What Is the ‘Cousins and Coworkers’ Organizing Method?

My bedside table has been a disorganized mess ever since I moved—which, I’m not proud to say, was a full year ago. The table has a single open shelf that I’ve used to store a miscellaneous assortment of things that I couldn’t find a better place for at the time. Since I was focused on bigger home projects, I just figured I’d deal with this spot later (but later never came). This cubby in my table basically became a junk drawer, so the idea of sorting through it seemed so overwhelming that I just kept putting it off. Then, I saw a TikTok video about the “Cousins and Coworkers” method of organizing, and I started to feel a bit more inspired.

In the video, TikTok creator Christen Fackler (@iOrganize)—who previously ran a professional organizing company for 15 years—uses the method to find answers to the question, “Where do I put this?” She uses the example of Krazy Glue, explaining that you could put the item with its “cousins,” meaning things that are sticky or adhesive, like tape or putty. Or, she explains, you can put the glue with its “coworkers,” meaning things that you would use when you do a gluing project. She doesn’t say that one option is right or wrong, but simply demonstrates different ways that you can think about sorting your stuff.

When I looked at my bedside table, I could tell that it was filled with some cousins, some coworkers, and some complete strangers. While the state of my table still caused me stress, this new organizing mindset gave me an approach I could manage. So, here’s more explanation on the “Cousins and Coworkers” organizing method—and how I used it to save my bedside table from clutter disaster.

How The “Cousins and Coworkers” Method Works

In the same TikTok video referenced above, Fackler also gives the example of costume hats, showing some bunny ears and a Santa hat. These items could go with their cousins—things that have a similar function but aren’t exactly the same—she explains, showing a bin of hats and a bin of winter accessories. Or, they could go with their coworkers, she says, showing bins of Halloween and Christmas supplies. While, once again, Fackler doesn’t say which answer is the “right” answer, this example demonstrates how this method can help you align your organizational systems with your lifestyle.

For example, while the Santa hat is, technically, a hat, it doesn’t really serve the same purpose as baseball hats that you wear primarily in the summertime. So, it’ll likely just be in the way if you store it with all the warm-weather hats. But, when you store it with its “coworkers”—other Christmas supplies—then it’ll be stored out of the way until the holiday season comes back around.

You can apply this same idea all throughout different areas of your house, and with different items. For example, your travel mugs and water bottles may be related (cousins) to your daily water glasses and coffee cups—since they’re all for drinking liquids. However, they probably don’t serve the same function in your daily routine, so it probably doesn’t make sense to store them in the exact same place. Those travel mugs and water bottles would probably be better off stored near their coworkers: other on-the-go containers.

Again, there is no right or wrong answer here. It’s all about evaluating your personal lifestyle and deciding how to organize your belongings so that they best serve your routines.

How I Used the “Cousins and Coworkers” Method

As with almost every decluttering project, my first step was to empty everything out, and let me just say, there were a lot of items that had no business being in my bedside table. I pulled out my old driver’s license, an expired Hello Fresh coupon, a small box of Allen wrenches, an assorted bag of coins (Euros included), and almost every pair of sunglasses I own (but we’ll come back to those later).

Here’s a “before” picture of the chaos:

The first way I applied the cousins and coworkers strategy was by sorting through the things I knew I shouldn’t be keeping in my bedside table, and figuring out if they had a better home elsewhere. For example, I knew that the Allen wrenches should be with the rest of my tools (aka, their coworkers), so I took care of that reassignment. Then there were items that didn’t really have homes—like my old license, my passport, and a copy of the lease to my apartment. That made me realize that I needed to have a designated bin elsewhere for some of my important documents that I want to keep but don’t need to access very often (a grouping I would categorize as “cousins”).

Once I sorted through all the items I wasn’t going to keep in or on my bedside table (which was most of them) I moved on to the items that would be staying. I had a body lotion, a nighttime face cream, a room spray, a linen spray, and a lavender essential oil roll-on fragrance. These are all things I would use right before bed or when I’m getting into bed, so I grouped these as “cousins” and corralled them onto a small tray to keep on top of my bedside table. I also left a spot on the tray for my glasses and contacts, which I take out before bed, and kept a small dish on the table for any jewelry or hair ties that I take off before going to sleep.

Then, for the storage compartment, I decided to keep my collection of sunglasses stored there, even though they aren’t related to sleep or my nighttime routine. Since my bedside table is near my dresser, where I’m usually getting dressed, it’s an easy-to-access spot for me to pick out a pair of sunglasses to wear for the day. So, I found a small crate I wasn’t using and put all my sunglasses inside, along with the eye masks I wear at night—making this a “cousins” grouping of “things I put over my eyes.”

I added a couple finishing touches, including a coaster for my glass of water at night and some books I’m working through. And now I have a bedside table that’s actually functional and peaceful to look at for the first time in, yes, a year.

Now I just need to apply this method to my bedroom closet. Wish me luck.