It’s time for one of my favorite posts of the year! With the holidays behind us, and a fresh year right around the corner, it seems like we all have a little extra motivation to tackle organizing and cleaning projects.
That makes this week the perfect time for me to go through all of my blog posts from last year to compile the 10 most popular ideas for you in case you missed any of them. Just click on the title or photo to read the full post.
1. How to Clean Oven Glass
I had no idea this post was going to be far and away the most popular post of the year. A mind-blowing 640,000+ readers have visited this simple tutorial where I showed how I finally got the grime off the oven window.
2. Organizing Everything in the Kitchen
Early last year, I went through every one of our kitchen cabinets. It was an intimidating project to start, but it’s also the organizing project that has had the biggest impact on daily life. Purging extra items and re-configuring what was stored in each cabinet has made cooking and entertaining an easier process. 
3. Fall Clean Up – Decluttering
As summer was winding down, I realized that some areas around the house should be purged every fall to keep clutter under control. I love the idea of a fall clean-up and was happy to see that you guys loved it too!
4. 14 Ways to Use a Shoe Cabinet to Increase Kitchen Storage
I’m a sucker for anything that adds lots of storage in a small space. IKEA shoe cabinets are amazing for more than just shoes. I put ours to the test and found 14 different kitchen items you could store in the Hemnes model.
5. Organizing the Master Bathroom in Style
This post was full of game-changing ideas for our master bathroom. I LOVE having the washcloths stored right at the tub, and having the basket for the blow dryer and flat iron makes cleaning up the vanity so much faster.
6. 6 Tips to Control Cabinet Chaos
I mentioned the kitchen cabinets earlier, but I also tackled the pantry cabinets this year. While I was cleaning them out, I put together some tips that work no matter what kind of cabinet you are trying to organize.
7. Bathroom Under Sink Organization
Back in the bathroom, I cleaned out the messy cabinet under my husband’s sink. It was quite a transformation with lots of ideas for you to duplicate!
8. Battery Storage
I always forget about this quick-fix until we need a battery for something. Then I do a little happy dance that I know exactly where the battery I need can be found. It came in extra-handy over Christmas!
9. Baby Closet Organization
When my neighbor couldn’t handle the state of her daughter’s closet, she asked me to come get it under control. We were able to implement lots of ideas that will work for the closet long-term as needs change.
10. Favorite Cleaning Tools
While cleaning isn’t my favorite thing, I do love a clean house. I have a few favorite tools that make cleaning more bearable for me.
Oldies, but Goodies
These 5 posts are from prior years, but are still popular today.
- Organize Your Week Time-Blocking Printable – This free printable was a guest post by Abby from Just a Girl and Her Blog and it continues to be a very popular post. It’s an awesome way to plan each day!
- Bathroom Under Sink Organization – The cabinet under my bathroom sink was my nemesis for a long time. Some creative organizing ideas turned it into one of my favorite cabinets in the house.
- Master Closet Makeover– In 2015, we ripped out every shelf in our closet and created my dream space. It was totally worth all the hard work!
- Wall-Mounted Lint Bin – We’ve got a small laundry room that also serves as a hallway. When I got tired of having no space for a trash can, I figured out how to mount one to the wall!
- Cleaning Hard Water on Shower Glass – Our glass shower enclosure was so stained with hard water that we thought the only solution was going to be replacing the glass. No cleaners were helping. I finally figured out how to make them clear again!
So now that you’ve seen the most popular posts of last year, what would you like to see me tackle next year? Leave me a comment below telling me your biggest organizing struggle and I’ll see what ideas I can come up with to solve it.
Nancy says
I need every organizational tip I can find! Thank you so much for posting these!
shirley walker says
hi Melissa, I am new to your blog since I just saw an article about you in Better Homes & Gardens. Love Love Love your ideas Now how about some tips on Christmas stuff and Craft supplies. I seem to have an abundance of craft stuff from like whenever, and many I purchased but never actually used. I know I should get rid of a lot of them but just can’t seem to do it. Same with the Christmas items. I have 2 fake trees, one I actually use. and so many ornaments. Any good ideas on organizing those things. Thank you and good luck with this blog. Shirley Walker
Melissa George says
Hi Shirley! Thanks for visiting after reading the BH&G article! For the Christmas stuff, I totally understand that it’s hard to get rid of. I haven’t done a post on organizing it, but here are a few tips.
1) Take ALL your Christmas decor out of your storage area
2) Put back anything you used last year and still love. If you have mixed boxes/bins of things you used and things you didn’t, separate them out (eek, I need to do this too).
3) Look at what you have left that wasn’t used.
Divide it up into:
a) Family heirlooms/things you are very emotionally attached to for some reason
b) Themed items you may use again (Maybe you have lots of pretty red decor, woodland decor, etc that you know you’ll use again). Group the like items together into labeled totes so you can easily see your options the next season.
c) Items you think will be better loved by someone else. There are some Christmas decorations that I LOVED for years, but as my style evolved, I know the likelihood of me putting them out in future years is low. But I end up still hoarding them away in the attic. Last year, I tried to pull more out for donation as I switched my thinking to the fact that they could bring joy to someone else. Perhaps you can pull out 2nd tree you don’t use and put together a whole set of ornaments for it and a couple other coordinating items from your collection, then find someone without a tree to donate it to. I bet you could contact a women’s shelter and find a mom with some young kids that are just re-starting life in their own place. Can you imagine the joy of the kids if they came home from school to a Christmas tree!?!
Whew – that was a great question! I think I’ll save this and expand on it in a post closer to the holidays!
For crafts, you can use the same line of thinking and I also have some craft storage ideas in this post: https://www.polishedhabitat.com/craft-room-organization/