spread out like you did at work, here’s a thought. Use a pull-out desk drawer to hide the ugly copier. You’ll immediately gain more worktop space.

Image Source: CM Closet Design 

• Idea 3 – Hide ugly wires – Here’s a fact. If you hate the look and function of your office, you’ll also have a hard time being productive (right now you’re likely saying, “Mike, you’re such a genius…. NOT!”). And if the ugly wires you’re tripping over constantly is one source of frustration here’s an idea for you. Use a simple power supply organizer under your desktop to tame wire insanity.

If you want more home office organization tips read The 7 Biggest Mistakes of a Poorly Designed Home Office (and how to fix them) or click on the image below.

Room #2 which needs a home organization makeover post COVID – Your ‘little-used’ guest room  

Did your home seem to shrink during COVID?

Too many people. Not enough room.

No health club for a workout and a break from work and home life. No dedicated (and private) office space for you since your spouse took over the den. No playroom or craft room for the kids to keep them out of your hair when you needed to work at home.

Well – I’m here to tell you a secret (if you promise not to share it with anyone else). There’s a hidden space which is seldom used. You can put this space to work in your home RIGHT NOW. This space is your guest bedroom. Usually it’s the smallest bedroom in the house and is ‘eaten’ up by the guest bed (which is…hardly EVER used).

What’s cool is there’s an ‘old trick’ (actually a product invented over 100 years ago) which will catapult your use of your guest bedroom. This ‘trick’ is to install a Murphy wall bed.

With a wall bed you can pull it down (often only 2% of the time) when you have a guest (or hopefully the grandkids over). The other 98% of the time you’ll have a room for a home office (if you use a cool product like the Murphy desk bed shown below), a workout room, hobby space or even Zen meditation room.

If you’re intrigued about using a Murphy bed in your guest bedroom read 11 Frequently Asked Questions about a Murphy Wall Bed You Need to Know or click on the image below.

Room #3 which needs a home organization makeover post COVID – Your entryway/mudroom

Raise your hand if your mudroom has become messier during your ‘stay at home.’ If you didn’t raise your hand you’re either (a) lying or (b) being treated for OCD.

With your need for extra storage from binge-buying paper towels, toilet paper (if you could find it) and dog and cat food, your storage chaos (along with the #OftenDroppedOnTheFloor kids bookbags and too-many-to-count shoes, coats and hats) of your mudroom got worse. Junk is everywhere. It’s no wonder the kids (and your spouse) say they can’t even find the hand-sanitize your set out to be used before they came in.

The solution to this problem is an organized cubby or entryway cabinet system. Use pull out drawers for mittens, gloves, or excess shoes. Put bulk supplies behind entryway cabinet doors. Add hooks for bookbags or your spouses’ massive hat collection.

To learn more about entryway/mudroom storage systems read The 10 Commandments of Effective Mudroom and Entryway Success or click on the image below.  

Room #4 which needs a home organization makeover post COVID – Your disastrous pantry  

 So, did grocery shopping (and attempting to find places to put your groceries away) become the biggest pain in the rear during COVID? Those meals ‘to go’ from your favorite restaurant vanished in thin (as opposed to thick) air. Telling your kids to ‘buy lunch at school’ today was a thing of the past.

Meal prep, more meal prep and even more meal prep became your mantra (like it or NOT!).

The challenge became where in the H-E-Double-Hockey Sticks were you going to put all this food? The flimsy wire shelves in your kitchen pantry were already busting at the seams. You told your spouse you wouldn’t be surprised if these cheap shelves crumbled under the weight and came crashing down one day. And that was BEFORE the grocery-fest (AKA the pandemic) started.

And this is where a space-efficient, sturdy, adjustable pantry shelf system comes to your rescue. Don’t settle for dead space because the shelves are as fixed as your Father’s position on politics. Don’t continue to throw away expired cans in the back because you weren’t able to ‘rotate you stock’ (like they do in your neighborhood grocery store).

Treat yourself to a pantry closet with adjustable shelves, pull out drawers and even separators for your cookie trays. Don’t accept your pantry as a hopeless disaster.

To learn more about pantry organization systems read 5 Simple Steps to Design and Organize Your Kitchen Pantry.

Room #5 which needs a home organization makeover post COVID – Your beautiful (sarcasm intended) garage

There was a time you could fit your SUV and all your stuff (tools, holiday lights and bulk supplies) and STILL find room to park your vehicles in the garage. Then this equation happened:

(Kids + Their Stuff + More of Your Stuff) = (A Cluttered Garage with At Least One Car Parked Outside)

The garage (while it’s the biggest ‘unrecognized’ ‘room’ in the house) is (sidewalk) chalk full of storage potential. But you need ways to tame this mess. You need these storage-boosting ideas:

• Garage storage boosting idea #1 – Overhead storage bins – Add a storage system above your ‘rigs’ for those lesser used tubs with your holiday lights or out of season sports gear.

• Garage storage boosting idea #2 – A lockable cabinet – Store your paints cans, bug sprays and other dangerous chemicals behind locked doors. With garage cabinets your space not only looks neater, but you can rest easier knowing these products won’t be the source of an unnecessary trip to the E.R. because your little ones got into them.

• Garage storage boosting idea #3 – An adjustable slat wall system – Get the bikes, rakes, and shovels off the garage floor. Make it easier to walk through the garage without bumping into your tools and sporting equipment with the passenger door of your new SUV.

To learn more about garage cabinetry read The 10 Most Aggravating Garage Storage Problems (and how to fix them) or click on the image below.  

Room #6 which needs a home organization makeover post COVID – Your laundry room

OK – this is a room everyone LOVES to HATE! As you know, Laundry = Drudgery. With everyone home waaaaaay too much during COVID you were buried in dirty laundry. You had more dirty laundry to air out than CNN or Fox did slamming the competing party’s response to the pandemic.

If you’re like most people you desperately need organization ideas so your laundry doesn’t look as sloppy as Jack Black in the following comedy clip (enjoy this skit for a few laughs and ‘motivation’ – although I’ll warn you it has nothing to do with laundry room storage).

So, what can you do to make your laundry room more organized? Here’s 3 strategies:

• Strategy #1 – add cabinets above your washer and dryer – Replace those cheap wire shelves. Hide your detergent bottles, fabric softener and bleach behind closed doors.

• Strategy #2 – install a tall cabinet for brooms, mops, and vacuums – Who needs to be reminded of all the work you need to do anyway? Get those brooms, mops and vacuums stored away and out of sight (until you’re forced to use them…again).

• Strategy #3 – Use a hook board behind the door to hang clothes from the dryer, or hats and coats – Ever little bit of space counts. Even the space behind an in-swing laundry room door can be useful with a hook board.

To learn more laundry room storage tips read 7 Must Have Laundry Room Storage Zones to Conquer Laundry Day Without a Hassle or click on the image below.  

Room #7 which needs a home organization makeover post COVID – Your master bedroom walk-in closet

Even though you may not consider your master closet a room, if you think about it, it’s a space you can’t avoid. You’re in there at least 2 times a day. And it’s a space which has made a ‘living’ out of frustrating people. Hanging clothes jammed together like sardines. Shoes in a heap on the floor. And a cornucopia (that’s a fancy word I threw in so you would think I was smart…is it working?) of Container Store accessories you bought hoping and praying it would solve your storage woes. Exactly how’s that working out for you?

It’s time to stop accepting this frustration. Here’s 3 simple ideas to fight back and tame your unruly closet.

• Idea #1 – The D.H. – The ‘Double Hang’ (with one rod on top of another) is the smartest way to double your hanging storage. For extra credit put your pants on the top and shirts on the bottom. When you do this, you’ll also be able to use the shelf in between your hanging clothes.

• Idea #2 – Add drawers – With drawers your closet will not only look sharper, but you’ll be able to put 2x more things in drawers than hanging these same amounts of clothes up. In addition, you’ll have a place for socks and underwear vs. using your already overstuffed dresser in the master bedroom.

• Idea #3 – Use the wall behind your in-swing door – This is a perfect place for a hook board or extra shoe shelving

To learn more about closet storage read 11 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid When Designing a Custom Closet System or click on the image below.  

Where should you start? How can I (or my team) help you next?

I know it can be confusing on where to start to make your home less chaotic and more organized. You might have looked at these 7 rooms and said ALL of them in my house would get an N.I. (‘er Needs Improvement) if they were ‘graded’ by your daughter’s elementary school teacher.

But you need to start somewhere. But where?

I’d recommend you consider three things to prioritize your organization projects:

• Which room will improve your (and your family’s) lifestyle the most today?

• Which room is the most embarrassing to you?

• Which room makes you want to S-C-R-E-A-M?

Don’t attempt to tackle every room. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Focus on one room at a time.

If you need help with home organization systems (whether it’s a custom home office, a Murphy bed to reinvigorate your guest room, an entryway, pantry, garage, laundry or closet organization system), in Columbus Ohio we can help you with a Free Virtual Design or a more in-depth in home visit and Free 3D design consultation. Call Innovate Home Org at 614-545-6888.  

If you’re not in Columbus or Cleveland Ohio – still feel free to reach out and I’ll connect you with one of my ‘organization buddies’ who lead these business across the country (or you can visit the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals website for more referrals).

Thanks for reading,

Mike