If you have kids, you know that you can accumulate a LOT of stuff!
Probably way more stuff than any of us really needs in our homes.
And the goal is always to “get things organized”, right?
This isn’t the first time I’ve made a concerted effort to organize our home – in fact, it’s pretty much been an ongoing project for the last 12 years.
I would read a great book or see an awesome post on Pinterest and think “Hey! That would work for us.” And I would be gung-ho to get a closet or the pantry all organized.
And it would be perfect …
… for about 2 days 🙂
Then I would get discouraged because things would get messy again.
However, this past November I decided to change my approach to organizing our home and guess what – it finally STUCK!
What did I do that was different?
The Best Place to Start Organizing Your House
I decided to begin by organizing the areas of our home that make ME the happiest.
Up until this point, I was trying to organize all the areas of our HOUSE — places that would help my family to be more efficient like my focus to make our house more kid-friendly. But honestly, as much as I love my family, they really didn’t appreciate my efforts.
They don’t NEED the organization as much as I do. So each time we had a nicely organized area, I was the only one trying to keep it in order.
Which just meant more work for me (sound familiar?).
So when I started to ‘get all my ducks in a row’ before the holidays, I chose to refocus my organizational efforts and concentrated on a few areas in our house that I feel are part of my HOME — those places that would make me smile when I looked at them.
To me, a house is that physical structure where you keep all your belongings — but a HOME is where you relax, feel comfortable and connect with your family & friends.
I shifted my thinking to my home.
Finding the One Place to Begin Your Organizational Journey
The first place I focused was my baking/coffee cupboard.
I LOVE to bake and I really enjoy my morning coffee – PLUS, I’m the ONLY one who opens this cupboard.
So the project fit the 3 goals I had for a spot to organize:
- Must be an area of the house that make me happy
- Should be a location that I frequently use
- Won’t be ‘messed up’ by others who don’t want to follow the system 😉
Right about now, you’re probably thinking one of two things – either this girl is BRILLIANT or she’s being kinda selfish.
Yes to both!
And I’ll tell you why – “Because when Mom’s happy, everyone’s happy” AND I really thought that if there were a few nicely organized areas in the house, my family would see those and want to help with the other areas.
So here’s my beautiful baking/coffee area — ahhh…
All of my favorite coffee/cocoa items are right above the coffee maker. I’ve received a few questions on what I used so here some details along with affiliate links to items that will help you too:
I used a wood tray to hold all of the coffee bags along with our two-sided Stainless Steel Coffee Scoop 
My baking items are organized with the most used items and tools within arms’ reach and all overflow/extra items located on the top shelf. On the counter below the coffee/baking cupboard, I store our flour jars (which I bought at Target) and our Krups Programmable Coffee Maker . I’m not a K-cup gal as I like to mix coffee flavors depending on my mood 🙂 but LOVE to have my coffee ready when I wake up so having a coffeemaker I can program the night before is awesome!
I just LOVE that I can open the cupboard EVERY morning and find what I need and ONLY things I use for baking and making coffee.
It’s wonderful to be able to layout our ‘warm drink’ items as we start the weekend (the kids are big fans of hot cocoa and warm chai so we have those right in the same spot).
And that funny little tool on the right? It’s an Electric Milk Frother 
I adore that I can throw together a recipe in 10 minutes because everything is within arm’s reach (and right next to the coffee pot so I can enjoy a cup of joe while I bake).
It makes me smile every day 🙂
Remember, I did this back in November. Not only has it lasted all through the holidays but it’s also something that motivates each time I open the cupboard door.
I’ve been inspired to attack the laundry room, the bookshelves and my dresser.
And amazingly, my family has even come around – we now have all our winter gear organized thanks to this super easy idea from Busy Kids, Happy Mom which means that our front hall is no longer chaos. And the kids decided to get their own bookshelves in order too!
Related: How the Kids can HELP with Spring Cleaning {free printable list!}
So what area of your home makes you happy?
Maybe you love to take baths and want to have a soothing bathroom & tub area.
Or maybe it’s a craft area where you spend time doing what you love.
Wherever your ‘happy place’ is – make THAT the spot where you begin to organize your home.
Looking for more Home Organizing Ideas?
Organized Mornings: Tips to Reduce Morning Chaos & 20 Healthy Breakfast Ideas {w/free printable!}
5 Ways to Make Your Home More Kid-friendly!
If you’re looking for some additional motivation, here are some inspiring organizing ideas:
I took the Makeover Your Mornings e-course & it helped me to really think about what I want to achieve early in the day and gave me a TON of FREE printables to use to get organized!
I just love this post on 10 Simple Habits that Help You Stay Organized from Just A Girl & Her Blog
The January Cure at Apartment Therapy is on again this year
Find out how I got my mornings organized using these ideas & free printable breakfast list!
Clean & Scentsible — The Household Organizational Diet
PopSugar’s 30 Day Declutter Challenge list
House Mix has an AWESOME room-by-room guide for simplifying & organizing your home (with a printable list!)
And Mamas Like Me has a super detailed guide with lots of suggestions on Organized Living with Kids from A – Z