The Tricks + Treats of Organizing
The organizing mistakes that haunt your home—and the Type A solutions that actually work.
October is the perfect time for tricks and treats…but there’s one thing we definitely don't want haunting us all year long: disorganized spaces. 👻
You know the ones.
The pantry where snacks seem to multiply overnight.
The bathroom drawer where you can never find a hair tie.
The laundry room where clean clothes go to disappear.
The closet where you have nothing to wear despite having plenty to wear.
And sometimes, the problem isn't that you aren't trying to get organized.
It's that you're using the wrong products, placement, or system for the space.
We've rounded up some of the most common organizing "tricks" we see in homes, and the "treats" we use instead to create systems that are functional, easy to maintain, and actually work for the way your family lives.
Because at Type A, we don't believe organizing is about making a space look pretty for a picture. It's about making your home work better for you.
Let's get into the tricks and treats. 🎃
🍽️ KITCHEN
👻 TRICK: Putting everything in a giant bin
Large bins can look like an easy organizing solution, but they're not always the answer.
When you toss a bunch of different items into one oversized container, you may have technically "contained" the clutter, but you haven't necessarily made it easier to find or put away.
And if you have to pull everything out of the bin to find the one thing you need?
That's not a system. That's a treasure hunt.
🍬 TREAT: Create zones based on how you use your kitchen
Instead of organizing solely by item type, think about function. Create designated zones for things like:
Everyday cooking
Baking
Coffee and drinks
Food prep
Lunch prep
Kids' snacks
Entertaining
Keep the things you use together stored together. The goal is simple: open the drawer or cabinet and immediately know where something belongs.
🥫 PANTRY
👻 TRICK: Decanting absolutely everything
We love a beautiful pantry as much as anyone, but decanting every single item isn't automatically the best solution.
If you're constantly refilling containers, washing containers, checking expiration dates, and trying to remember what belongs where, your "organized" pantry can quickly become another chore.
🍬 TREAT: Decant strategically
Decant the items where it actually improves your system. Think:
Frequently used dry goods
Cereal
Snacks
Baking staples
Pasta and grains
Items that are difficult to store in their original packaging
For everything else, use clearly defined zones and containers that make sense for the space. Pretty is a bonus. Function comes first.
🛁 BATHROOMS
👻 TRICK: The giant bathroom "catch-all" drawer
If your bathroom drawer contains makeup, hair products, toothbrushes, medications, nail clippers, sunscreen, and approximately 47 random things you can't identify…
…it might be time for a reset. A drawer isn't organized simply because everything is inside it.
🍬 TREAT: Give each category a home
Use drawer dividers or small containers to create individual homes for the things you use every day. Try categories like:
Hair
Skincare
Dental
Everyday makeup
First aid
Personal care
Kids' routines
And don't forget the most important rule: Store everyday items where they're easiest to reach.
Your morning routine shouldn't require digging through three layers of products.
🧺 LAUNDRY ROOM
👻 TRICK: Storing everything wherever there's empty space
That empty shelf might technically have room for detergent, cleaning supplies, towels, and random household items - but that doesn't mean it should.
When laundry supplies are scattered throughout the room, putting things away becomes just another decision.
🍬 TREAT: Create a laundry workflow
Organize your laundry room around the steps you actually take.
Think: SORT → WASH → DRY → FOLD → HANG → PUT AWAY
Keep the products you use most frequently within easy reach. Create homes for:
Detergent
Stain removers
Dryer products
Cleaning supplies
Laundry accessories
Extra hangers
Household linens
When the room supports the process, laundry feels a whole lot less overwhelming.
🚪 MUD ROOM + ENTRY
👻 TRICK: One giant basket for everyone's stuff
This is one of those solutions that sounds great in theory.
"Everyone gets a basket!"
But then everyone's shoes, backpacks, jackets, sports gear, and random treasures end up together in one giant pile. You've contained the chaos, but you haven't eliminated it.
🍬 TREAT: Give each person and each activity a zone
A functional mud area should make leaving and coming home easier. Create designated homes for:
Shoes
Backpacks
Jackets
Sports equipment
Hats
Seasonal accessories
Everyday grab-and-go items
If possible, give each family member a defined space.
The fewer decisions your family has to make, the easier the system is to maintain. And yes, that includes kids.
🛏️ LINEN CLOSET
👻 TRICK: Folding every towel into one enormous stack
You know the stack.
You pull out the towel on the bottom, and suddenly the entire pile comes crashing down.
Or someone grabs a towel from the middle and leaves the rest looking like a laundry explosion.
🍬 TREAT: Organize linens by size and purpose
Create easy-to-see categories for:
Bath towels
Hand towels
Washcloths
Guest towels
Sheets
Pillowcases
Extra blankets
Consider folding towels so every item is visible and easy to grab. For sheet sets, keep the entire set together so you don't have to play "Where is the matching pillowcase?" every time you change the sheets.
Bonus treat: Keep the linens used most often at the easiest-to-reach height.
👗 CLOTHING CLOSETS
👻 TRICK: Organizing your closet by whatever fits
When a closet is packed tightly, it can be tempting to just make everything fit.
Push things over. Stack things higher. Squeeze another hanger in. Problem solved…right?
Not exactly…When your clothing is difficult to see or access, you're less likely to wear everything you own—and more likely to feel like you have nothing to wear.
🍬 TREAT: Edit first. Organize second.
The best closet system starts before you buy a single organizing product.
First, edit what you own.
Then organize what remains in a way that makes sense to you. Try organizing clothing by:
Category
Season
Color
Frequency of use
And use the same type of hanger throughout the closet whenever possible.
The goal isn't simply to fit more clothes. It's to make getting dressed easier.
🧸 KIDS' PLAYROOM
👻 TRICK: Too many tiny bins with no labels
A playroom can look beautifully organized with dozens of cute containers, but if no one knows what goes inside them, that system probably won't last.
Especially kids. They're not going to spend ten minutes figuring out where every tiny toy belongs.
🍬 TREAT: Simple categories kids can actually understand
Think broad, easy-to-recognize categories:
Cars
Dolls
Legos
Art supplies
Puzzles
Games
Dress-up
Stuffed animals
Use picture labels for younger children and word labels for older kids.
And remember: The easier it is to put something away, the more likely it is to actually get put away.
Your playroom system should be designed for the people using it—not just the adults looking at it.
📦 STORAGE + ATTIC
👻 TRICK: "I'll just put it in a bin."
Ah yes. The famous storage-bin solution.
When in doubt, put it in a bin.
The problem? Three years later, you have 27 identical bins and absolutely no idea what's inside them.
🍬 TREAT: Label everything—and create categories before containers
Before you buy another storage bin, determine what you're actually storing.
Group items by category and frequency of use. For example:
Holiday decorations
Seasonal clothing
Baby keepsakes
Sentimental items
Family memories
Outdoor equipment
Home improvement supplies
Then choose containers based on what you're storing, rather than buying containers first and figuring it out later.
And label the outside. Because "Miscellaneous" isn't a category. It's a future problem.
🛏️ GUEST ROOM
👻 TRICK: Making the guest room the home's dumping ground
The guest room is often the easiest room to sacrifice when you don't know where something belongs.
Extra boxes? Put them in the guest room.
Christmas decorations? Guest room.
Clothes you haven't decided what to do with? Guest room.
Things you might need someday? You guessed it.
Eventually, your "guest room" becomes a storage room with a bed in it.
🍬 TREAT: Give the room a purpose—and protect it
A guest room should be ready to function as a guest room. Create intentional storage for:
Extra bedding
Towels
Toiletries
Luggage
Guest essentials
Seasonal items
Use the closet and drawers to give guests space for their belongings.
And most importantly, don't let the room become the place where everything without a home goes.
If something doesn't belong there, give it a real home.
🎃 THE BIGGEST
ORGANIZING TRICK OF ALL?
Thinking that you need to buy more organizing products to get organized.
You don't.
The best organizing system isn't necessarily the one with the most bins, baskets, labels, or containers. It's the one that makes sense for your space, your belongings, and your everyday routines. At Type A, we believe in creating systems that are:
Functional.
Intentional.
Easy to maintain.
Designed around real life.
Because the ultimate "treat" isn't a perfectly organized space for one day. It's a home that stays easier to manage long after the organizing team leaves.
Ready to turn your organizing tricks into treats?
If your home has a space that's haunting you every time you walk past it, we're here to help. From kitchens and pantries to closets, garages, playrooms, and everything in between, our team can help you create a system that works for the way you actually live.
Your clutter doesn't have to be scary 👻 Let's make your home feel a little more Type A.
