An Expert’s Advice on How to Organize Your Home—and Keep It That Way

Spring cleaning can be a major undertaking that includes areas like your kitchen all the way outside into the garden. The best way to make it easier next year? Foolproof your spring cleaning so that it lasts way beyond the spring season.

While we can’t make your kitchen look as cute and organized as this mountain home kitchen from designer Emily Henderson, instead we’ve got advice from organizing experts Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, founders of The Home Edit, on how to make your space more organized than ever this season.

Sara Tramp; design by Emily Henderson

Invest in the Right Tools

“Turntables are one of the most versatile organizational tools, especially for pantries and kitchen counters,” says Shearer. “Placing it next to the stove will let you contain all your everyday cooking items and clean up the countertop more quickly. And for those who prefer coffee to cooking, a turntable creates a stylized station for sugar canisters and coffee pods.”

For drawers, Shearer and Teplin recommend using expandable drawer dividers and single inserts, rather than a merged design, since they’re easier to customize for your needs.

Sara Tramp; design by Emily Henderson

Create a System 

Storage areas like pantries can be tricky, warns Teplin. “It’s basically an enormous Rubik’s Cube, and once it’s pulled apart, it can be tedious to reassemble.” 

But she and Shearer have a detailed system that makes pantries and storage spaces easy to keep organized all year long. “Every single pantry needs to have some form of a basket or bin to contain the general categories. Clear canisters are great for dry goods and staple items, but it’s still important to have some large categories in bins that aren’t overly specific or singular. For example, a “dinner bin” can hold everything from boxes of pasta, cans of soup, or taco shells—so you are never stuck with an item that doesn’t have a home.” 

“Label each bin by category as a set of instructions for the household,” says Shearer. “Labels are the key to long-term maintenance!”

Sara Tramp; design by Emily Henderson

Focus on Efficiency

The founders recommend you take the time to really think about what items are the most efficient for you. “If that means you have a drawer in your kitchen that’s dedicated to stationery that you write at the kitchen table, then it makes sense,” says Teplin. “That’s the rule of thumb—if it has a place and a purpose in the space, then you can argue its importance.”