When I looked for answers I spent some time exploring “personal organization Youtube” and found a few general principles for myself:

• Make a real place for everything, not a pile. The difference between a simple tray or bin and a pile is that you can reposition a container without moving every single item in it. Repeating this principle at different scales from very small to very large will quickly organize things into a hierarchy, make it less exhausting to “declutter” and reduce the chance of errors like knocking over stuff and having a cascade.

• Have more containers than you need. Then you don’t “end up” with a pile forming. But don’t have more containers than is appropriate for the space you’re working with. That’s just a sign of needing to throw out some things.

• Also consider how you “divide” vs “bind” space together. The two are like ying and yang: we divide up documents into pages, but then we bind them together again with various mechanisms like yarn, binder clips or glue. Sometimes the right answer for making a place is assuming it’s pre-divided, but easing binding.

• Taking this idea to its extreme, you can cram a huge number of small items into a three-ring binder with various accessories(pencil pouches, clear dividers, etc.) This is a wonderful way to deal with those products that ship with, e.g., an extra screw.

• You don’t have to invest in expensive containers. Cardboard and leftover food plastic can work on a budget.

• If throwing things out is triggering your hoarding senses, try making spaces of relatively greater and lower priority: your “favorites” vs the “other stuff”. This sorting helps you now by putting the stuff you like within reach, and it helps later by creating an opportunity to declutter by tossing the whole bin at once.

What are the best containers to invest in for the long run? In my opinion, small zipper bags, desk organizers, pencil bins, and cafeteria trays. If you have a lot of round items, a lazy susan, or variations on that like a makeup organizer.

Making things more vertical is always good. Find ways to hang things on walls or put up shelves. Accessory items (necklaces, scarves, sunglasses) are good candidates for hanging up. You could even hang up some commonly used cables for easy access. You can buy things to mount with lots of hooks, or just hang stuff on pushpins or jumbo pushpins… or hang up some sort of rope-y thing and hang stuff off of that.

You could consider IKEA cube storage units (KALLAX)… there can also be versions of these at other stores. You can even stack one on top of your dresser. (be careful it won’t fall over and crush anyone). IKEA has inserts that fit perfectly into their cubes to add drawers or subdivide into two smaller shelves. You can also get cube shaped storage basket things that fit in this style of furniture.

Check out storage containers geared towards people who do arts & crafts, you can find some interesting storage options there ,particularly if you have a lot of small items to sort

Make a trash bin. Find anything you don’t really need or plan on really using and just throw it away.

If you still need a lot of stuff, get a small office drawer or cabinet to stick and place things in. Something tall and vertical.

The rest, just organize into neater areas and spaces. Get orderly with it. Structure things out.

I like organizing stuff. I’d recommend using assortment bins for groups of things and larger bins for big objects like clothing.

I do agree that sometimes it’s smart to throw things away if you don’t use them much. I do like Marie Kando style of thinking here, I do like the two piles method.

If you’re looking for a drastic solution, consider a loft bed. You could have a narrow stair case or ladder up to your bed, and beneath the bed frame, you could have a space for a desk and personal office or a couch/loveseat and a little entertainment center.

My current living situation is quite small, but I don’t have vaulted ceilings anymore to consider doing a loft bed, myself!

Embrace it. Chaos is the natural order of the universe.

All hail Cthulhu!

(Alternatively, think vertically. Shelves on walls, things that stack. Consider exchanging large and bulky furniture for smaller and more compact or taller- especially if they’re not as full as they could be.)