Create a half-empty (ish) home aesthetic with me! Find out how I’m leaning on new home organization methods to empty out some of my cluttered spaces and create a more minimalistic vibe in my overstuffed home.
An Organized Home
Creating an organized home has always been a mission of mine.
I am an organized person by nature, and I thrive best in clean, organized spaces.
So, needless to say, we have always had a fairly organized home.
That said, we have also always had a lot (and I mean a lot) of stuff.
Because of that stuff, I’ve spent most of my adult life in a constant state of cleaning, purging, and reorganizing.
While I’m proud of the fact that I can organize pretty well and typically have zero issues getting rid of stuff, I’m finally ready to embrace a slightly different stage in my life.
My kids are no longer little.
I no longer spend time helping them clean up their rooms, I don’t pick up forgotten toys on a daily basis, and we don’t have a ton of little kid extras lying around.
So, I’m ready to take my organizing game up a few notches and do something extreme this year.
I’m ready to create an even more organized home with a slightly more minimalistic feel.
All that said, I’m also a bit of a collector.
From coffee mugs and books to my new, growing collection of LEGO.
I’ve decided I’m going to find that right balance of keeping what makes the collector side of me happy, while ditching the extra crap I simply don’t need anymore!
So if you’re a stuff lover, as I am, but crave a more minimalistic feel throughout your home, this one is for you as much as it is for me!
Home Organization Methods
When it comes to home organization, there are a ton of different organization methods out there.
For example, you could follow the Marie Kondo way of decluttering and hold each item you own for a minimum of 5 seconds to see if “sparks joy“.
Or, you could lean on the side of simple, only decluttering unused items at the beginning of each new year or season.
Whatever your past method of choice, if it isn’t working, I’ve got something new I want to share with you!
As I go through my traditional spring cleaning checklist, I have decided that I’m not only going to deep clean my home this spring, but I’m also going to go on an organization journey by doing some in-depth organizing and purging.
I have worked through decluttering my entire home over a season in the past, but something just feels different this year.
I have decided to take on a half-empty mindset.
The Half-Empty Organization Mindset
To understand where this new mindset came from, you first need to know the story behind it.
Due to some changes, we recently reorganized our entryway closet.
While this might not sound like a big change, the ripple effect it caused was huge, which is why it matters, so keep reading, friend!
We have a unique entry closet, as it is fully open and does not have a door! This is the best view I could of said closet. Aside from the overflowing basket of spare toilet paper rolls and the top left bin that is still stuffed full of reusable grocery shopping bags (I’m slowly getting rid of those as I fill them with thrift donations), each cubby basket is around or below the half-empty mark. All that said, this area isn’t perfect or necessarily magazine worthy, but it’s pretty to me, and it functions, which is the important stuff, you guys! The furniture you see on the right (blocking part of the view) is our amazing slim shoe rack. This picture is real life and not minimalistic by the world’s standards, but I don’t really care because I’m proud of how it turned out.
This closet has been a catch-all area since we moved into our new home over a year ago.
It held everything from extra food storage and toilet paper to our reusable grocery bags, dog food, and light bulbs.
It was an overstuffed pantry of sorts, but it was not a functional one.
That said, this was always just a temporary solution we needed to lean on while we were saving up the funds to create an actual pantry area in our open kitchen.
Well, now that creating a kitchen pantry has come to pass, repurposing the entryway closet was a must!
While it was exciting to fill my new pantry, I ended up with a half-empty closet that I was struggling to accept.
My mind immediately began thinking I have all this wasted space I need to fill!
Then it hit me, hard.
What if half-empty is ok?
I was thoroughly enjoying the fact that I could see everything in the space and no longer had to dig through bins to find what I needed.
So, here I am with a brand-new organizational mindset about to half-empty my entire house.
Wish me luck, you guys!
Half-Empty Organizational Method
While this is a brand-new concept to me, I’ve already decided how I’m going to tackle this new half-empty organizational method, and strangely, I’m going to go against my nature on this one, you guys!
My past cleaning and organizing methods have always been to start in the easily hidden areas of my house and move towards the public spaces.
For example, I always start my day by making my bed and picking up my room, and then I move towards the living, entry, and kitchen areas for my big finish.
Why do I do this? One simple reason.
If I started with the public areas of my home, I would be much more likely to stop before getting to those easily hidden areas.
The only way I can truly keep my home in order day after day is if I do the easily skipped stuff first!
That said, I’m tackling this one in a totally different manner, you guys!
I have chosen to try a back-and-forth method to create a somewhat half-empty home aesthetic.
The reason I’m choosing this method over my typical one is for motivational purposes only.
When I’m tackling a whole home organizational project as big as this one, I need to see results quickly, or I will most likely give up.
While I hate to admit it, I’m a bit of a giver-upper when things don’t seem to be progressing the way I’d like, so I have to go against my nature and give myself my best shot at completion!
So, if you struggle with motivation during big tasks like whole-home organization, try utilizing a back-and-forth approach instead!
Organize Back-and-Forth
What exactly does organizing back and forth truly mean, though?
Since I thrive best in organized spaces but easily give up when I don’t see the results as quickly as I’d like, I simply can’t lean on my typical method of starting at one end of the house and moving towards the other.
So, I’ve chosen to complete my half-empty organizing in the following order.
I’ve marked easily skipped places with an (H) for hidden and open spaces our guests always see with a (P) for public.
As you can see, I started with our entryway closet (the motivation for this half-empty organization project) and will end with our kitchen.
I chose this order because I needed to see results immediately.
Reorganizing (and half emptying) my office nook as my second task showed me just how good it feels to work in a clean, decluttered space again, giving me the push I need to begin work on my bedroom soon.
While the bookcase in my office nook isn’t technically half empty, many of the bins and baskets are close to it, and this entire area is definitely half-emptied from where it started, so I’m content with that!
This is just a small portion of my not so half-empty but half-emptied from where it started bookcase in my office nook. The basket on the top left only holds a glue gun and extra glue sticks, the camera bin has my spare camera batteries, and the bottom shelf houses a basket half-filled with stickers, and 2 art baskets with some extra wiggle room, as they are no longer bursting at their seams like they once were!
Plus, my desk drawers are completely free of any excess clutter!
Everything has a place, can be easily seen, and it looks darn good if I do say so myself!
I’ve already completed 2 tasks on this list, and I’m gearing up for my third.
So, I’m definitely hoping that this back-and-forth thing will continue to motivate me to tackle my entire house organization over the spring season.
Lastly, I’m ending with the kitchen because I truly believe I won’t stop till it’s done.
The kitchen is what I consider to be the heart of the home, and I personally can’t rest at night until it’s clean, so my thought process is the same when it comes to organizing.
While I can’t confidently tell you if this organization method will perfectly work or not, I definitely think it’s worth a try, you guys!
Learn to Love Unused Space
Trying to organize my home using the back-and-forth method instead of starting at one end and finishing at the other isn’t the only new thing I’m experiencing with this project.
I’m also trying to learn to love unused spaces.
This empty bin you see typically holds 3 dog bowls, and that’s it, you guys! It keeps the bowls off my kitchen counter in between feedings and gives this bin a use, as it was fully emptied out during the reorganization process of our entryway closet. At first, I would have cringed at the fact that I was using an entire bin to store 3 bowls, but now I’ve learned to fully embrace the simplicity of it all.
This is so unnatural to me.
Yes, I love the minimalistic magazine-perfect look, and yes, I love clean and clutter-free spaces.
However, being a part of a homeschool family of 5 who loves stuff, I have never had the luxury of half-empty spaces.
I vividly remember the days in our old home when our entire basement acted as our homeschool area, and every nook and cranny was filled with art supplies, curriculum, curriculum aides, books, puzzles, games, and educational toys!
While it looked clean and organized, it was also filled to the brim, you guys!
So, here I am, a year after moving into our new home, assessing what we really need, focusing on what I love, and ditching the stuff we simply don’t use anymore!
I’m going deep too, not skipping a thing.
For example, in my office area, I tossed every single marker or pen that didn’t write well, removed every book I knew I wouldn’t be reading again, moved all of my daughter’s art supplies to a different location because she never used them in that space, and finally decluttered items that were needlessly sitting in my desk since it was in the RV (it’s crazy the things we leave in random places for so long).
It was ridiculously refreshing!
I also removed an art table I originally set up in the space for my daughter, a rolling cart I repurposed for another area, and a crate full of homeschool extras that hadn’t been touched the entire year we’ve lived here.
All that said, my office nook may not look half-empty to the naked eye, but I definitely half-emptied it from where it was, and that’s a huge win in my book!
So, whether your space truly becomes half-empty or you simply half-empty it from where it was, either way, it’s progress and something to be proud of, you guys!
Plus, I truly believe that maintaining a half-empty mindset will help you learn to love those unused spaces more and more — hopefully motivating you to declutter and half-empty time and time again!
Consider New Things Carefully
This! As I have already mentioned, I’m a bit of a collector.
I love shopping for new home decor, tracking down that hard-to-find Gilmore Girls mug at Home Goods, buying new seasonal blankets, and collecting LEGO or other character memorabilia.
So, in order to keep my home tidy and maintain that half-empty mindset, I need to be very, very careful before hitting that order button or heading to the checkout.
For example, I just purchased 2 new seasonal gnomes from Etsy.
These guys are freaking adorable, and I wanted them all, you guys!
That said, I had to stop, take a look around my home, and officially decide if I really had a space for these to go.
My rules for purchasing new decorative items:
Do I have an empty display area already in mind for this item? I may not always ask myself this question, but since we are in a newer home, and I’m still figuring out how I want to display things, I’ve decided it’s ok to fill some of my awkwardly half-empty display space.
If it’s seasonal decor, however, I ask these questions:
Will I be swapping this out with an item from a different season, taking up zero extra space? Or is it fully replacing another item (from the same season) that I plan on getting rid of anyway?
While home decor is probably my most common extra purchase right now, you can ask yourself similar questions when bringing home non-decorative items as well.
From craft supplies to games and toys — will they be replacing something? Do I have a specific space in mind?
These little guys live on my desk and can easily be swapped out with each season and holiday.
If you truly want to keep your home organized and somewhat half-empty but can’t honestly tell yourself where new items would go, they may not be worth purchasing.
So, always, always be mindful and consider new items carefully.
Balancing Minimalism and Maximilsm
This is my biggest battle.
As a collector and lover of shopping, I know that I’m not literally a minimalist, and I likely never will be.
However, I do strongly crave a little minimalism in my life.
I like my current stuff, I like buying new stuff, and I like decorating and creating something new with the change of every season.
So, I will forever be working on the challenging balancing act of my minimalistic needs and my maximalist wants.
If that’s you, know that you aren’t alone in the battle, and that incorporating some of these minimalistic organization tips into your maximalist lifestyle can help you create the balance you desperately need!
More Home Organization Ideas
Love the idea of half-emptying your home, but need a little more? I’ve got you!
First, download our free printable half-empty home checklist to help get you started by signing up for our newsletter below!
This free organization checklist is simple and to the point.
It has blank lines and checkboxes for you to fill in the areas of your home you need to half-empty, and has simple tips for success.
Plus, it matches our spring cleaning checklist and will match our other upcoming free home organizing printables!
Sign up below to get yours!
Just so you know, signing up gets you on our VIP newsletter list, where I send out quick life + blog updates.
Plus, it gives you full access to our entire free printables library!
Finally, check out some of these other organization ideas for the home.
Whether you are looking for something different than my current method or you simply need fresh ideas to add to your half-empty home, I’ve got you!
Try adding a wall organizer to a cluttered space, or stay organized with baskets and bins.
Then, check out our entire organization section here on Life + Homeschool for all the tips!
