How to use a color coding system to organize your home or office

I'm a big fan of color coding in an office, but it can be easily used to organize the home as well. I found that if everyone knows the system (or their assigned colors), they will be able to see what they are looking for quickly and easily. And, they do not have to ask anyone for assistance finding their stuff and saving everyone undue stress and frustration.

Over the years, I worked with many clients that preferred to use a color-coding system to remind them and the people who live or work with them where to find a particular item. I found that the people who like this system the most are the ones who are pretty comfortable with color in the home and office.  You don't need to be a color lover to use this system, however. You need to create a simple method to make it easy to remember. Let's help you use color coding in your home or office.

Jump to:

• Where should you use the color coding method?
• How do you establish a color coding organizing system?
• How to color code a long-term or short-term filing cabinet?
• How do you color code highly sensitive documents?
• How to organize the medical bills with this color coding organizing system?
• What color code should I use in an office or home?
• Here are additional color coding system tips from other organizing experts.
• How to organize your clothes by color?
• How do you color code and organize Craft areas?
• How do you color code and organize an activity calendar for your entire family?

Where should you use the color coding method?

First, determine where you want to use the color code method in your home or office. Here are some examples of areas that you may want to improve with color coding.

Filing cabinet (Affiliate Link) systems 
Clothing and shoes (Affiliate Link) in closets
Craft area
Calendars of activities

Hopefully, this gives you ideas on how to improve your organization. So, to help you, I am breaking down these sections below to provide you with even more in-depth tips and tricks. We are going to start with the dreaded filing cabinet (Affiliate Link) systems.

How do you establish a color coding organizing system?

After deciding what area you want to improve in your home or office, determine what color pertains to what person, object, task, or purpose. Each color should be unique from the other colors and should be used for one purpose.  You can, however, use the same color for a different area or project. I find that it helps to have separate sets of color-coding supplies for the different areas that you color code. For example, I have a different set of colored highlighters in my office for my weekly calendar. In the kitchen, I use a separate set of highlighters (mind you, they are the same colors) stored in my junk drawer. A little planning will help you get your organizing system installed correctly.

To help you organize your space with color, below, I am sharing examples of how you can organize the different areas of your home and office with color. Let's begin. Feel free to visit the other experts that added their tips to this post.

How to color code a long-term or short-term filing cabinet?

First, let's start with the easy one: the filing cabinet (Affiliate Link). Use the color green to represent money. For anything money-related, use the color green hanging or manilla folder.  I wrote a blog post about how to help you organize your billing station; feel free to visit the post here: WHAT TO KEEP IN YOUR BILL PAYING STATION

Each folder will hold papers that are alike. Remember: be more general in your similar groups, but not too specific.

And for "bills to pay," I like to use the color red for the "red hot" items that need to be taken care of first in the files. While you may think of red as a "stop" color, remember that it is alerting you to what is essential since we tend to see this color first in the entire color spectrum.

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How do you color code highly sensitive documents?

And don't forget the essential documents; I recommend removing them altogether from your general filing cabinet (Affiliate Link) and adding them to a fireproof filing safe (Affiliate Link). You can use the color orange or yellow for these files making sure to label (Affiliate Link) them with specific 'like' topics. Here are some examples.

Adoption paperwork,
Auto/Truck titles,
Birth Certificate,
Current deeds and mortgage,
Current insurance policies (life, home, renter, auto, etc…),
Death certificate,
Divorce decrees,
Relevant medical paperwork,
Lease paperwork,
Marriage license,
Military paperwork,
Naturalization/Citizenship paperwork,
Old Drivers License,
Passports (old and new),
Patents and copyrights,
Social Security cards,
Social Security Statements for retirement,
Stocks and bond certificates,
Tax returns,
Wills (living will, power of attorney, etc.)

This list is from another blog post I wrote. Feel free to visit the PERSONAL IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS TO KEEP post that talks about these important documents and how to keep them safe (Affiliate Link).

Visit our HOW TO ORGANIZE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS IN A FIREPROOF SAFE for step-by-step instructions on organizing important papers in a fireproof safe (Affiliate Link).

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How to organize the medical bills with this color coding organizing system?

This area is crucial if you have many bills to keep track of after major surgery. Using blue or another unique color works nicely for these files to stand out in the filing cabinet (Affiliate Link). If you have different insurance plans, ensure each has its accordion folder (Affiliate Link). Then, divide each tab into the various surgeries from the different doctors. Tags with accordion folders below from Amazon (aff.) will help you separate the paid bills and which doctor got paid. I hope you never have to deal with this many bills; this system will help you keep what each doctor is owed and the associated procedure square in your mind.

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What color code should I use in an office or home?

Kaylee White at Ghergich & Co., in collaboration with Quillshares, created the image and description below. Check it out to help you with your office files.

Have you ever looked at your computer (Affiliate Link) and desk (or in your file cabinets) and thought, “I have to figure out a way to organize my work life?”

It happens: It’s hard to stay on top of everything you have to work on and know, much less keep your desk in spit-spot shape. One way to go about that is to use color to convey certain topics or feelings and let those hues guide you in office organization.

For example, think about yellow: We associate it with feelings of real cheery and happiness. So it’s logical, then, to use yellow folders, tabs (Affiliate Link), or other color-cued items to store or share ideas related to new things. Green, on the other hand, is often thought of as conveying stability and resourcefulness, which makes it the perfect color code for items related to either finances or environmental issues.

How else can you use color? This graphic can help.

Wow, that is a great infographic to use at work, right? Now that we have tackled the complex filing cabinet (Affiliate Link) systems and explained what colors represent now, let's deal with the closet of clothes. I promise this will be a lot shorter and easier to set up.

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Here are additional color coding system tips from other organizing experts.

"Go with just one color to stand out when you color-code your email. In Outlook, create a flag for the most important email to stand out." ~ Ellen Rubin Delap

"In your 'command centre' give each child a colored folder to put school or activity correspondence: field trip permission slips, fundraising info, assignments info, calendars, newsletters from clubs, etc. They drop stuff in, and they also check back for the 'signed' permission slip. So they learn to check it regularly... and don't say," but you didn't give me the permission slip back." ~ Margarita Ibbott

"Depending on the nature of your business, you may have five categories: customers, suppliers, finances, forms, and information. Your finance category might include green folders of individual income and expenses. Your customer category can include red folders of individual persons. Within each category, label (Affiliate Link) folders and files alphabetically." ~ Janet Barclay -  Quote from OfficePro 2004 article

Go with just one color to stand out when you color-code your email. In Outlook, create a flag for the most important email to stand out." ~ Ellen Rubin Delap at @TexasOrganizer Share on X

How to organize your clothes by color?

Your closet of clothes will be less complicated than the filing cabinet (Affiliate Link), I'm sure. Start by pulling out all the items from each section of your wardrobe — first, sort by type of thing or usage. Then, go through each piece and organize them by color from brightest to darkest. You can use the rainbow colors if you wish: (ROYGBIV) - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Then, place the items back into the closet. I prefer this system to reduce how long it takes me to set up outfits in the morning. It also helps me realize what colors I am missing. Here are some posts I wrote previously on the topic of closet organization.

MENS' CLOSET ORGANIZATION TIPS

7 CREATIVE WAYS OF ORGANIZING YOUR KID’S CLOSET

DIY AFFORDABLE WEEK DAY CLOTHING ORGANIZERS

Here is an additional tip from another Professional Organizing Expert.

"Color coding can be great if you have multiple children. Let each pick a "theme" color, and then use it for things like toothbrushes, bathroom towels, cups, backpacks, helmets, mittens, sneakers, and more!" ~ Seana Turner

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How do you color code and organize Craft areas?

Since there are plenty of colors in the craft area, try organizing them by color and type. For example, if you have a scrapbook (Affiliate Link) craft area, arrange your 12 x 12 pieces of paper by color. Laying the documents down helps you keep them from getting bent in the corners. Here are some craft room organizations to help. I love to organize my scrapbook (Affiliate Link) area. Here's a post I wrote about my craft area.

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How do you color code and organize an activity calendar for your entire family?

This one is pretty easy, but you would be surprised how many moms and dads don't use it. It does help the kids manage their schedules better. Pick a color for each of your children. Don't forget you and your spouse. As I mentioned above, I like to get several different highlighters. Keeping a set of highlighters in the kitchen where the primary calendar works great because the children can also write down their events and use their colors. I also have another set in my home office where I print out the calendar each week for the kitchen. Doing it this way allows me to highlight the different activities and then bring them upstairs and post them on the wall. Easy, right? It works well. The best colors I found that work on calendars are Blue, Green, Orange, and Pink. Yellow on a yellow calendar just doesn't stand out enough. Keeping these highlighters nearby and using them often keeps me on schedule with all the crazy activities everyone is doing these days.

Need help with time management? These books are wonderfully written and help kids and parents with time management.

Click here to get your copy of Leslie Josel's at Order Out Of Chaos (affiliate).

Please note that these are affiliate links through Amazon and Order out of Chaos. If you decide to make a purchase, I will earn affiliate fees at no additional cost to you.

Are you looking for even more tips on color-coding your system? Check out this tip from another Professional Organizing expert.

"Assign different color pens or markers to each family member. This makes it easy to see who's responsible for items written on a calendar, chore chart, or to-do list." ~ Nancy Haworth

"Assign different color pens or markers to each family member. This makes it easy to see who's responsible for items written on a calendar, chore chart, or to-do list." ~Nancy Haworth Share on X

I hope this helps you look at your different systems and get them even more organized using color coding. Let's continue the conversation; please comment below on how you use color coding in your home or office. I would love to hear from you.