Organize Your Home by Treating It Like a Retail Store
Scrolling through TikTok and Reels can often feel like a waste of time, but today I found a winner: Kristen Fackler , a professional organizer who gives tips on how to declutter your home and mind, suggests thinking of your home as a store for maximum organization using the same methods you would use to manage inventory if you worked in retail.
Why think of your home as a store?
According to Fackler, this advice comes down to how to run a retail business using safety stock and replenishment zones. These are typically warehouses or warehouses that are used to store inventory that is not on display but can be easily moved there when something sells and its space needs to be filled for the next buyer.
This way, you also have places in your home to stock up and replenish supplies. Fakler uses the bathroom as an example: Your bathroom could be a store, so your displays are shelving, mirrors and cabinets. In this scenario, your stock is the closet that actually stores the bulk of your bathroom items. Think about other examples from your living space: your spice cabinet is full of spices and small bottles, but your pantry contains extra salt, baking supplies and other items. There’s a set of sheets on the bed, a towel in the bathroom, and plenty more in the linen closet.
What attracted me to this method when I first watched it was that Fakler compared it to my favorite organization method: decanting . When you transfer store-bought items into more consistent, reusable containers, you save space and make it easier to see when something needs to be replaced. The same approach is behind the idea of “safety stock.”
How to use this organization method
I often recommend the Organization Triangle as a set of rules to follow when organizing your home, especially the requirements of keeping like items together and making sure everything has a designated place. Reframing your perception of your home to make it more like a store and incorporating storage space is the only time I’ll say you can get a little casual with the organization triangle, but there’s a caveat here: this method works best for homes where you have plenty of storage space and accessible front space.
If this applies to you, start using this method to see how it works for you. Select the most frequently used items in each category, such as aspirin from the medicine supply , favorite herbs from the spice collection, etc. Move them to easy-to-reach areas, and then store less-used items in cabinets, a pantry, pantry, or somewhere more out of the way. place. Whenever you buy a new version of one of these high-demand items, place it in this stock area, and then when you run out of stock in the “sales area”, be sure to check the stock before purchasing a new one. This also works for things you don’t always have to repurchase, like clothes. Your work clothes and basic necessities can be easily accessible in the closet, while less worn items, such as special occasion clothes, can be stored somewhere, such as under the bed or in the attic, to keep the closet less cluttered.
Organizing this way, keeping your most in-demand items out of the pile and easily accessible, will help you keep track of what needs replenishing, either from the stock pile or from the store, and will also keep your front areas clear. more careful. As always, use storage containers in both the back storage area and the front area to ensure maximum organization.