Tips for de-cluttering your home
As we are drawing the curtains and cozying up for winter, it can become quickly apparent if our spaces are becoming a little cluttered due to the extra time we are spending indoors. Books & mags can begin piling up on coffee tables, tea cups on side tables and those warm throws for delicious sofa snuggles can start taking over the living room! If you can relate to this, here are our top tips for keeping your home uncluttered…
Oh it’s too obvious, but storage is king! Of course there are multiple options here, so let’s explore some options together… Furniture with storage – a fabulous versatile piece of furniture with storage is worth its weight in gold! We’re picturing a few classic examples…
* A coffee table with drawers and shelves – ideal for storing books & magazines or display items
* A trunk-style side table – perfect throw storage or a spot to hide the family board games
* Entertainment units with drawers and shelves – so good to hide away unsightly but necessary tech items and cords
* Bedside tables with drawers – phone cords and reading glasses be gone!
* Desks with drawers – keep the desk surface clear by putting away all stationery
Then we look at built in and custom storage – oh so lovely, this can be designed specifically for your needs – how great is that? This is where having an interior designer on board is essential, because most people immediately underestimate how much storage they will need to hide all of their… well, stuff!
Don’t sign off on cabinetry until you have had a professional (ahem, interior designer) go through it with you to ensure it is practical for how YOU live in your space and that it includes enough storage and power points for your requirements. Seriously, we can’t stress this enough! Custom cabinetry is not cheap, so get it right first time round.
Now to the nitty-gritty – you may need to start culling some items! Eeek, I said it, sorry. But NOW is always a good time to give away items that are no longer used or loved. Many of us do tend to hold on to ‘things’ for too long and to our own detriment. So… deep breath, time to let go and you will feel so much better for it.
Have a Donate, Trash and Keep pile and go room by room. Doesn’t have to be all in one go – you could do one room a month to make it feel more manageable. Or you may find that once you start, you become a culling demon and do it all in one go! Whichever way you go, your home will thank you for it when you see how fresh and uncluttered your spaces feel. Undertaking this each season is the BEST way to keep clutter under control.
Cultivate tidy habits… sounds easy right? Yet so many of us put off tomorrow what could be done today! Oh I’m guilty of it too, don’t worry. But it’s putting in place some very simple habits that can really transform a cluttered home (once you’ve culled and got the storage sorted of course!). If you’ve used something, put it away when you’re finished. Finished that cup of tea - off to the dishwasher with you. Read that book - back to the bookshelf then (or pass it on to a friend to enjoy). Flung off that jumper now the sun is out – well back into the cupboard you go… you’re getting the picture right?
I know it sounds so simple, but believe me, when you’re busy it’s so easy to fling something to the side and think “oh I’ll do that later”… but before you know it, there’s not a clear surface as far as the eye can see and that, my friend, is just stressful!