Mini Makeover: Colour Code Your Home

Today I wanted to share with you one of the ways we organised our home whilst I was growing up, and it’s something that’s stuck with me. I didn’t realise until Claire shared this post on her blog, that not everyone does this. I don’t mean that in a rude way, you just don’t always realise that your home isn’t the norm when growing up. Whilst my home still has a ways to go to get organised, colour coding it is one thing I think I’ve got covered.

found here: towels, storage tubs, white labels, coloured pens

What You’ll Need:

• Choose a colour or colours for each family member (or let them choose themselves)
• Coloured pens in your chosen colours
• White Labels (sticky for plastic tubs or cardstock and twine to attach if you prefer)
• Tubs or containers for storing items
• Towels in your chosen colours (you can do sheets or duvet/doona covers too, if you like)
• Your Mini Makeover Essentials

So here’s my idea: To get organised in your home and to stop the arguments that come with things that look identical “he’s got my towel” “she stole my blanket” and the ever present “who left their wet towel on the carpet?”

We use a nifty system of colour coding our separate items, like towels, duvet covers, blankets, storage containers, etc. Each person in the house either picks a colour or has one assigned to them, and it becomes their responsibility (depending on age, obviously) to make sure their towel is hung up at night, or put in their washing basket on time, toys or special items are put back where they belong.

You may scoff and think it won’t happen (that’s often my reaction too), but I think that organisation in the home is a team effort (unless you live alone) and over time things become habits if they are reinforced. I’m not saying that changing the colour of your towels will automatically make kids pick up after themselves or a new toothbrush will make them brush their teeth longer. But getting the whole family involved can start to change things, and skills can develop. I firgure, if the coloured towels stopped us three kids from arguing, it might just work for you. (We were a stubborn bunch).

Having different colours for group items or storage can be great too. If it’s shared toys or the christmas decorations or even that stuff that lives in the broom closet, you can easily see that it’s a group box just by sighting it. It makes searching for the board games faster if they’re in a box with an orange tag that says “board games” and not another unmarked box of miscellaneous stuff;)

Individual storage boxes are great when you’re collecting and storing for the future as it will be easy to see who owns what if you move houses or rooms or for when your children grow up and move out. It can feel like a pain in the beginning to get everything sorted into categories and by people, but it makes things a lot quicker to find in the long run, which can really take some of the future stress off. I know when I let things lapse, I end up regretting it later.

Everyone’s home is different, and what we store is different too. I have found colour coding really helpful and it’s something that I think I’ll use for a long time to come. I’m hoping to move in the next year or so and I think I’ll be extra glad for it when it comes time for unpacking.

Do you have a system like this at home? How do you keep your things organised? I’d love to hear!

If you do try this, I’d love to see a photo or hear about how it went! Tweet me your pics at: @danniellecresp or instagram me at: @dannielle with the hashtag: #styleaminimakeover