Are you looking to reduce stress, create peace of mind and save time in the new year? If so one simple action — organization — can get you there. Organizing can make a world of difference in your daily life and it can be accomplished pretty quickly.
Imagine leaving your house with a complete grocery list in hand — nothing forgotten or left behind — and knowing exactly where your car keys are . . . every time! This is the life of an organized person who uses every part of his or her home in a smart, intuitive way.
New year, new organized Sterling Ranch home
We’ve put together three steps to help you easily become that organized, carefree person. Follow these steps to enjoy more relaxation and time with loved ones.
Step one: declutter
Before you get out your trusty label maker, take time to declutter your home. Start by making a list of every space in your house that may benefit from organization: closets, pantries, kitchen counters and home offices are hotspots. Next, go through each space and determine which items you can’t live without. Here’s what to do with the rest:
Sell and donate
After deciding what you need and want in your home, you’re sure to have items that no longer belong. Rather than immediately tossing these items, consider what you can sell or donate. Use websites like thredUP, Craigslist and eBay or local secondhand/consignment stores to rehome clothes, furniture, sports gear and more. Need another option? Host a yard sale! At Sterling Ranch you can hold three two-day long sales per year — imagine all the things you can get rid of!
Upcycle and Recycle
After selling and donating, there may be items left that you can upcycle (reuse for another purpose or refurbish to match your current style). Once those are put aside, recycle the rest.
Toss
Anything that can’t be sold, donated or recycled is likely due to be tossed. Take a second look at your things and make absolutely sure they are not donation-worthy. When certain, toss the rest!
Tip: For unusable items of sentimental value, snap photos first! That way you can remember and refer to them without taking up space in your home.
Step two: organize
Now that you only have the things you need and love, let’s organize! Here’s how to efficiently organize your things:
Kitchen
- Label your spice rack to easily keep track of what you need.
- Get stackable containers for your pantry staples.
- Give each pot and pan a specific place to live.
- Find a place for every kitchen device and keep counters as clear as possible.
Great room
- Make sure all shelving serves a purpose for either stylistic decor choices or storage.
- Use velcro strips to bundle all device cables and hide what you can out of sight.
- Make sure all toys and games have a place and can easily be stored: under coffee tables, in storage boxes and so on.
Bedrooms, closets and bathrooms
- Get functional storage bins that fit under your bed to store out-of-season clothes.
- Invest in matching hangers to create consistency and a feeling of calm.
- Buy an accessories hanger to store purses, scarves and hats.
- Invest in a shoe organizer — hanging or shelves.
- Store personal-care items in an attractive storage box (and don’t forget to pitch any expired items).
- Use clear under-the-sink storage bins so you can easily see and access everything you need.
Office/study
- Shred all unnecessary paperwork.
- Organize and label your file cabinets.
- Clear your desk and make sure each item has a place.
Step three: maximize with design
At Sterling Ranch, we offer dozens of home designs to complement a variety of lifestyles, each providing ample room and storage space to maximize home organization. Here’s a few of our favorites, with suggestions on how to use parts of these intuitive layouts to effectively organize your home.
Foothills by Dream Finders Homes
This spacious and open-concept floorplan is one of two designs from Dream Finders Homes’s Designer Series located in Ascent Village. Priced from $409,990, the Foothills townhome features three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a two-car garage. The downstairs living space includes an open kitchen with island, a dining room and a great room with an optional fireplace. All bedrooms are situated upstairs, with the master suite conveniently located at the top of the stairs and adjacent to the laundry room.
Make the most of this design by taking advantage of the deep shelves located next to the owner’s entry off the garage to store sports gear, shoes, outdoor equipment and more. You can also optimize the garage space by hanging shelves and hooks to keep things off the floor.
Kingsley by Lennar
The Kingsley is part of Lennar’s Monarch Collection in Sterling Ranch. Priced from $605,900, it features three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a two-car garage. This one-story home design includes a study, a great room with a fireplace, a gourmet kitchen with a dining nook and a covered deck.
This home design is an organizer’s dream! Along with a coat closet at the owner’s entry, you’ll also find a bench with cubbies directly across the hall. Get crafty by installing hooks above the bench and — voilà! — you have more space to hang and store outerwear, something every Colorado family needs.
Farmington by Richmond American Homes
The Farmington is part of Richmond American Homes’s Landmark Collection. From $585,950, it includes three to five bedrooms, two to three bathrooms and a two-car garage. The floorplan features an open great room and a private bathroom between two secondary bedrooms. You’ll have an option to upgrade to a gourmet kitchen, a deluxe owner’s bath and a finished basement.
To power the organizational potential of this layout, we recommend placing a bookshelf in the nook of the great room — nestled beside the fireplace. Display books and decorative items on the top shelves while using covered baskets on the bottom shelves to store games, toys and small electronics.
Residence 2803 by TRI Pointe Homes
This two-story home design is part of TRI Pointe Homes’s Amberly Collection in Ascent Village. Starting from $459,900, this floorplan includes three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a two-bay garage. All bedrooms are located upstairs and an optional covered patio and finished basement offer more living space.
The basement provides ample space for extra storage. We recommend you store seasonal items like sports equipment and holiday decor here. The spacious great room affords room to add a console table that is both decorative and functional — purchase one with drawers to house books, candles, flashlights and mail.
The Hayden by Taylor Morrison
The Hayden is part of Taylor Morrison’s Town Collection in Sterling Ranch. From $528,990, this spacious design includes three to five bedrooms, two and a half to four and a half bathrooms and a two-car garage. This floorplan features a spacious main floor study and options for covered outdoor living space and a finished basement.
Ready to organize? Install tasteful cabinetry for books in the study and use covered bottom shelves to store items such as holiday decorations, photo albums and important paperwork.
Elevate your lifestyle at Sterling Ranch
Organize your home and feel great about starting the year off right — and where better to do this than Sterling Ranch? Located just 20 miles south of downtown Denver and brimming with world-class amenities, our community has it all. With a beautiful, intuitively designed — and now tidy — home, you’ll discover an elevated lifestyle that’s more relaxed, stress-free and efficient. We invite you to visit us today, check out home designs from our incredible award-winning builders and find a home to call your own.
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