When it comes to decluttering, clearing up is the first step that helps you determine which items to donate, toss, or keep. Once you finish this step, the items remaining are the ones you love and need in your home.

Here’s a rule of thumb to keep in mind — things that haven’t been used by you in over a year should be dumped. This is especially true for clothes you haven’t worn in a long time and expired things from your kitchen or bathroom.

Is there any better feeling than opening your kitchen cabinet and organizing all your spices, legumes, grains, and everything neatly in jars? Surely not!

So, become a busy bee, ask for help from others, and host a labeling party. Labeling makes everything easy and soothing to the eyes! It also makes it a lot easier to stay organized in the long haul.

For many, shopping for clothes is a fun way to alleviate stress. However, if you don’t want to overcrowd your closet with new clothes every month, then consider this tip.

If you purchase a new dress, make sure to donate one item from your wardrobe to make space for your new arrival. It’s a simple and easy way to keep your closet a manageable size.

Do you have some free time? Wish to organize everything but scratching your head over where you should start? A quick solution to this is to try making a to-do list mentioning the top five things you want to do on a particular day.

Remember to prioritize the task list and if you’re interrupted, return to the list and align it according to your priority order. Tick mark this as a motivational method; you need to finish the day’s list before getting to the pending tasks the next day.

Of the many home organization tips, this is one of the best life-changing tips to declutter your chaos. All you need to do is begin noticing your messy habits and routines.

Are you one of those who habitually toss your coat on the couch or chair? Then, consider hanging it on the wall instead of placing it anywhere. Stick to this routine and gift yourself a cleaner room.

Instead of making a pile of litter, it’s better to keep things in open bins and drawers. If you’re storing things in an open bin or drawer, you are probably putting them back where they belong.

Instead of just placing things randomly in the drawer, though, make sure that the things you need most are easiest to take out while less frequently used stuff is further down.

Nowadays, you can buy all sorts of fun and colorful calendars. But, what’s most important is that you get one that works for your family’s needs. Do you need one with a lot of room to write notes or a small one you can keep in a drawer?

Whatever you choose, make sure that you actually use your calendar to keep on top of urgent tasks and upcoming events. The best method is to start your day by checking what’s written on it.

We all love catchall dishes, don’t we? So, instead of cluttering up your home with random jewelry pieces and knickknacks everywhere, go for smarty finds by shopping sustainably for some nice dishes.

Technically, any open dish can be used as a catchall tray. Just make sure to put in areas where you already naturally place your things. This way, instead of a messy pile, you have an organizational system.

Designating a playtime space is a fantastic way to compile your unavoidable mess of toys into a single area of your home instead of having them scattered all over the house after a play session.

For this, choose a big blanket or rug to frame that area. Make sure to stir them there when they want to play and fill the space with their toys. Just make sure that it’s warm, cozy, and inviting for them.

In the modern house, you see things ahead of their time, and Murphy beds rank among them. They are one of the best space-saving structures that include cabinetry and shelving.

These beds are perfect for every home and optimize floor space, especially studio apartments, which are less spacious. Their built-in shelves are also excellent space and money savers.

Similar to the Murphy bed, you need a variety of less-space-consuming furniture items to make your house look more organized.

Continuing that list, such a desk can be disguised. The tiny surface motivates you to stay organized and wave off the excess work that piles up your home and head with so much clutter.

Whether freestanding or built-in, a storage bench could be one of the best ways to say goodbye to your house jam-packed with clutter. If you’re planning a renovation, a built-in bench is a welcoming option for more storage.

You can give it a makeover by placing some upholstered cushions. These finishes contribute to a perfect seating arrangement for your breakfast corner or your entryway.

To place bigger items, including a sculptural vase, a beautiful pot, a lamp, a music system, or LED, you can use a wide shelf as a low-hanging desk complemented with a chair.

In general, having storage furniture that can be used for more than one thing is a great way to utilize your space to the fullest.

Usually, we see hanging pans in the kitchen and lovely baskets in the garden area or porch, but plenty of other things can spruce up your space by being hanged.

Try hanging visually fascinating things such as cutting boards, plates, or family photographs to embellish your blank kitchen walls. Also, it’s a great way of clearing up the stacked countertop space.

Here’s a great way to combine practicality and esthetic taste — organize your book by color! This is especially great for picture books as their readers have an easier time remembering books by color rather than by title.

This is an eye-popping DIY and a must-do for keeping your shelf neat and clean. Also, because it only requires colors, the whole family can help out.

Though it seems nearly impossible to clean up your home daily with the same energy when you’re stuck in a busy schedule, decluttering every day can do wonders for you.

It simply means that cleaning every day can save your energy for the future. This doesn’t mean that you need to deep-clean every day. Just go over your home and put away things at least once a day.

To clear up your space when you find it challenging to find some time, use the Focus 15 method. This means that you set a 15-minute timer and focus on completing one task within that timeframe.

This mainly works because, for most people, focusing on a single task for just 15 minutes is fairly easy. Try it out and see how much it can change your life.

The kitchen is the heart of your entire home. Organizing it and giving it a modern look is all you need to make it look aesthetic. So, give your home a fun twist by hanging a towel rack in your kitchen to give this space a beautifully appealing touch.

Such a hack will not just cut down the clutter in your kitchen cabinets or drawers but will also look great! It will keep your hand and kitchen towels organized while still having them easily accessed.

There are so many things that could help us stay organized that we hardly ever remember to use. Empty tissue boxes definitely fall into this category. Instead of throwing them away, use double-sided tape to attach the box to a cupboard door.

Then, instead of tissues, fill it up with plastic bags for both storage and easy access. You can also spruce those boxes up with some pretty paper, then use them as storage caddies for small things such as nail polish or office supplies.

Trays might seem like just a kitchen essential, but they can be used for so much more. They’re also a great way to both display and organize your decor in a pleasing way.

Placing a larger tray on your console or coffee table is great for housing plenty of your household goods. Doesn’t it look great? You can thank us later!

Keeping our cables organized is one of the most challenging things that most of us struggle to achieve. Luckily, you can use simple bread clips to help!

All you have to do is put a clip on each cable and write down what it’s connected to. That way, you can identify the cable you need with just a quick glance. As a bonus, you can use different colors for different appliances.

Anyone with long hair will know the terrible struggle of desperately trying to find a hair tie when you need it most. Those pesky little pieces of elastic get lost so easily if not properly organized.

Thanks to the carabiner clip you’ll be able to unclip your hassle by keeping them all in one place. So, whether going on a vacation or enjoying your “me-time” at home, find your hair ties right away!

Many of us love buying new pairs for every occasion. The only problem is now where you should keep them when you run out of space.  Are you on a budget but really need some shoe storage? Then, try this DIY.

Take a large cardboard box. Then, use extra cardboard to create cut-outs with large slots to place each pair of shoes. This will leave you with easy little cubbies that are a whole lot cheaper than store-bought ones.

Does anything feel better than some fresh bed sheets? The only problem is that it’s incredibly annoying to sift through your entire closet just to find an entire matching set. But, fear not, we have a hack! After washing your sheets, make sure to bundle them together into a full set (a bedsheet, duvet cover, and pillowcases).

Then, instead of just putting them just like that in your closet, fold the whole set into small rectangles and place all of them inside the pillowcase. This means you only need to snatch a set of sheets and TADA!

Your bundle of joy loves splashing water with some toys sprinkled all over the bathtub. Yet you’re the one who has to bear this massive task of cleaning the bathroom.

So, stop that daily battle of organizing action figures, floating plastic balls, boats, and more without taking them out of your bathroom. It would help if you had a hook and a hanging fruit basket to hang it. Solved! This will keep toys out of the way and even allow them to dry between uses.

Whenever in a hurry, it’s better to go with colored keys and locks. This will let you know which one fits perfectly without giving it a second thought. You can use colored rings to add to the lock and key. This way, you will always know which pair belongs together.

Also, if you’re on a budget, you can simply use nail polish as paint and add a dot in the same color to the lock and key to avoid any mess in a hurry!

Have you heard of the KonMari organizing method? If so, you’re indeed blessing yourself with a treat! It’s a fantastic way of avoiding getting overwhelmed by the things you need to organize. This method allows us to make a decision between which thing you need and which you don’t.

Basically, you visit every room and clean up by category instead of the location. Look at all your items and judge which ones you require, which stuff you can throw, and which are the sentimental ones. Try it!

There are all sorts of tools and methods to keep jewelry organized. A particularly frustrating thing is keeping your beautiful pairs of earnings together and visible.

So instead of buying some specialty thing, simply cut a small square of paper and stick the earrings in it by pair. For added fun, you can label each paper by the pair it houses so that you can return them to the same place every time.

Does cleaning the mess of those dirty and muddy shoes always bother you, especially when your guests enter and take off their shoes? Don’t worry; we’re here to offer you the perfect hack!

Just hang those coat hooks on the lower side of the wall (instead of where you normally would). Then hook your shoes there anytime you enter your house!

Do you hunt for a Tupperware lid every time and don’t find them when you need them most? Now, we have found a place where you can stack these lids all in one place.

Collect a few sticky hooks and a file organizer, which you can attach to the cupboard door. And that’s it; you have the place to put your lids in one slot and don’t worry about finding the right one every time.

For those without a clothes dryer, a standing dryer rack is a great solution. However, a standing one takes up quite a bit of floor space when in use. Instead, you can just hang it on your wall.

While these racks are generally smaller, they take up so much less space that they’re worth it. Plus, you can also use them as hanging storage when you don’t need to dry anything.

We live in a world where almost everything is electronic, so by default, wires come along with these devices. The electronic items in our house include phones, laptops, tablets, and watches, and most importantly, everything comes with a separate charging cable; so many wires!

You don’t need to invest in any costly organizer to keep these wires all untangled in one place. You can take an old box and then stuff it with cardboard tubes. Thus, every wire will find its spot. Also, you can label these tubes to make things easier.

While you might only reach out for a new trash bag every few days, it’s still one of those necessary things that take up valuable space in your kitchen. Thankfully, there’s a pretty easy way to create some smart storage for them.

For this, add some hooks and dowels for making trash bag dispensers concealed from your sight! No more worries that the entire roll will unroll and drop all over the kitchen floor. Another clever home organization hack for you.

Those were the days when our homes were filled with our magazines. Though some people are still enthusiasts of collecting physical prints, many have changed to an online subscription. That doesn’t mean that you should get rid of your old magazine organizers, though!

You can store loose vegetables in them, like potatoes, onions, and more. It’s also great for storing cans efficiently. These items often rule our cupboards and pantries; hence, such a trick will offer you storage without loosening your pocket!

Many home decor ideas exist to light up every corner of your home. The challenge of having all that decor is fitting it all in neatly in your home, especially in a bedroom.

Here come the rain gutters that work perfectly to showcase picture books without bookshelves. Adding rain gutters to the walls offers a brand-new way to display every read without taking much room. What do you think? It’s inexpensively amazing!

High heels are favorites of most of us to complete any look. However, it usually takes up a lot more space than we expect. Kudos to their design which means storing our beloved high heels isn’t as difficult as it seems.

Now, the toes of high heels are much broader than their heels which are usually pretty thin. If you wish to have more space, storing your shoes heel-to-toe takes less space. It will put a full stop to your storage issues.

Scarfs are fantastic, as they’re both a practical solution against the cold and a really pretty accessory to add to your drab outfit to make it fab. The only problem is that they’re a hassle to store.

Shower rings are perfect hangers for storing these fabrics. Just attach these shower rings to a coat hanger, and there you go, a new place to hang your ties and scarves. Surprise! You can hang them at the back of the door, in your closet, or anywhere else.

Empty cans usually go into the trash. However, some creative brains know ways to make something unique and valuable out of that waste, which is what these empty cans will result in. Ensure these cans are free of sharp edges and all clean.

Empty cans and some fabric, when fused, turn into a beautiful stationary organizer. Use any wrapping paper, wallpaper, fabric tape, or anything else to make your item look fascinating. Just wrap it on the can’s outside surface. Not even a penny is spent, and a perfect place is ready to store all your stationery!

Are you a fan of high boots when it’s wet or chilly outside? While they look great, you must have noticed these boots love falling when they’re not in use. The disadvantage it carries? Well, it not just damages your boots’ length when they fall too much but will also take up more space in the rack.

The solution to this is having a few pool noodles. Just chop off a length of noodle longer than your boots, and you now get a new boot stand to give your room more space.

If you love cooking you know how crucial spices are. They can take a good meal and convert it into incredible. but the question is — how are we supposed to store them without them taking up so much unnecessary space?

The last place you would think to store spices would probably be your refrigerator, but that might be because you’re not thinking outside the box. If we create or invest in some magnetic spice holders, we can keep them out of the way while keeping them on hand whenever we are cooking and require them the most.

As you can tell, we’re about finding multiple uses for things when it comes to being smart about your organization and this one is especially useful. You see, turns out that those nifty door hanger shoe organizers are great for not just shoes!

These transparent pockets make it easy to store anything you use often in a way that’s both pretty and practical. They’re great for toiletry, obviously, but also super useful in craft rooms for your art supply, and even for your makeup!

While we do advise decluttering your closet to get more space, sometimes you just have to keep everything. This easy hack is perfect for just that occasion. All you need to do is keep the tab from your soda cans.

Then, just thread one on your hanger and hang another hanger on the loop in the tap. And, voilà! You’ve just doubled your closet space in less than a minute!

Once you’re done with organizing, label all your items. Labels are like icing on the cake when it comes to assembling items smoothly and finding them when needed.

This tip enhances the look of your space and makes it look fresh and sustainable by whispering the right place for everything in your household. This also makes it easy for non-household members to find things when they visit.

Try doing one messy corner at a time. There’s no denying that it’s a stress-inducing job for many people to get everything in order at once. However, handling one space at a time can make your task look less daunting.

Start by walking around and assessing the messiest place. Keep in mind that places that are most frequently used will need the most attention from you. So, make a plan and work one area at a time.

An incredible home organizational tip for you is to keep your clothes in your built-in media stand. This is a great way to keep your fancy clothes or seasonal gear from cluttering up the closet in your bedroom.

This trick is for people with significantly less closet space or extra clothing. People will never know where your cardigans or winter wear pile up.

Old Hollywood is associated with a charming glamor and allure. In reality, it is a far cry from that. The yesteryear Hollywood stars were captives of a studio system that controlled all the aspects of their lives. The stars had to follow a set of tough rules and guidelines in exchange of promised stardom. Let’s take a look at some of these rules.

Though the actors could not say yes to the projects offered to them by other studios owing to the exclusivity of their contract; they could be ‘loaned’ to other studio owners.

Elizabeth Taylor, who was very much in demand that time, boldly broke the production code for initiating loans from her studio so that she could star in interesting projects such as Giant, A Place in The Sun and Suddenly, Last Summer.

The actors were not in a position (legally) to say no to the parts offered to them – however, drab or absurd they may be. The contracts stifled their voice by taking away their power to say no.

The actors were often left with no choice but to comply with whatever was thrown their way. If they voiced out their opinions or said no in certain instances, they were penalized heavily through legal means.

This was because they could not say no. The studios at times exploited them to their advantage by pulling their strings. This meant that the actors had to do projects or roles that were sub-par (to put it mildly) for their caliber.

Such roles destroyed the careers of many actors such as John Gilbert who was routinely offered bad movies by his studio MGM. On a larger scale, it meant the studio could play the role of God and had the power to make or break an actor’s career.

Shakespeare once famously said what’s in a name? Apparently, lots as per the studios of old Hollywood! The actors from the past had to be willing to change their names to the names their studios thought were befitting for their image.

Actors such as Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Lucille LeSueur had to use screen names that were picked out for them by studios. Though a few actors hated their screen names, they were not in a position to say anything, but adhere to the diktat.

Female stars had the worst compared to the male counterparts as they had to go through a ‘complete transformation’ to make themselves desirable in the eyes of the studio and general audience alike.

This transformation involved a cocktail of painful and painless procedures (some even dangerous; going under the knife was a norm) to correct the skin tone, even out the complexion, fix that brow, scar, or mole in order to elevate their ‘beauty’ while packaging it as something they were born with.

Apart from acting lessons, the studio enrolled the actors in other classes, which they deemed fit. One such class included voice training sessions. The actors had to attend voice classes wherein they learned how to use their voice in order to bring life to the character – and basically use it to their advantage.

They were taught different aspects of voice, inflections, and ways to improve their diction, voice modulation methods, and more in these classes.

The fresh faces had to work their way up before getting a plum part in any project. In short, they had to prove their mettle and convince studios about their acting prowess before they were cast in lead roles.

The studio ‘tested’ them in minor parts and thus placed the onus on them when it came to performance. Sharon Tate landed up doing The Beverly Hillbillies after doing a string of minor roles.

The female stars were marketed one dimensionally either as an American girl next door or a sultry siren. There were no in-between and nuances were an alien concept. So, all the actresses fell into either of these criteria.

Once they were branded, they had to eat, sleep, and live that image on every possible occasion – and more so if the occasions were public in nature. The studio also churned out fake stories to further their public perception.

The actresses were always expected to be camera ready no matter what occasion it was. For that, they were expected to look glamorous – and decked up in makeup. A no makeup look was a faux pas – and worse, an end to the career.

The actresses had also to abide by a weight management clause in their contract that placed burden on them to keep a tab on their daily calorie intake.

As bizarre it may sound, women were discouraged from wearing pants on sets. Pants were a big and strict no-no for them. Only men were allowed to be seen in pants in a studio set up.

But, there were feisty actresses such as Katharine Hepburn who vehemently refused to adhere to this ban on dressing. Hepburn rebelled by walking around the set in her innerwear after her pants were snatched by a crew member.

Acting didn’t stop for old Hollywood actors – even when the flashlights went off. Because of the stringent contracts, the actors had to act all the time – and keep up appearances in real life as well.

The male actors had to act like gentlemen in real life. They were expected to behave gentlemanly all the time. This meant they had to maintain their marriages intact, not indulge in romances or anything that had slightest potential to jeopardize their careers.

Gone are the days, when the press was chased by the stars. Now, it’s the other way around. In old days, the actors had to behave nicely with the press. They had to oblige for interviews and adhere to photo requests made by the press.

In fact, a part of their job description was to be in the ‘good books of the press.’ To do that they often charmed press members whenever an occasion demanded!

Studios often played cupid and a major role in ‘arranging’ the love lives of their talents. They often fabricated the love lives of their lead pairs by spurning false stories about them.

The leads were also expected to go on sham dates i.e. be seen together, just before a major release to garner publicity. Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland acted like a couple in love while promoting their feature film Babes in Arms.

Studios often meddled in their personal affairs and lives coercing the pairs to enter into the institution of marriage to amplify their star power. In old Hollywood, being an LGBTQIA was frowned upon and considered the end of an actor.

Therefore many homosexual actors were advised to ‘man up,’ ‘act straight,’ and were pressurized to enter into fake marriages against their will. For example, queer actor Rock Hudson was forced to marry Phyllis Gates.

There were instances too wherein studios stepped in to prevent marriage between two actors. The studios did that if they thought that a certain actor might lose out their fan following – and ultimately stardom if they got married.

Jean Harlow for example, was told that she might lose her sultry image if she gets married. Under the morality clause in her contract, the studio (MGM) had the power to deny her marriage to William Powell.

Pregnancy meant an expiry date for an actresses’ career. Therefore, the actresses were advised by the studios not to get pregnant. Pregnancy was penalized by the studios.

The studio controlled actresses’ bodies so much that a lot of actresses routinely took anti-abortion pills and underwent abortion so as not to be in the bad books of studios. In her autobiography, Ava Gardner revealed that MGM had many penalties clauses about their stars having babies.

While the studios had a stern stand about the pregnancy, and put such clauses and sub-clauses in the contract; there was a loophole that allowed the actresses to become parents.

The loophole was adoption. Actresses such as Joan Crawford and Elizabeth Taylor took advantage of this loophole by adopting children. There were actresses such as Loretta Young who kept her pregnancy hidden and later adopted her own baby so as not to be penalized by the studio magnates.

Film promotions were a paramount affair. An actor was expected to be fully there and pull out all stops while promoting their films. This at times involved going on sham dates with the co-leads before the release of a big ticket film.

Elizabeth Taylor’s marriage to Conrad Hilton coincided with the release of her movie Father of The Bride. The star’s marriage was publicized to the last drop and was paid in full by the studio.

Hustle culture was all prevalent in the ways studios worked. It was a norm. The actors were supposed to work like machines during the project. That meant the actors had to put their personal celebrations on backburner.

When Judy Garland married David Rose in 1941, she was called to the studio the very next day to resume her work. It meant that the star had to postpone her honeymoon and prioritize her professional commitments with MGM.

Body positivity seemed a far-fetched concept. The studios were not exactly body positive and frequently policed their actresses’ bodies. Being slim was the marker of female attractiveness – and perhaps the only female body type that was in circulation.

The actress had to carefully watch out the things they ate, and keep a tab on every morsel. To curb her appetite, Judy Garland was advised to smoke a pack of cigarettes throughout the day.

If an actress gained an ounce, their food was subjected to an intense scrutiny. The studios made it their mission to make that actress go back to being slim and trim – even if it involved crash dieting and unhealthy diet practices.

The actress bore the brunt of this order. The studios would chart out diets for them in case they gained any more weight beyond the prescribed quota. Marlene Dietrich was ‘asked’ to follow a diet of cottage cheese, toast and broth by her studio to keep her body weight in check.

The actresses were expected to be perennially fit come rain or come sunshine. They were expected to pick up a fitness routine or a regime to keep their weight in check. The starlets were pressurized more to keep a watchful eye on their physiques.

A lot of past actresses indulged in a host of physical activities to keep their bodies lithe and slender. Katharine Hepburn was known for her penchant towards tennis and swimming, while Marilyn Monroe was often spotted lifting weights.

Like we mentioned before, the studios followed hustle culture – and everyone was expected to hustle under the same practice. This included child actors as well. The children were not exempted from back-breaking work.

They were subjected to long working hours like their adult counterparts. Judy Garland, for instance, pulled off eighteen hour shifts, six days a week. She was fed ‘pep pills’ to cover up her lack of sleeping hours.

All actors and actresses were expected to be fit and healthy. That meant they were expected to keep sickness at bay. The actors, if they got sick, couldn’t take days off to recover. In fact, they were heavily penalized for getting sick in the first place.

The sickness was equated with the production loss for the day. Judy Garland had to pay $100,000 to the studio when she called in sick for a little more than two weeks while filming for Meet me in St. Louis and The Pirate.

The child actors were acutely aware of what’s going on in the set and the repercussions of breaching the studio’s rules and regulations. They were intensely aware of the timings, work culture – and were largely punctual.

These child actors were also aware not to waste a second of the studio’s time. Actress Shirley Temple in her memoir Child Star writes: “Time is money. Wasted time means wasted money which means trouble.”

The studios had a twisted way to keep a track of every actor’s behavior and movement. Each actor in the studio was allocated with a studio assistant whose primary job would be to ‘take care of the actors.’

In reality, these assistants used to function as the studio’s eyes and ears, often reporting actor’s secrets and movements to the higher-ups in the studio. Judy Garland was reportedly shaken when she discovered her nanny was playing her like a fiddle.

The actors had to be very careful of their reputation which meant they had to think twice before saying something or indulging in an act. They were expected to keep their reputation and public image free from any blemishes.

That meant they had to stay miles away from anything that would tarnish their reputation. Actress Clara Bow learnt it the hard way when the floating rumors of her raunchy behavior costed her contract termination with Paramount.

The studios required the stars to sign up for the acting lessons before they could essay the role in real. The acting lessons served as a preparation ground to fine tune their emotive skills, dancing abilities, and other things – which studios thought was mandatory for them to become a star.

So, the actors went through the ropes of acting before they shot for their parts in the films sponsored by the studios.

Yesteryear Hollywood stars were often bound by lengthy contracts that were long term in nature. Often they were made and expected to sign contracts ranging anywhere between four to seven years.

They were also prohibited from working with the other studios during their contract period. In a nutshell, these contracts tethered them to one studio for as long as four to seven years. Not all that glamorous, don’t you agree?

As we mentioned above that the nature of these contracts were exploitative and largely in the favor of the studios. Hence, the actors were more or less at the mercy of one studio. During their contract term, they couldn’t take up the work at any other studio.

That at times meant letting go of interesting roles and exciting films. The nature of the contract dictated that they could not explore opportunities outside their studio for a stipulated period of time.