4 Simple Organising Rules That Make Home Easier to Live In
I’m not trying to create a perfect setup at home. I’m not aiming for pretty cupboards, matching containers, or some sort of Instagram version of organised. All I’m really trying to do is make my home easier to live in.
That’s the goal behind a lot of the little resets I do, whether it’s in the house, the garden or even the camper. I keep coming back to the same basic idea: everything has a home, and everything goes back in its home. Recently that showed up in two places at once, with my tools and in the kitchen.
What makes a home easier to live in?
Everything having a place, and that place being easy to put things back into. If a system is awkward to use, it’s usually awkward to maintain too. It doesn’t matter how good the idea is if it feels annoying every time you use it. For me, organising isn’t about making things look good. It’s about making life feel simpler.
In lean, that’s the “set in order” step of 5S: a home for everything, close to where it’s used. At home it boils down to a few rules I keep coming back to.
What are my simple organising rules?
There are four. If I use something a lot, I keep it handy. If I use things together regularly, I keep them together, preferably in the same container. If I keep avoiding putting something away, there’s probably a problem with the system. And if things keep getting lost at the back, drawers usually help.
Here’s how those same four rules played out in two very different spaces.
| The rule | In the toolbox | In the kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| 1. If I use it a lot, keep it handy | The tools I use most, where I can grab them | Cutlery, measuring spoons and knives in the top drawer |
| 2. If I use things together, keep them together | Small items grouped in the upper drawers | A bean tray, a herb tray and a baking tray |
| 3. If I avoid putting it away, the system is the problem | The old crates I kept meaning to sort out | Lower cupboards that turned into a catch-all |
| 4. If things get lost at the back, use drawers | Drawers that slide out so I can see everything | Pull-out trays on the bottom shelves |
It’s not about an Instagram system. It’s about one that’s easy to maintain.
How do you organise tools at home?
Lay everything out first, then give each thing a home you can put it back into without thinking. For a long time my tools and bits of hardware sat in a couple of crates in the laundry. It worked pretty well, but only in that way where you keep telling yourself it’s fine.
Small bits got mixed in with bigger tools, things shifted around, and I’d rummage through the whole crate looking for one thing, then shut it again thinking I’d sort it out properly later. I kept telling myself “She’ll be right, mate”, or that I’d fix it when I had more time. Later never came. Eventually I realised I needed something that felt natural and easy to keep on top of.
When I reorganise anything, I lay everything out first so I can see what I have. It shows me what belongs together, what I use most, and how much space things really take up. Then I moved things around in the new toolbox a lot. Different drawers, different groupings, different layouts, until the things I use most were where I could grab them and, more importantly, easy to put back afterwards.
Drawers make a big difference for me. They separate the smaller items from the bulkier ones, and when a drawer slides out properly, you can reach everything without losing half of it at the back. The deeper bottom section takes the bigger tools, and the upper drawers group the smaller things. I want to find things at a glance and put them back without it becoming a chore.
It’s not perfect. I’ll probably need an extra module before it’s ideal. But it’s a lot better than it was, and it’ll make it easier to put things away after every project.
Do the same rules work in the kitchen?
Yes. Once I started thinking about the toolbox properly, I realised it was the same problem I’d been trying to solve in the kitchen. It’s one of the most used parts of the house, several times a day for meals, snacks and drinks, so if it doesn’t work well you notice quickly. I want things grouped the way I actually use them, so I can grab like things at once and put them back at once.
My utensils are grouped by function, not by wherever they fit. The things I use most, cutlery, measuring spoons and knives, are in the easiest place to reach. Cooking utensils sit under that. Wraps, cleaning cloths and tea towels are lower down the list. The drawers don’t need to be fancy. A few simple dividers are enough if they make things easier to get out and put away.
The pantry is broken into simple zones. Beans and meal basics like pasta and rice share a shelf, so if I’m making burritos I pull out the bean tray and I’m ready to go. Making a spice mix, out comes the herb tray. Baking, drinks and snacks each have their own easy-access tray, with extra and bulk food lower down. The first aid and paper towel shelf still needs finishing, but that’s a later job.
The lower cupboards and appliance shelves were the catch-all. Things got pushed to the back and hidden behind something else, and suddenly I was playing hide and seek every time I needed the blender or the baking gear. Crates fixed most of that, keeping things that belong together, together. Trays on the bottom shelves mean I can pull things out instead of reaching awkwardly into the back.
I’ve written more about both since: how I set up cooking workstations, and how I group the pantry by use, not type.
Does a home system ever stay finished?
Not really, and that’s normal. You only learn what works after living with it for a while. A setup can look pretty and still not be practical, so I’d rather have a system that adapts than one that looks finished but doesn’t suit everyday life. Sometimes a change is as good as a holiday, even around the home.
I find it funny how one small reset leads to another. Replace one container and suddenly it’s useful somewhere else. The toolbox and the kitchen do very different jobs, but the principle underneath is exactly the same. My home feels easier when things have a proper place, and I put them back in it. It’s not perfect, but it’s getting better.
What’s the loudest cupboard in your house?
Grounded Roamer is written by a lean manufacturing practitioner with 20+ years experience creating systems that make everyday life run with less friction. Based in Mildura, Victoria, Australia — documenting a quieter, more self-sufficient way of living, one small adjustment at a time.
