The Home Edit Swears by This Smart Rule for Keeping Your Space Organized

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The organizing impresarios behind The Home Edit, Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, live to make order out of chaos. And in their new book, Stay Organized, they demonstrate how setting up smart systems in each room can keep clutter and confusion from creeping in–even when life gets busy or guests arrive for the holidays. (Yes, they're right around the corner!)

According to Shearer and Teplin, the key to orchestrating a successful organization strategy in the home is to streamline systems. Even the best organizing intentions can backfire. (Who among us hasn't bought a bevy of clear "organizing" bins that then end up being their own pile of junk in the hall closet?)

To avoid that, first you plan, then you dive in—and eventually, your household, and your life, runs more smoothly. "When everything has a place and is accessible based on how you use it, it's far less overwhelming to maintain and does wonders for stress reduction," Shearer says.

We asked the experts for the book's top six hacks for prepping for guests—from wrangling guest bedding to keeping party people's coats in order. Do your future self a favor and read on:

Go 80/20 in Your Entryway

"The entryway is one of the most high-traffic spots in your home but it is one of the simplest to maintain," Teplin says. It’s the spot where you say hello and goodbye to your home–for that reason, the coming and going can get hectic and messy. Keeping it orderly should be at the top of your list, as a neat entryway is a guaranteed great first impression when guests arrive.

Regardless of whether you're dealing with a grand foyer or a small transitional area, make it work for you. Shearer and Teplin advise implementing the 80/20 rule: Use 80 percent of that space, but leave the rest available to easily accommodate items that might arrive (like Amazon packages).

In a small space, a freestanding unit both dresses up the area and serves a valuable function—as long as you don’t overload it. The Home Edit's caveat: Don’t make it a dumping ground. Only keep grab-and-go and in-season items nearby—a raincoat in spring, gloves and hat in winter.

If you're having a get-together, and expect a lot of guests, invest in a stand-alone coat tree and an extra shoe rack. You don't want your entryway to look like a Black Friday sales floor.

5-Tier Stackable Shoe Rack

Black and Marble Coat Rack

Hall Tree with Shoe Storage

"Backstock" Your Pantry

If you're lucky enough to have one, the pantry may be the most used spot in the entire house—partly because everyone is always hungry. Maintaining it can be exceedingly challenging because even if you have a storage system, it's easy to ignore as groceries are unloaded in a rush or ravenous kids pull out snacks by the handful.

The key to keeping things neat is to think like a store and embrace the concept of "backstock"—things that aren't out on display on your cabinet shelves, but are close at hand in the back (i.e. your pantry) if needed. To start, buy things in multiples to save you time, money, and sanity, especially when you're busy hosting and throwing holiday parties. (You'll never be out of crackers for an impromptu cheese board.) But do remember to check the backstock bins before going shopping, lest you forget about those five pasta boxes and end up with an endless supply and nowhere to store it.

When you're shelving your back stock, group food into categories and store each one in the appropriate container, which should be easy to access and allow you to see when you're low on back stock. For a cohesive look—and so that everyone knows what's what and doesn't go rooting through boxes and bins—you can decant dry goods or snack items into clear (and labeled with a paint pen) containers. Turntables work great for condiments and spices. Bins are excellent for oddly-shaped snack packaging like fruit pouches. Woven storage baskets look chic when placed on the floor to hold chip bags and other kid-friendly grub.

POP 5-Piece Airtight Food Storage Container Set

Permanent White Paint Pens

Medium Deep Stacking Bamboo Bin

Re-Zone the Laundry Room

In an ideal world, the laundry room is both clean and organized. In reality, for most of us, the space likely looks like an indoor garage—a cornucopia of light bulbs, pet food, and of course, piles of clothes.

But no matter how bad your laundry room gets, the Home Edit experts say it's not too late to whip it into shape. First, upgrade the current laundry basket with a divided hamper system that has sections for each family member, or simply allows you to split lights and darks as you toss in dirty laundry.

When you anticipate extra laundry, say when guests keep coming or if your kids play sports and have a ton of workout clothes that need to be washed regularly, add a corresponding hamper. Label each section to avoid confusion.

If you can, add zoned shelving for laundry supply backstock. You'll have to get some bins (or what The Home Edit calls "everyone's best friend"). As Shearer and Teplin write in Stay Organized, bins "are perfect for creating precisely labeled zones to corral items exactly how you use them (iron, detergent), they are easy to clean, and they're an ideal choice to cover the entire shelf surface—so you simply cannot cram extra stuff in the sides—while maintaining a visually neat space."

Bamboo Hamper

14.5 Gallon White Storage Box

Clear Plastic Apothecary Jars Set of 3

Color-Code the Playroom

If you have kids, you know that stuff—the most random stuff—just seems to multiply on its own. The best way to bring order to these disparate objects and shapes (round balls, rectangular blocks, pyramid-shaped Magnatiles) is to arrange them by color, for a cohesive—and fun!—visual look that also makes it easy to clean up.

"The rainbow method helps even your tiniest family members who can't read yet put things away," Shearer says. This approach is especially useful when your kids have a zillion odds and ends they bring home from birthday parties and arcades. Yellow pop-it toys go with yellow bouncy balls–even better if you can find a yellow storage container.

You can apply the color order method to closets, cabinets, or storage areas that hold holiday decorations. Instead of looking through plastic containers in search of seasonal accouterments, decide on a certain color for all things that correspond with a certain holiday. White plastic containers and boxes can be used for for winter garlands and ornaments. Your bat and skeleton collection can avoid dust in Halloween-appropriate black or orange bins, and if you’re big on 4th of July decor, tuck away flags and pinwheels in something red. If you're not into a Technicolor space, stick to neutral storage containers but use color on the labels for an understated color order hack.

Metal Storage Bin

Cotton Storage Basket

11-Inch Cube Storage Bins 8 Pack, Multi Colored

Prime the Fridge for Take-Out

We're not talking about fast food (although you'll want to leave room for any deliveries). What The Home Edit suggests is that stocking up on stackable acrylic bins that can fill shelves and be pulled out of the fridge with ease. Label the containers, then create food zones.

Assign categories based on how you eat: Leftovers might be one; instead of fitting them in where you can, create a designated container for last night's dinner. Even the fridge's built-in drawer can have subcategories, if you place one bin for cheese and one for meat within it.

Once you're organized, do weekly checks, pulling out each container and tossing any food you know you’re just not going to eat. Unlike good wine, groceries do not get better with age.

10 Pack Fridge Organizers

Divided Berry Bin

Divided Fridge Bin

Invest in a Smart Cart

A living room is not the only place for a bar cart. If your home is short on built in storage, just bring in what Shearer and Teplin call "a cabinet on wheels" and you've got instant organization.

This storage system works especially well in a guest bathroom. You can categorize the toiletries and towels in wire bins or keep makeup and hair products with turntable storage. The key is to make all the essentials easily accessible; think of the guest bath or a powder room as a chic boutique hotel and stock accordingly.

This is just one option; the smart cart practice can be applied to any room or function. If your kids leave worksheets all over the counters or are constantly looking for erasers? Make a homework cart with all the school essentials. Do you dump all the gift wrap, ribbons, and tissue papers in a drawer or a vast plastic bin? Turn a cart into a wrapping station. Whatever you need to corral, consider it handled!

Clear Rolling Cart

Beverage Rolling Cart

Turntable

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