Lean into spring cleaning with these favorite home organization tools – Modern Mrs Darcy

This spring has been more than a little chaotic, and when I’m feeling overwhelmed I find great comfort in tidying up. I want to be clear: I’m not talking about any kind of serious organizing. I’m talking about cleaning up the mess I allowed to accumulate when I was feeling too busy to put anything away! Reshelving things where they actually belong in the pantry, clearing the books off the kitchen counters, reestablishing order in my makeup drawer: this is what I’m talking about.

Organization doesn’t come easy to me, so once I find a tool, trick, or system I love, I tend to stick with it for a long time. One of the reasons that it’s straightforward to restore order* when things get out of hand is that at this point in my life I DO have systems in place, so it’s not a question of figuring out what to do—it’s a question of doing it. On that note, and particularly with spring cleaning in mind, today I’m sharing some of my favorite tried-and-true (and blessedly inexpensive) home organization tools that help keep things feeling peaceful and calm around here. They’re small, low-tech, and completely invaluable.

Turntables

I use turntables in multiple rooms of the house: bathroom, pantry, office (for pens and such), and laundry room. They are gold and I love them and I wish I started using them thirty years ago.

In 2020 I organized our cabinets that hold spices, sweeteners, oils and vinegars, and baking supplies using inexpensive 10″ Lazy Susans, which were handy but left prime pantry space unused. After taking stock of our needs I switched out those 10″ Lazy Susans for the biggest ones the cabinets could hold: these 11″ shallow Everything Organizer turntables from The Container Store. One inch may not sound like a big difference, but this swap scored me a bonus 16 square inches in storage space! (Basically: it’s pizza math.) Having this extra space to organize the kitchen items we reach for the most is MAGIC.

I repurposed those 10″ Lazy Susans for other spaces. I’m especially loving the one in the laundry room, which perfectly fills its shelf there and now holds specialty detergents and stain removal solvents and tools like laundry brushes. It makes this laundry nerd so happy!

Modular Organizers and Boxes

When I was looking for a certain cleaner under the sink last fall, I realized that we had all kinds of good stuff lurking in the depths of the cabinets. For me, out of sight is out of mind, and I really wanted to reposition those household goods in such a way that I could SEE them. Luckily, I had just stocked up on these nifty little Target organizing bins. I had had an entirely different purpose in mind when I bought them, but they are PERFECT under the sink: bright white (so the contents are easily visible), inexpensive, modular, and easy to clean. I’m employing a variety of sizes under the sink for our household needs, sorted into categories like housecleaning, dish cleaning, miscellaneous solvents and stain removers, and houseplant needs. (Yes, really!)

I use the little modular organizational things EVERYWHERE. I have both nice lucite versions from Target and The Container Store, plus inexpensive white plastic ones (from the same two places). Makeup boxes and electronics boxes make good temporary dividers when I’m trying to figure out what size I want to get for a more permanent option. (Does anyone else remember how in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo wrote about her affinity for Apple boxes as drawer organizer? This blew my mind when I first read it!)

I attach little handwritten labels to many of these boxes and organizers to make it even easier to put things away. (See below!)

Zippy velcro ties

Velcro ties help keep everything tidy in my drawers. They mostly wrangle cords which is not a big lift but in doing so, they transform a jumbled drawer into an orderly storage space, and make my suitcase organization much tidier.

Bag clips

Our chip clips tend to disappear (sometimes because my youngest seizes them as a fort-making tool) so I got online and searched for good options. I’m really happy with these versatile Swedish bag clips, even though they’re different from the clothespin-style we used for years. And since they’re NOT good for fort-building, I can always find one in the drawer when I need one.

Index Cards

Index cards are an all-around hero in my house. I use them for my writing projects, note-taking, and determining Summer Reading Guide categories. I also cut them into small pieces (because I always have one handy) to label things.

What are your favorite home organization tools? Please share in the comments.

*One major exception: THE BOOKS. The books are all chaos and confusion right now. I think another ten shelves will solve the problem; if you have more reasonable ideas please tell me in comments!

P.S. One helpful piece of organizing (and life) advice and One reader’s quest for the perfect bookshelf.