How to Get “Buy-In” from Household Members!

Getting your home organized can feel like an uphill battle, especially when you're the only one who seems motivated to do so. As you already know, creating an organized home is definitely not a solo mission—it requires the participation of everyone under the roof. Involving your household members in the process is not only crucial for creating systems that work but also promotes sustainability.

I've put together 10 practical strategies to help you gain buy-in from your household members, turning organization into a team effort rather than a solo mission.

When everyone works together, it can relieve much of the pressure and stress from falling solely on your shoulders. It’s natural to feel apprehensive about involving others, especially if they initially seem uninterested or have a negative attitude. However, try to stay positive and patient. Some family members may surprise you with a change in attitude as you implement these strategies, while others may take more time. Just remember to stay the course—you’re creating a system that will benefit the entire family in the long run.

• Involve your family in the Process:

  • Schedule a family meeting: Scheduling a family meeting allows you to get everyone in the same space at the same time to greatly impact the conversation. This allows everyone to hear and be heard. 

  • Have an open mind: Even though you may already have an idea on how you want things to look like, it’s very important that you have an open mind. You may be surprised at some of the ideas your family has. 

  • Ask for their input: When everyone has a voice, they’re more likely to feel responsible for maintaining the systems you implement. So finding out what ideas they have on how to improve household organization is crucial.

• Highlight the Benefits:

  • Explain the benefits: Give them your vision for the home and what you believe the benefit can be. Explain how an organized home saves the family space, time, energy, and money. Share how it can lead to less stress, easier maintenance, and more time for activities they enjoy. 

  • Give examples: Explain how it can positively impact everyone. How you will have more space to do things in the home. How you won’t waste time, energy, and money looking for things and buying things you already have.  

• Start Small

  • Find a small space that’s in the main living space that you and other family members can tackle together. It doesn’t have to be all the family but at least one or two others. A space like the small linen closet, the TV stand, or a bookshelf. This will help you begin to create your organizing system, show immediate results, and to give you guys a quick win as a team. Small victories can boost motivation and demonstrate that change is possible without being overwhelmed.

• Assign Personal Responsibility

  • Assign each person specific areas in which they are responsible for keeping organized. This fosters a sense of ownership, making them more invested in keeping their spaces tidy.

    
    

    

    
    

• Create Family-Friendly Systems

  • Ensure your organizational systems are simple and easy for all family members to follow, including kids. For example: use color-coded bins and/or labels for easy maintenance.

• Set Clear Expectations

  • Establish routines and boundaries for maintaining order, like putting items away after use. You also want to set a schedule for consistent maintenance. Setting clear expectations can reduce resistance by providing structure.

• Celebrate Progress

  • Acknowledge and reward even small improvements in maintaining organization. Celebrating progress can make the experience more positive and less of a chore.

• Lead by Example

  • When you stay organized and model the behavior you want to see, household members are more likely to follow suit. Demonstrate consistency and commitment—leading by example is powerful. If you notice your own spaces slipping out of order, it’s likely that other areas in the home may be facing similar challenges. Take a moment to have an honest, compassionate conversation with yourself about what may be causing the disorder and how you can adjust. Then, involve your family in a calm, solution-focused discussion about how to get things back on track and prevent it from happening again.

• Tie Organization to Shared Goals

  • Align organizing efforts with family goals like planning fun activities, reducing clutter before a move, or making cleaning days shorter. When people see a greater purpose, they’re more motivated to contribute.

• Make it Fun

  • Turn organizing into a game or challenge. You could do speed-cleaning races or set timers for organizing bursts. Injecting fun can make the process feel less like a task and more like a family activity.

These strategies can help transform the way your household views organizing, making it a collaborative and sustainable effort. When creating the systems and schedule, be sure to get input from your family. 

Conclusion:

Getting your household on board with organizing takes time and patience, but these strategies can transform individual efforts into a shared commitment. The goal is to build lasting habits that everyone can enjoy and maintain together. By involving your family, setting clear expectations, and creating simple, engaging systems, you’ll cultivate an environment where organization feels natural. When everyone is aligned, staying organized becomes less of a chore and more of a lifestyle—one that fosters peace, productivity, and harmony in your home.

My Favorite Organizing Things

1. Hangers: I love these hangers because they are plastic but they are also nonslip 

2. Planner – The planner is a tool you can utilize to help you come up with your plan on how you are going to get to your end goal. It has space for you to plan out into the future and be detailed with those plans.

3.   Calendar – The is a magnet calendar that can be visibly placed on the refrigerator in your kitchen and if you don’t like that one or would like to put it in a less visible space just find something similar that you can hang on the wall.

4.   White trash bags (for trash) – When starting the full decluttering session, you want to be sure you have enough trash bags and different color trash bags for different things. I recommended white for trash because most households use white trash bags in their home already.

5.   Black trash bags (for donations) – Since you can’t see through the black trash bags, I recommend using them for donations. This way, once they are in the bag they are officially gone from your life. When you put them in the car and hand them off you cannot see what’s in the bags to change your mind.  

6.   Permanent Donation box – The permanent donation box is meant to create a lifestyle of keeping your life free of clutter and chaos. Place the box in your garage, by the back door or in a closet but be sure to label it, so that everyone in the family knows where it is and what it’s for. Also add a quarterly day in your calendar to donate the donations.

(This post contains affiliate links to Amazon that I make a small commission from with no extra costs added to you.)

Until Next Time,

TakillaRene

Xtreme Audacity