There’s More Than One Way to Be Organized

Woman placing a food container in an organized kitchen cabinet with neatly arranged pantry staples.

I grew up in a family of 12, and when I tell people that, I often hear, “Oh, that’s why you’re so organized.”

I understand why people make that connection. With that many people under one roof, organization certainly helped our household function. But after spending years working inside the homes of families of every size, I’ve learned something important: the number of people in a family doesn’t determine whether a home is organized.

I work with big families. I work with small families. I work with people who live alone. And what I see again and again is that organization isn’t something that automatically happens because you need it. It’s a skill—and skills can be learned.

I Was Taught How to Be Organized

What I was blessed with wasn’t simply growing up in a large family. I had a mother who was very organized, and, more importantly, she consciously taught us how to be organized.

There’s a big difference.

Sometimes we look at someone who seems naturally organized and assume their brain just works that way. Then, if organization doesn’t come as easily to us, we can start believing there’s something we’re missing.

But organization does not come naturally to everybody—and it can be taught.

You can learn how to create routines. You can learn how to decide where things belong. You can learn how to make your home easier to maintain. And you can experiment until you find systems that work with the way your brain actually works.

That last part is especially important.

Your Family Doesn’t Need One Organizing Style

When multiple people share a home, they don’t all need to be organized in exactly the same way.

Everybody has a different brain. Everybody has different goals. We have different hobbies, responsibilities, schedules, belongings, habits, and priorities.

One person may love having everything tucked neatly out of sight. Another may need to see something in order to remember that it exists. Someone may be perfectly comfortable with a very simple system, while another person needs more categories and structure.

None of those approaches automatically makes one person more organized than another.

So whether there are two people in your household, 12 people, or somewhere in between, you may have just as many different organizing needs and styles to consider.

That’s where organizing becomes less about creating a “perfect” home and more about creating a functional home for the people who actually live there.

A Home That Works for Everyone

When I’m helping a family organize, I’m not trying to make every person use the exact same system. I’m looking at the household as a whole.

Who uses this space?

What needs to happen here?

What does each person need access to?

What will actually be easy enough to maintain?

And where can we compromise?

I like to think of it this way: everybody gets a little bit of what they want, most of what they need, and everybody compromises enough to create something that works for the household.

That might mean adjusting where something is stored so a child can reach it independently. It might mean creating a visible system for one family member and a more tucked-away system for another. It might mean letting go of the idea that every closet, drawer, and cabinet has to look or function exactly the same.

The goal isn’t sameness.

The goal is a home where the people living in it can find what they need, put things away with less effort, move through their routines more easily, and feel comfortable in their own space.

If organization has always felt difficult for you—or if the people you live with seem to have completely different ideas about what “organized” means—I hope you’ll give yourself and each other some grace. You don’t have to organize like your mother, your neighbor, your favorite person on social media, or even the other people in your own household. Organization can be learned, adapted, and personalized. Sometimes the most successful system isn’t the prettiest or the most traditional one. It’s simply the one that makes life a little easier for the people who call that place home.


Pinky Jackson is a Decluttering Specialist and Home Organizing Expert. If you need expert organizing help, don't hesitate to reach out. Pinky and her team would love to help you. Onsite Organizing services are available in the Louisville, KY area and Virtual Organizing services are offered for clients in other locations and for those who prefer to work online. Visit pinkyjackson.com to learn about our services and schedule a free assessment.

Photo: RDNE Stock project @rdne