‘An important tenet in staying organized’ – 6 easy habits for a more minimalist and streamlined home

Minimalist spaces look peaceful and streamlined, but that does not come without homeowners working tirelessly to build smart organizing habits that maintain it.

From re-imagined drop zones to downsizing, our professional home organizers reveal the seven organizing habits minimalists adopt to make their homes easier to tidy and manage.

Here’s how to incorporate these home organizing ideas into your own space with ease.

7 minimalist organizing habits for a more streamlined home

1. Using functional drop zones

Drop zones are a great organizing system to keep you sane, but they can quickly be misused and overflow warns Katy Wells, founder of Clutter Cure Club and host of The Maximized Minimalist podcast.

She begins, ‘Clutter and mess love to pile up near the door. Backpacks, shoes, keys, parcel returns – it adds up fast. One of the most helpful habits I teach is creating a purposeful drop zone using my SPOT Method: Set a location, Provide containers, Organize by need, and Teach the habit.’

By setting up these clear steps, you create better boundaries for our drop zones, rather than allowing them to become a free-for-all. With some time and discipline, you’ll end up with a more minimalist-looking home that functions beautifully.

2. The OHIO rule

Also known as the one-touch tidying rule, the OHIO rule is a common minimalist habit that prevents mess.

Katy continues, ‘Layer in the OHIO rule – Only Handle It Once – so when something comes in, it doesn’t just get tossed on the kitchen counter and forgotten. When everyone knows where things go the first time, your home stays tidier without constant clean up.’

3. 5-minute surface sweeps

Katy says, ‘Flat surfaces are clutter and mess magnets. So instead of waiting until they’re overwhelming, minimalists like myself do a quick daily “surface sweep.”

‘Here’s how the five-minute cleaning challenge works: choose a counter or table and clear it off – only putting back what actually lives there. I find that it helps to turn on a favorite song or set a timer to make it fast and, dare I say, fun. It’s a quick visual reset that instantly makes your space feel lighter by clearing away the types of clutter you’ll never find in a minimalist home.’

4. Donation stations

There are some things minimalists throw out daily – so you will need a designated spot to gather it all, which will prevent it becoming a doom pile.

Katy suggests, ‘Designate a spot in your home – a basket, bin, or even a cardboard box – for items you no longer need or love. I call it a Donation Station, and it’s one of the easiest ways to keep clutter from piling up again.'

This set of folding fabric boxes from Walmart has handles, making them easy to carry out to the car. As they are collapsible, they are simple to store when not in use, reducing visual clutter.

Katy continues, 'Then set a simple goal – aim to declutter one item a day or five each week. With your Donation Station nearby, it’s easy to drop things in as you go. No pressure, no big clean-out required, just steady, simple progress that adds up fast.’

Of course it also helps to brush up on the things minimalists never buy for an easier life to limit how often you need to declutter. It can be a tricky minimalist habit to form, but you will save yourself some time and money.

5. Seeking hidden storage

Just because a home appears minimalist, doesn’t mean that you have to live with only the bare minimum – this is one of the most important lessons I learned from The Minimalist’s TV Show.

Instead, minimalists get into the habit of actively seeking out hidden storage ideas to maximize space around the home and reduce how much ‘stuff’ is on display.

This doesn’t mean shoving everything into a closet but strategically finding better ways to organize everyday items, such as using storage furniture to conceal throw vital blankets and cables or under-bed storage ideas to hide spare bed linens.

6. Downsizing

Downsizing can range from moving to a smaller home to cutting back on home storage ideas – it's something almost every minimalist does. The key to organizing things well as a minimalist is not to conceal clutter but actually work to remove it and stop it building up. Having a suitable organization system facilitates this.

Francesca Verri, Certified Holistic Lifestyle and Minimalist Coach, professional home organizer, and owner of Verri Organized says, ‘It’s a common mistake to think a bigger bin will save you space or even money – most people grow to their environment. You tend to store more than you might ever need or use, and can’t easily separate and store by like item, which is an important tenet in staying organized.

‘Instead of buying oversized bins to accommodate a broad category, I recommend you first purge the category you are systematizing. Make sure what you are looking to store has meaning and necessity. Then, break things into smaller categories where possible and buy smaller containers to fit that category. Even if the category can’t be reduced I still recommend a few specifically labeled smaller bins over one oversized bin as it will provide a necessary boundary and reduce clutter.’

Meet the experts

Katy Wells

Katy is the curator of several best-selling decluttering courses, and a globally-recognized top-50 organizing podcast.

Francesca Verri

Francesca has more than 20 years of experience using minimalist organizational habits and theories to empower clients to make lifestyle changes that produce real and lasting results.

FAQs

Are minimalists actually happier?

Whether or not minimalists, on the whole, are happier than others is a blurry subject, however, a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology suggests that there is a trend between the philosophy of minimalism and voluntary simplicity, and a more positive mindset and improved well-being.

The idea behind this link is that self-identifying minimalists feel more content and more in control of their lives, focusing more on their psychological needs than material desires.

How can I start organizing my home like a minimalist?

One of the best places to start on a journey towards organized minimalism is by decluttering your home. This could be one room or one small space that causes you regular trouble – either because it's physically hard to navigate or it makes you feel anxious or guilty. Try to keep only the items you love and use. The Reverse Decluttering method focuses on this.

With one space down, you are likely to feel more motivated to tackle another area in your home.

If you are feeling a bit stuck developing the habits of highly organized homeowners and minimalists, consider starting by decluttering first. The decluttering strategies minimalists swear by can help pare back your belongings to make them easier to manage, and habits easier to maintain.