The Best Home Edit Tips to Organize Your Study Space
Y’all, I love an organizing show. I Marie Kondo’d the heck out of my house in 2019. So, when Netflix debuted The Home Edit in 2020, I was all in. I spent half of the quarantine wondering when I will feel comfortable again to tackle in-person shopping at the Container Store (spoiler alert: not yet!), reading their books (here and here), and salivating over ROYGBIV pantries.
But, we don’t have to let a pandemic get in the way of organizing our offices, desks, or study spaces. Even if all you have is a small homework caddy, you can make it beautiful and functional.
Quick editorial comma – The Home Edit is an organizing company based in Nashville, TN. They – Clea and Joanna – have their own show on Netlfix, an amazing Instagram account, and multiple organizing products lines, including one at the Container Store and Wal-Mart. I want it all.
Their philosophy is to mix organization and home design. An organized space can be a beautiful space. And they are particularly in love with a rainbow theme – organizing your pens, books, or holiday decorations in rainbow order.
Why rainbow? It’s pretty, sure, but it’s also effortless to return items to their home. Hmm, where does this green pen go? With the other green pens. Or in between the yellow and blue ones.
So, let’s talk about how to edit our workspaces, make them work for us, and look good in the process!
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The Best Tips from The Home Edit to Organize Your Study Space
Step 1: Take everything out
Everything. Reach into the back of those drawers or under your bed to find all your school supply-ish stuff. Empty out your school bag. Find the supplies scattered all over your home.
Step 2: Categorize all the stuff
Put all the similar items together. Pens in one pile, paper in another, and notebooks in yet another. This is when you discover you have 5 packages of lined paper, but no markers.
Step 3: Pare it down
You can’t keep it all; that’s why things are unorganized in the first place. Do you need Flair pens in all the colors? Yes, so you keep those. Those markers without caps can go in the trash, though. Ditto with anything that’s broken or you haven’t used in the last year.
While this process does include getting rid of some of your hoard, you don’t have to go crazy minimalist and live with a single notebook and two pens. You can have those nice pens you like and your cool bobblehead. You can keep anything you actually use and even some items that just make you happy.
Step 4: Create a system
That means = find a home for everything you kept. If it’s going in a drawer, keep the drawer’s contents separated from each other with dividers. If it’s staying out, grab a bin to house it in.
Keep the items you use the most the easiest to reach. Put like items – pens, paper, paper clips – together. (I have more ideas for your desk here.) If you can, ROYGBIV your supplies!
While acrylic dividers and bins from Container Store are lovely, they can be pricey. Amazon is a great place to grab something cheaper – just be sure to measure your space before you order. I also love the Dollar Store and the Dollar section at Target for cheap organizing solutions. Also, don’t forget to shop your own house. There might have an unused bin or box you can snag for your own space.
Any good organizing requires upkeep. Schedule a time every week to spruce it up. Throw out the dried glue sticks and reorganize that lower drawer. These small actions will keep your space working for you AND looking great!
These tips will help you create an organized and beautiful space that will motivate you to keep working! (And maybe tackle some other spaces in your life!)
How did you Home Edit your space? Let me know in the comments below!
Related Posts: Create an Effective Study Space Quickly & Inexpensively, Organize Your Desk for Productivity, How to Actually Use Your Academic Planner