50 Times People Encountered Perfectly Organized Things And Just Had To Document Them
Interview With ExpertThere's something oddly satisfying about a decluttered and nicely organized space. Our brain loves symmetry, patterns and repetition. And what better way to trigger that dopamine response than to tidy things up according to, say, color? If you're doing it yourself, there's another plus – you can use it as a sort of meditation. Or listen to a podcast you like if you hate being alone with your brain.
This time, Bored Panda has prepared for you some gorgeously satisfying pictures to look at. Whether it's a garage that has undergone a major decluttering makeover or a shelf in a store – we've got you covered. So sit back, relax for a few minutes, and enjoy these lovely entries that might make your brain tingle.
Bored Panda reached out to a certified professional organizer and head of SK Organizing, Shara Kay. She was kind enough to tell us more about how she launched her own organizing company and why we love watching other people being neat so much.
More info: SK Organizing | Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
Hot Wheels Display I’ve Assembled For My Office
We asked the organizing expert Shara Kay how one becomes a professional in the field. She shared her quite unconventional story with us. "I had been working in the entertainment industry for over a decade," Shara begins, "when in 2017, I had a film fall apart in pre-production."
"It was devastating! I turned to my lifelong passion for organizing and began helping family and friends with moves, estate clearing and other projects as a means of channeling my energy."
"It was tremendously satisfying work and I learned that there was a lot of demand for the skills I had always taken for granted. Rather than search for another producing gig, I launched my organizing company and never looked back," Shara tells Bored Panda.
The Way These Thrift Store Tea Cups Are Displayed
I’m An Art Teacher And I Moved To A New School This Past Summer. The Previous Teacher Did Not Share My Love Of Organization. Behold The Before And After Of My Paper Closet
Even if people who use Shara's services are seeking more organization in their lives, saying goodbye to possessions is hardly ever easy. Bored Panda asked the organizational expert how her company deals with that.
"We encourage clients to examine why they might be struggling to let go," Shara explains. "We suggest strategies and alternatives such as keeping the best example(s) instead of a whole set or category, or taking a photo rather than keeping a memento that is in poor condition."
"When it comes to practical ‘I might need it someday’ items, we recommend setting a rule like not worrying about letting go of unused items that could be replaced in under 30 minutes for under $30," the expert shares some useful advice.
The Way These Wires Flow
The Way The Fridge Magnets Are Organized After My Brother With Asperger's Syndrome Has Come To Visit
These Soda Bottles
We were also curious to know what role does visual satisfaction play in Shara's job. She says it's essential. "Seeing is believing!" Shara says. "A visually tidy space helps relieve stress and promote a sense of calm that improves overall well-being."
"It's incredibly satisfying for both organizers and our clients to see the results of our work. And while there are plenty of larger-scale projects that extend over the course of weeks or months, we can see change happen with each and every appointment. We truly have the best job!"
Old Trunks And Suitcases On Custom Shelves Are A Cool Storage Solution
Neatly Arranged Markers At My Local Bookstore
The Way This Produce Is Arranged
As you scroll through this wonderful list, you might feel a slight pang of guilt and jealousy. “Why can't I organize my space in such an orderly way?" There seems to never be enough time for tidying up. And there's just so much stuff! Where do you even start?
There are heaps of books, special methods and organizing techniques, making the task of organizing, well, more well-organized. There's the world-renowned KonMari method, the Swedish Death Cleaning technique, and many more. Reaching out to a professional organizer is always a good option too – these people will surely know what they're doing.
The Way This Museum Arranged Snail Shells To Demonstrate Color Variation
Carrots Stacked On A Truck
These Yoghurts Are Sorted Perfectly. I Can Bearly Tell The Difference Between This And A Real Bear
But why do people find it so hard to declutter? Why is it so hard to get rid of things we don't need and tidy up our spaces in a well-organized manner? Organizing coach and author of Organize Your Way: Simple Strategies for Every Personality Kelly McMenamin says the phenomenon at fault is the big capitalist beast – consumerism.
"When a consumer buys something because it elicited a positive feeling, improved self-esteem, and increased social belonging, then it's easy to see why it might be difficult down the line to toss those happy vibes into the trash like yesterday's news," McMenamin writes for Psychology Today.
Broom Setup On Our Local Garden Store
Beautiful Cable Management
The Way My Mom Mows Crop Circles Into The Lawn
That's one of the main reasons why saying goodbye to a thing you no longer use might be hard. There are certain memories and feelings mixed with that item. Sometimes even parts of your identity might be in the mix. "The act of decluttering an attic full of past purchases is therefore a lengthy exercise in anticipation of bad feelings," Kelly McMenamin writes.
This Yarn Display My Wife Made At Work
Selling My House Soon And Packing Up All The LEGO, Took One Last Photo Of My Setup
The Way These Pipes And Valves Are Arranged Is Soothing
Wow! I wish the idiot who had organised the water pipes for our building could see this! Only 12 apartments, and they still couldn't even get the meters installed in any kind of numerical order, plus some are randomly stuck on another wall, despite plenty of space.
McMenamin is also an advocate for messy organization. That might sound like an oxymoron, but she assures that it isn't. "Some people are messy, some are neat, and neither has anything to do with organization," she writes for Psychology Today. "Organization is about retrieval. You can be organized regardless of where you fall on that messy/neat continuum."
She has a funny way of dividing people into two groups when it comes to organizational styles: 'pilers' and 'filers'. We can describe the two groups in more simple terms as well: messy and neat. 'Filers' are neat. They're tidy. Piles of paper immediately look disorganized to them.
My Dad Is At It Again With His Aesthetically Pleasing Crop Circle Leaf Mulching
Is he married to the woman who mowed crop circles into the lawn? Because they totally compliment each other. 😁
I Have Synesthesia, That Means I Remember Books Better By Their Color Than By Title Or Author, So This Is What Happens When I Have Enough Shelf Space
The Way These Shirts Are Arranged
This unfortunately does not work well from what I have experienced. You have to go through a whole stack to find the size you are looking for. It does look great and neat, but I have seen people create an unholy mess trying to find what they are looking for. It does work easier though if they leave the shirt stacks with the shirts in the packaging, easier to see the size and people create less chaos.
McMenamin's 10+ year experience in the organizing business has taught her that the second half of the population, the 'pilers', are not untidy. They just have differently wired brains. "I learned that there's usually a rhyme and a reason to any mess or pile," she writes. "Often, a slew of piles masks a simple organizing strategy: a rudimentary piling system."
Seems Like A Good Time To Finally Show Off The Spice Rack I Built
I've Been Working In A Supermarket For 11 Years And Still Find "Facing Up" Oddly Satisfying. I Took These Pictures 1 Month Ago
After Ordering Some Shrimp, Customer Returned The Plate Like This
The professional organizer describes how she helps the 'pilers’. "I build a piling system that replicates the essence of their natural piling strategy while creating more visual order and efficiency than was there beforehand. I figure out how many piles or categories tend to occur and buy clear, open bins for each and label them."
What's the reasoning behind the organizing method that 'pilers' prefer? Essentially, there's no visually pleasing element. There are no satisfying well-organized spice racks, bookcases are not color-coded. So how can they enjoy the messy order?
My Younger Brother (20) Is Training To Be A Driver For Our Moving Company. He Wants To Hear How You'd Rate His Tetris Skills
After adding the carpet on the right the bottom 4 rows should have disappeared :-)
Props To Whoever Stocked These Clothes' Hangers At IKEA
Organized Office Drawer
When I was in the Air Force, we did this for all our tools in the toolbox. It makes it so that you can instantly tell if a tool is missing. This can be critical on the flight line where a missing tool might be sucked up into a jet engine. We even had two layers of foam. The bottom you panted red, and then the top was black foam. It really made it stand out.
McMenamin writes that it's because the 'pilers' are visual thinkers. They find it hard to locate things once they're away from their sight. In some cases, people even forget that they had an item they hadn't thought about in a long time. For those who prefer piling organizational systems, cabinets are places where things go to rest and never see the light of day again.
Well, The 5 Minutes It Took To Arrange My Glass Collection On The Mantle Was Incredibly Worth It
Organized Copper Piping
This looks like a pipe organ! I love it when people take pride in their craft.
My Friend's Basement Organization Is Something Else
It's true, piling systems don't look Instagrammable. They probably would never make it into a list like this. Yet they work for a huge portion of the human population. "There is no point to me creating an entire new system for a client that looks pristine with everything tucked away inside of a filing cabinet if it's not going to actually work for them," McMenamin concludes in her blog post.
I Used To Be A Cook In The Industry, But Now I Cook For My Family And Friends
After Months And Months In Storage I Finally Managed To Build Some Custom Shelves To Display My Game Boy Collection
Love Having A 3D Printer For Things Like This
I Can't Stop Looking At This
Can’t blame them for being unable to stop looking at this, poor attention to detail, plums are not in colour order. (joke)
Drop A File Frame In An Ottoman Or Chest And Voilà - Storage Solution That Doubles As A Seat
This Cookware Collection Organized By Color
I Organized My Smaller Gemstones
The Organization In This Party Store
This Perfectly Organized Tin Of Cards
Looks as if the cards are trying to turn back into a slice of timber :D
I Built Some Shelves This Weekend In My Previously Empty Pantry. This Was Only My Second Time Wood Working So I'm Pretty Happy With The Result Despite Some Missteps
Excellent! This looks so much more realistic & useful than the pantries with dried flowers an mood lighting!
The Way My Dutch School Has Arranged These School Bikes
Satisfying Purple Cables
The best kind of OCD. This makes me happy on allot of different levels.
Now That's A Tidy Shelf Stacking
My Friend's Cookie Jar
I Arranged My Fabric By Color And Re-Folded It All To Fit Perfectly Within Each Cube
Yup, this was how my mom had her fabric - wish I had taken a photo of it before she died and all the fabric was donated to local quilting groups.
Finally Organized My Fabric Stash To A Usable State. Staring At This Wall Is Like Therapy
Packing Hangers. Thought It Looked Satisfying
Organization Done Right
The Way My Boyfriend Organized The Cord To The Lamp
Please don't do this - wires should NEVER be coiled around a metal centre (or a hollow one where metal could end up) as it creates a coil that, depending on the current in the wire, could heat the metal centre to the melting point.
Top Row Of Hangers
Color-Sorted Markers In A Bucharest Store
The Way My Parents Arranged Their Chicken Eggs
Finally, We Decided To Tackle The Inside Of The Shed Over The Weekend
This Grocery Store Displays These Nuts And Other Snacks Upside Down So You Can See The Contents More Clearly
Plumbing Work Done Right
Cast Iron Storage
Oh...wow. I need to save this as inspiration for my cast iron items. So much better than being stored in the oven!
Did Somebody Say Sushi?
Beautifully Color-Coded Cabling
The Way These Boxes Are Organized
This Whole Foods Display
Shout Out To The Employee Who Organized These Sauces
Moved To A New House And My Wife Organized The Tupperware Drawer
My Friend Sent Me A Before vs. After Photo Of Him Cable-Managing The Servers At Work
People Were Staring, But I Know You Guys Understand
Oddly Satisfyingly Sorted Shelves
Freshly Stocked Cheez-It Aisle
Plumbing On Another Level
Not Your Traditional Cozy Place, But It's Mine
Couple Of Panels I Wired Yesterday
I would hire you! I can't imagine someone taking the time to do this would be able to stand doing it wrong on the other end!
Today, I Was Helping My Church Organzine Supplies For Those In Need, And I Got A Little Carried Away
Garage Organization
My Color-Coordinated Apps
These Vacuum-Packed Bean Bricks At The Supermarket
Just Finished Organizing Some Legal Emails
Carrots Stacked At The Supermarket
So as a short person, I can only reach half way up….it’s not going to end well, is it?
Our Tools Were A Complete Mess, Now Everything Has A Home
I Work In Retail, And My Job Is To Tidy Up The Shelves. Today, The Milk Section Looked Very Chaotic, So I Decided To Take A Before And After Picture
This Book Collection Sorted Out By Color
My Friend's Color-Coded Board Game Shelf
I Always Sort Puzzle Pieces By Shape Before I Put It Together. Am I Weird?
The Art Cart. A Simple Trolley With Hanging Containers Filled With My Children's Favorite Art And Craft Supplies
I Find Myself Changing My Shelves Once Every Few Months, Because It's Just Such A Satisfying Task For Me. But I Always End Up Keeping This Set Of Rainbow Shelves
This Perfectly Stocked Grocery Store, The Day Before Its Grand Opening
The Way These Books Are Organized
what my bookshelf looks like after a long boring day: *holy music starts playing*
Due To The Lockdown, My Boss Had The Time To Alphabetize Our Entire DVD Stock
My Husband’s Area At Work Pre-Opening Yesterday
This Candy Aisle At Dollar Tree
This Milk Display I Created At Work Today
Organized Spice Drawer
Before And After Pictures Of When I Sorted My Chalk
The Way My Boyfriend Organizes Our Silverware Drawer
That is beautifully done. I have a thing where I feel the need to swap the position of the knives with the smaller spoons. I stir more hot drinks more frequently than I butter bread, so having them a centimetre or two nearer would get my tea/coffee to my lips sooner. Priorities!
The Way I Stock The Ice At Work
I Finally Feel Like I Can Find My Tools When I Need Them
This Almost-Perfect Shelf Stocking Job
Built-In Cable Management On The Back Of My TV
I like how this person is proud of their 2 cables. The photos of 3 Kajillion cables is impressive, but this is down to earth.
I Love The Way These Are Stocked
We Spent This Morning Deep Cleaning The Pantry
My Reorganized Bookcases! Took About 4 Hours But I Think It Was Worth It
The One Room In The House With No Windows Happens To Be The Most Cheerful
My Husband Built Me This Beautiful Wall To Hold All My Spices And Blends. Before, They Were In Various Containers In A Cupboard
Candy Organization
My Tea Drawer
My Spice Drawer Is Highly Satisfying
Pantry Organization Using Labels Is Complete. So Aesthetically Pleasing
Food Prep: Saturday Edition
My Favorite Drawer Organizing Hack. I Made This Customized Drawer Organizer Using A Piece Of Foam Board From Dollar Tree, Contact Paper I Found On Amazon And Some Tape
This is what I need to do! I'm tired of preconfigured utensil drawer organizers that are designed for utensils that don't exist.
I Hear You People Like Cabinets
I Organized My Yarn Into A Rainbow
The Lid Fits And I Have Peaked In Life
I Sorted Some Golf Balls I Found At My Local Golf Course
Organized My Buddie's Backroom
Here Is My Hard Effort At Eggs And Cream Cheeses! Enjoy
If someone asked me where the organic eggs were, I would say, In the bawk, bawk, bawk back.
A Much-Needed Makeover Happened To Our Tiny Pantry Recently
THAT'S a tiny pantry?! Come around my way and I'll introduce you to a truly tiny pantry. Lucky duck.
Pantry Organization! My Long-Awaited Dream Finally Came To Reality
People have so much STUFF! I wouldn't know what to do with all that food. And I'd never be able to afford to buy all those jars.
New Closet Isn’t Very Big So I Moved My Work Clothes To My Bedroom
Started Working At A Supermarket. Organized A Very Messy Ice Cream Aisle
This Entire Refrigerated Section Is Dedicated For Just Lemon Gatorade
Milk Bricks
The Way My Fiance Organizes Our Fridge
When You Have An Organised Laundry And A Washing Schedule, It Makes This Never-Ending Job A Little Easier
why do you have a sink in your laundry room? somebody please explain this to me
What’s Not To Love About A Beautifully Organized Spice Rack? Having Everything Organized At An Easy Glance Makes Cooking More Efficient
This Perfectly Organized Fridge
The Spreadable Cheese Selection At A Swedish Grocery Store
Do people play a lot of toothpaste/spreadable cheese swap pranks in Sweden?
My Cousin's Bookcase Is Beautifully Organized
Just A Small Section Of A Massive Makeover! We Love How Beautifully This Linen Section Now Sits In Our Client's Walk-In Wardrobe
Grocery Store In Sweden Keeps Things Organized
My little contribution. The wiring in my house DB was done nicely before. Then I called another wireman to fix my auto gate. He spoiled it (bottom right). 20230929_1...26b160.jpg
I once spent 55 minutes organizing a tin box of old crayons (probably 75 or so) by color during a therapy session. The 'display' stayed on his table for 2 more weekly appointments before someone messed it up 🤷🏽♀️
My little contribution. The wiring in my house DB was done nicely before. Then I called another wireman to fix my auto gate. He spoiled it (bottom right). 20230929_1...26b160.jpg
I once spent 55 minutes organizing a tin box of old crayons (probably 75 or so) by color during a therapy session. The 'display' stayed on his table for 2 more weekly appointments before someone messed it up 🤷🏽♀️