Small home? Small budget? No worries! These simple home organization tips are inexpensive and most can be used even in a small home.
We’ll include tips from our professional real estate agents, who have collectively seen thousands of houses…some organized…some not!
Having your home organized and clean is one of our top tips for selling your home faster and for top dollar.
Simple Home Organization & Decluttering Tips

1. Throw Stuff Away
Sometimes we don’t need to organize our stuff better. Sometimes we need less stuff! 😬
Our real estate agent Zach K. kept this home organization tip short and sweet for us:
“Throw stuff away!”
–Zach Kleinschmidt
Too many household items make a home feel cluttered, and clutter does not feel peaceful. Clutter can, in fact, negatively affect our mental health. See a couple of quotes from this source below:
“Clutter can make us feel stressed, anxious, and depressed. Research from the United States in 2009, for instance, found the levels of the stress hormone cortisol were higher in mothers whose home environment was cluttered.”
“A chronically cluttered home environment can lead to a constant low-grade fight or flight response, taxing our resources designed for survival.”
If you’re looking for tips on decluttering and downsizing your stuff, check out these decluttering and downsizing tips.
2. Use Vacuum Seal Bags
If you live in a small home or apartment, you want to maximize your space even if you don’t have too much stuff. That’s where vacuum seal bags can come in handy.
Our real estate agent, Aidan H. highly recommends vacuum seal bags for organizing your household items in a small space and on a small budget.
“Vacuum seal bags are cost-effective and they really do save a lot of space for clothes, blankets, or anything else.”
–Aidan Hill
You can find vacuum seal bags at Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Amazon, etc.
3. Have Designated Places for Everything
“A place for everything, and everything in its place.“
While it takes more time upfront to assign and put things in a designated place (or “home”), you’ll save a lot of time in the long run by knowing where things are!
This is our simple organizing tip from Shine Realtor, Allie.
Make sure everything has a designated place. If it has a place, it’s easier to put away!
–Allie Beirl
After you designate a place for everything, take 10-15 minutes at the end of the day to return everything to its place. Put on some music and everyone pitches in. Many hands make light work!
4. Label, Label, Label
Your home will instantly feel more organized if you have things labeled!
Our real estate agent, Lupita V., encourages storing similar items together and labeling them.
“If you’re switching out clothes for the different seasons or home decorations for the holidays, it’s always a good idea to have a spot designated for them with labels. That way you can find them easily when you need them!”
–Lupita Valadez
There are many different label makers available that are pretty inexpensive, but masking tape and a marker will work too!

5. Utilize a Guest Room
If you have a guest room, utilize that space to keep your other spaces more organized and tidy.
This is a home organizing tip from Shine Realty broker and agent, Carrie.
“I don’t have a walk-in closet, so I store my out-of-season clothes in a guest room closet. That way I have more space and can easily see all of my in season clothing. I only need to switch the clothing twice a year.”
–Carrie Rosenau
If you don’t have a spare bedroom, you might be able to store out-of-season clothes in totes in the basement or another storage space to free up room in your closet. Just make sure those totes are labeled! 😉
6. Color Code Your Closet
Not only does a color-coded closet look beautiful, but it’s functional as well! This is a favorite organizing tip of Realtor, Katie.
It’s easy to recall the color of something you want to wear, so save time getting dressed in the morning by having a color-coded closet. It makes putting your clothes away easier too!
“Color code your closet!”
–Katie Ryan
Having a closet organized by color also makes it easy to see what you already have before you buy something new, saving you money too!
So take a couple of hours and bring a couple of trash bags. As you’re going through your clothes, put anything that is stained, damaged, or worn out and put it in a bag for trash (refer to tip #1!)
Put clean items you don’t wear in the other trash bag to donate (see tip #7!)
Only hang up what’s worth the space in your closet!
7. Don’t Overthink it – Donate it!
For items you don’t use or love that are clean and working, take them to a local donation center!
This is a favorite home organizing tip from Shine Realty broker and owner, Adriane.
“Take it to Twice as Nice! Don’t overthink it-Donate it!”
–Adriane Stuebs
There are many donation centers to choose from. Twice as Nice is a favorite resale shop just down the road from Shine Realty in Jefferson, Wisconsin. But there are also St. Vincent de Paul thrift stores, Goodwill, shelters for women and children, and many others.
“If you’re not using it, why keep it? Stuffing it in a closet won’t make it any more useful.“ (Quote from Instagram)
Let it go and see how much lighter and more organized your space feels!
8. Flip Your Hangers
Not sure when you last wore that shirt hanging in your closet? Here’s a simple closet decluttering tip from Shine Broker Associate, Ginger, on how she keeps track of what she wears–and what she doesn’t.
“Every season I flip the hangers on my clothes in the closet. At the end of the season, anything I haven’t worn gets sold or donated.”
–Ginger Ramsey
This system is easy, free, and one you can maintain with minimal effort to keep your closet decluttered. You could also do this in your coat closets to make it easy to see what you wear, and what’s just taking up space.

9. Make a Spot for Outgrown Clothes
If you have children, you know how quickly they can grow out of clothes. Designate a bag or container of some sort in each child’s closet for clothes they’ve outgrown.
That way you don’t end up with drawers full of clothes that don’t fit anymore. When the bag or container gets full, it’s time to gift it to a friend or take it to the thrift store!
10. Maximize Vertical Space
Many times, we have more space available vertically than horizontally. So as you’re looking for organization and storage solutions, consider how to maximize your vertical space.
Bookshelves, wall shelves, cube organizers, shelves in your cupboards, shelves in your pantry, in your laundry room, etc. Most of us have space where we can add shelves or some type of organizing tool to help get our things organized and functional.
11. Utilize Under Bed Storage
On the other hand, look low underneath your bed. Is there space under there just collecting dust? Utilize under bed storage bins to keep things like spare sheets, blankets, or out-of-season clothes.
Remember to label the bins with what’s inside so you can find it again!
Save These Simple Organization Tips for Later
We hope you found these simple and inexpensive home organization and decluttering tips helpful!
Wishing you the best as you seek more calm, peace, and organization in your home.
☀️🏡❤️
If we can ever assist you with real estate needs, please reach out to Shine Realty in South-Central Wisconsin.