Other Rooms

Order is particularly important in the kitchen, not only to make cooking tasks simpler and quicker but also for safety and hygiene. An untidy kitchen is a dangerous kitchen!

De-cluttering the kitchen;

• Tidy one cupboard or draw at a time.
• Start with the food cupboards and throw out any food that has passed its sell-by date.
• If space is an issue store large saucepans and items you only need at Christmas or for large dinner parties in the loft, shed or garage. Wrap them in paper and put them in a labelled box.
• Tidy all the work surfaces. Does that donut maker and rarely used coffee grinder really deserve a permanent place on the work top?! Put them away and only keep out the utensils and small appliances you use regularly.

Organising the kitchen;

• Store things close to the area in the kitchen where they are used – it’s a real time saver.
• Put everything you need when you are cooking – saucepans, cooking utensils and ingredients – in cupboards near the cooker.
• Use small drawers for everyday cutlery, small cooking utensils, tea towels and such things as scissors, string and sticky tape.
• If items are stored on open shelves, keep them in labelled containers or glass jars – it’s a good way to recycle attractive containers and glassware.
• Don’t let your kitchen table become a dumping ground!

The Lounge

Make your lounge cosy, uncluttered and welcoming – a place where you can relax with family and friends. Everything on display should be there because you think it’s beautiful or because you are sentimentally attached to it.

De-cluttering the lounge;

• Empty any cupboards, sideboards and storage chests and check for unwanted items
• A neat and organised bookshelf will add to the look and character of a room.  A cluttered heap of books, magazines and junk mail piled onto the shelves won’t!
• Clean up your music collection. If you don’t play it, don’t like it or can’t even remember why you bought it in the first place, make someone else’s day and take it to the charity shop.

Organising the lounge;

• If the lounge also doubles as a hobbies room, invest in some sturdy lidded storage boxes to keep the bits and pieces tidy. Attractive boxes can double up as occasional tables.
• If the computer is on the lounge, have a couple of attractive file boxes by the side to pop any paperwork into while you are not working.
• Make space for a toy cupboard or a flat lidded toy box (so it can double up as a seat for little bottoms) and teach the children to put away their toys when they have finished playing with them.

The Bedroom

 Your bedroom should be a relaxed and beautiful sanctuary. Don’t let it become little more than a storeroom with the bed!

 De-cluttering the bedroom;

• Start with your wardrobe.
• We wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time... so why are our wardrobes filled with piles of stuff we’ll never wear?! It’s time for a clothes audit.
• Remove everything you are not going to wear this season, then decide what you want to keep. Store your out of season clothes under the bed or in the guest room, if you have one. I’m a fan of vacuum packing – shrinking puffa jackets and other bulky garments to half their original size.
• Tidy all your drawers and cupboards and get rid of anything you don’t need.
• Tidy your dressing table and only have cosmetics on display that you use regularly.
• Keep perfumes in a cool, dark place as they deteriorate in the light.

Organising the bedroom;

• Make use of storage space under the bed and on top of wardrobes by storing linen or out of season clothes in closed baskets or boxes.
• Invest in shelves to display books and photographs.
• Make your bed the centrepiece of the room and a joy to look at. Buy the best quality bed linen you can afford... and remember, a duvet a size bigger then your bed will make it look luxurious.

The Bathroom

 A bathroom should be warm and inviting, a place where you want to spend time. If everything is tidy and in its place, it will become a sanctuary for you and your family.

De-cluttering the bathroom;

• Go through the cupboards and around any shelves removing any old products that you never use. Wipe everything you want to keep and replace it in the cupboards.

Organising the bathroom;

• Keep the area around the sink and bath as clear as you can. If you don’t have sufficient storage in your bathroom, try to keep products to a minimum.
• Check out some bathroom wall units for storage solutions
• Keep your toothbrush and toothpaste in a holder to keep the sink area tidy.
• Hang towels on a towel rail or fold or roll neatly on a shelf

Kids’ Rooms

Teach children how to be organised and you’ll give them a head start in life! Explain to them why its so important to keep their room tidy – it will mean they have more space to play, they will be able to find everything easily and their toys won’t get stepped on and broken. Tell them that if they have toys they don’t want anymore some other child might love to play with them. Explain to them the concept of charity shops and how they turn their old toys into money to feed children in poor countries with no mummy or daddy. I’ve had 100% success rate with this one.

De-cluttering a kid’s room;

• Tidy the wardrobe and cupboards and get rid of anything outgrown or no longer needed.
• Throw away broken toys and give unwanted toys to a charity shop.
• Clear the floor as much as possible and put toys and games in bags and boxes.
• Tidy surfaces and book shelves.

Organising a kid’s room;

• Try to make the bedroom as attractive as possible so they’ll want to keep it tidy!
• Make use of space on top of the wardrobe for out of season clothes and items that the child doesn’t need to reach.
• If there is room under the bed it’s a great place to store toys and bits in plastic wheeled boxes that can be pulled out easily.
• Group similar toys together – all the bricks in one box, the games and puzzles in another, furry animals in another, so they know where to find them. If your children are small, cut pictures out of magazines and stick them on the front. Tiny kids can identify the brick box if it has a picture of some brick on it!

Good, now your whole house is tidy and clutter free!