Decorating & Design
30 Ways To Get Organized This Fall
Published on September 10, 2019
Whether it’s the influx of homework and backpacks or the onslaught of cool-weather coats and boots, autumn just seems to have more baggage than its carefree sister, summer. Here are our best fall organization tips to help you pull things together on the home front this season.
Fashion enthusiasts, take note. Designer Alana Dunn hung her favorite hats in the front hallway as a way to keep clutter off of the floor. “They add some fun color, and now I wear them way more than I used to,” she says.
When the kids are back at school, weekday mornings can be quite hectic. Sleek fabric storage bins keep extra towels neatly tucked away, while a transparent tray on the countertop stylishly holds everyday skincare essentials. Getting ready just got a little bit easier!
Yes, you can easily transition your summer wovens into fall, as seen in this nature-inspired living room. A hardworking trunk pairs perfectly with rich textures like a tufted velvet couch and patinated picture frames. Store extra blankets, video game equipment and more in this understated carryall.
There’s something about back-to-school season that inspires a closet overhaul. Designer Julie Charbonneau’s covetable dressing room is a lesson on how to organize your clothes. A curated rack of pastel garments, purses and shoes keeps visual clutter to a minimum and encourages you to only keep items that spark joy à la Marie Kondo.
Fall baking is made easy thanks to this millennial pink island’s tidy drawers. You can mimic a similar look — without the cost of custom dividers — by buying wooden drawer organizers to easily store all of your culinary essentials for your pumpkin-filled desserts.
In this country home’s autumnal entryway, rosewood hooks adds quirk and personality, while also doubling as smart storage. “They’re different colors and sizes, and they animate the space,” says designer Mazen El-Abdallah. Plus, a striped woven basket keeps dog leashes neat and tidy.
Take a page from designer Emma Sims-Hilditch’s handbook with a spacious and storage-friendly banquette, perfect for hosting a Thanksgiving feast. Cubbies run along the bottom, providing a subtle spot to keep dishware, linens and more.
Say goodbye to piles of fall boots in the entryway! For easy access to footwear without staining the floor with tracks of mud, stack them inside a spacious basket with handles.
A wire rod provides an industrial-cool display for kitchen utensils, a playful tea towel and even a string of garlic bulbs (pro tip: fall is the best time to grow garlic).
Instead of hanging towels on hooks, opt for a sleek metal rack right beside the tub for seamless bathing once the temperatures drop. A built-in shelf holds small plants, knick knacks and sponges.
In a mudroom, it’s easy to load or swap up seasonal gear from a cart, which can keep shoes or hats and mitts at the ready when the temperatures drop. A modular storage piece can be tucked out the way and ‘parked’ against the wall when not in use.
Use a pretty memo board to corral papers, and provide some visual inspiration. This version has a framed glass panel to keep items from falling, which gives it a more polished look.
A wooden dowel and brass hooks keep the counters clear in the Toronto home of the retailers behind design shop Mjölk. Typically found in Scandinavian cottages, the pretty materials (they opted for brass and blond wood) make this solution both functional and decorative.
Overflowing shower nooks? Bursting vanities? Just say no to stacked plastic bathroom storage towers and arrange essentials on a pretty tray table instead.
Give a messy desk a five-minute makeover with attractive woven storage boxes. The natural material softens a functional storage solution and ties the space together visually for a cohesive, orderly effect.
Turn dead wall space into organization central. This DIY organizer is a drop zone for items like sunglasses, earbuds, pens and mail, and it’s conveniently located near the front door. Learn how to make this mod organizer here.
Replace a desk and neighboring filing cabinet layout with a single, console-style work table. You’ll get more surface area, and a much sleeker look.
It’s hard to be efficient if your kitchen island and counters are loaded with appliances and dishes. Clear the deck with a wall of floor-to-ceiling shelves for all those bulky items eating up space (or turn them into a pantry). A crisp white curtain helps soften the industrial look of the kitchen and camouflages the clutter so all you see is miles of counter, not appliances or cereal boxes.
Bookshelves are great, but a floating shelf turns favorite storybooks into art and makes them easy to find (and for kids to put books away).
Invest in beautiful storage solutions. In this entry, the hooks look like sculpture and the angler’s creel basket is an artisanal touch that holds easy-to-misplace items like gloves and scarves.
Things can quickly get lost in the deep, dark recesses of kitchen cupboards. Installing drawers doubles up usable space and in this case, can even serve as an under-the-radar filing cabinet in a home office.
Keep sports equipment in check and suspend bulky or hard-to-store gear with brackets, with plastic bins for smaller pieces.
What packs more real estate than a hook or towel bar, but has a small footprint? Ladders are a pretty way to display linens but don’t eat up floorspace in a small bathroom or laundry room.
Built-ins are pricey, but the closed storage they provide is seamless and luxe. Designer Allison Willson mimicked the look of a custom built-in in her home office with Ikea’s Pax wardrobes dressed up with a coat of glossy denim paint and gold hardware. If that solution is still out of reach, try an attractive console like the bamboo-trim vintage version behind the desk to hold supplies.
Everyone needs a way station for keys, but adding a few attractive dividers can help organize change as well and keep things visible so they will be used. A tray with ornamental ceramic bowls safeguards small, easy-to-lose items and presents them in a pretty way.
No one wants to dig through a jumble of spices when the pot is boiling on the stove. Placing spices in uniform jars and labeling them not only makes them easy to find, but it looks orderly and is more efficient when cooking.
Clear items off of work surfaces with a wall-hung craft station. Designer Grace Castaneda created this smart all-in-one solution for her daughter, which uses Ikea components such as a paper holder and cubbies. It keeps her child’s craft supplies organized and at her fingertips so she can work on projects happily for hours.
Be creative with display. A work area in a walk-in closet uses shelves as a spot to show off favorite shoes and purses.
Adding extra surface prep will help clear a cluttered kitchen counter. A pull-out Carrara marble surface tucks away unobtrusively when not in use so it won’t block a narrow pathway.
Get underhanded: dead space underneath shelves and benches is ripe for the picking as storage in a mudroom or bedroom.