When I design kitchens and bathrooms I spend most of my time planning out the use of every square inch of the space to keep it efficient and practical. The most important thing to remember when organizing your home is understanding your family’s needs. If you are successful here, then you’ve got an easy road ahead. I GOTTA HAVE the pull out drawers from ShelvesToDrawers.com — they are the perfect solution for cabinet organization.

A minimal style is clean living.

I recently designed a child friendly playroom and I dedicated an 8×10 matted frame to the “Art of the Month Club”. The rest of the collection is kept in a kitchen drawer and on New Year’s Eve there’s an Art Show, then it’s all discarded to make way for the new pieces.

Endless piles makes a haven feel like a padded cell!

In each kitchen I design I leave a gift – a large, flat box labeled Our Year of Memories. I have one in my house and all year long we toss all kinds of things in there – postcards, ticket stubs, artwork, funny photos, cards from friends and family, and cool menus. On New Year’s Eve we sit around drinking champagne as we open the box and share the memories. Then we toss it all and begin again.

Easy Access Food Storage

Put bulk items like rice, cereal and pasta in clear plastic or glass storage boxes. It’s a great way to know what you’re running low on at a glance.

The Junk Mail Drawer

Register at Ecocycle.org to control the amount of catalogs and junk mail you receive.

Storing Tiny, Little, Small Items

For a cheap-chic look I cover old shoe boxes and cardboard boxes from delivered goods with fun paper to store tea lights, magazine clippings, trinkets, and recipes. It’s all kept neatly in a kitchen cabinet. When I buy wrapping paper I stick with the color scheme of blues and greens, and I never buy paper that is so specific (ie. Happy Birthday, Congratulations) I can’t use it for other projects.

Family Filing

A vertical file in the kitchen is a great place to store bills, receipts and notes. Keep it tucked away in a kitchen cabinet. My clients’ agree that this is the best spot for these items, not the home office (funny enough).

A Pantry with Punch

Half-eaten snacks clutter everyone’s pantry. So brown bag it! Label a brown bag or glass container for each family member – avoiding the habitual snack hog– portion it out after each grocery trip. Also whatever canned goods won’t get used, donate to your local food bank. Keep a small chalkboard on your pantry door with the date of your last pantry cleansing.

Too Many Storage Containers!

Nothing looks great if it accumulates! Decide on the number of boxes that’s right for your stuff and stick to that. Labels should be dated and a system set in place so that the box contents is regularly purged.

Last 5 posts by Krista Watterworth

• What if your sofa could scrub your feet too? - July 30th, 2010
• What Do Ceiling Fans & Badonkadonk Have in Common? - July 15th, 2010
• Alien Body Shower - July 12th, 2010
• Splurge & Save: British Colonial Dining - July 1st, 2010
• Make Your Own Mod Lights - June 14th, 2010

Author: Krista Watterworth

Krista Watterworth considers herself a true multi-tasker: mom, author, television personality, and interior designer. Krista starred in four seasons of HGTV's Save My Bath as host-designer and in 2009 will star in a new HGTV show called Splurge & Save. She has quickly gained celebrity for branding her unique aesthetic. According to Krista, designing and performing have two things in common: you have to delve into the heart of a person (or a character) to find out their intimate secrets, and then create an entirely personal world around that.

Krista Watterworth has written 101 articles for us.