The inside track to tidy living
Clutter is a bit like weeding a garden. If you turn your back on it for too long, it can soon get out of hand. But with our busy modern lives, it’s often not easy staying on top of that gradually accumulating mess, and all of a sudden, your spaces can look like a force 10 gale has swept through, leaving a path of total devastation behind.
When the clutter is getting too much, it’s time to take matters into your own hands. It’s time for… the big sort out. And if you need some advice on how to make yours a success, we’ve put together this comprehensive, room-by-room guide to help you tackle the main tasks with ease. So before we get started, here are some basic tips to keep in mind:
General tips before starting
Planning first is the key to success - and don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be a military operation! These points apply to the whole process and will make sure you get the results you want.
- Do a walk-through
Walk through your house and assess each room individually. You might find some rooms are tidier than others, which means you don’t have to dedicate as much time to these spaces. Identify the problem areas and think about what long-term solutions would help you stay tidier.
- Be a guest in your own home
This is a great way to approach your walk-through process. See your home through the eyes of a visitor. Would they feel welcomed or would they be having to find a path in between the piles of clutter? Having this in the forefront of your mind can be useful for streamlining your space and maybe updating your style too.
- Decide your plan of action
There are lots of ways to approach a whole-home tidy. Are you going to tidy across multiple rooms at once, a la Marie Kondo’s category method? Or are you going to tackle one room at a time, which can be more effective if you’ve got just a couple of problem areas. Whichever you choose, stick with it and use a simple sorting method like the one below.
- Use the 3-pile method
Again, you’ll find lots of different ways online to work through your clutter. One tried and true method is the 3-pile method where items are put into the following categories: throw away, give away, store away. This gives you the opportunity to donate items to charity or you could even sell them online to get some extra pennies back.
- Work through drawers and cupboards
Don’t forget to sort through all of the places that aren’t on show. Work through drawers and cupboards - which are home to hidden mess - to really get a full grasp of the situation. It’s only once these clutter-magnets are cleared out that you can truly reclaim your storage space.
- Be realistic with what you keep
Unfortunately, decluttering means being ruthless. If you’ve not used something in a year, really think about whether you need it. More often than not, you won’t actually miss these objects from your home. That being said, don’t be so hard-headed that you throw away seasonal items, like that big winter coat. It’s better to give these a dedicated storage space where they’re out of the way but easy to access.
Our room-by-room decluttering guide
Got those general tips in mind? Good. Because it’s time for the main event. Here’s how to effectively and efficiently tidy the main areas of your home…
Living room
1. Make note of your coffee table clutter
The coffee table is a little window into your lifestyle so give particular attention to this surface. If it’s covered in tech, like remote controls, tablets and chargers, it’s a sign that you should get dedicated storage for all your gadgetry. Likewise, if it’s covered in books and magazines, think about adding in some shelving or bookcases.
2. Work through your tech
Speaking of tech, it’s so easy for it to pile up in drawers. If you’ve got chargers and cables that you don’t need, don’t hang onto them. Put them in a box to take to your local electrical recycling. And while you’re at it, if you’ve got any old mobile phones hanging around in drawers, definitely make sure to get rid of them. If nothing else, they’re a potential fire hazard!
3. Media units make things simple
For anyone struggling to find a place for everything, it’s all about making your storage work harder on your behalf. Media units are a fantastic living room storage solution, giving you a cinematic view of your TV, while also offering plenty of shelving and cupboards to keep your space tidy.
In this respect, it really is an all-in-one answer to your storage woes, promising to hide away anything you don’t want on show, while giving you plenty of room to showcase your best pieces. And they can be configured in a huge number of ways, letting your style shine through. For the most dramatic results, pair up with some integrated lighting and slatted feature panels - stunning!
4. Take a look under the sofa
If you’ve got a sofa with legs, it’s all too easy to hide things away under there just for the convenience. It’s also a prime spot for things to roll under to be completely forgotten about – children’s toys, especially. As you’re decluttering your space, make sure that you’re not using it as a dumping ground for anything you want out of sight. There are better ways to deal with that mess!
5. Make a space for toys
Back on the subject of toys, if you don’t have much room, it’s important to give the kids a dedicated space where they can store away their games. Low-line cupboards are a superb addition to playrooms and other family rooms, as it lets them take out and put away toys by themselves. Cleanup is quick and easy too. Just pile them all up inside your storage and shut the door - nobody would ever be the wiser.
If you have a bay window, storage seating can be another wonderfully effective way to give your young ones a stylish toy chest for all their favourite belongings. And it makes fantastic use of an otherwise awkward room feature.
Bedroom
6. Deal with the floordrobe
The floordrobe is not just the exclusive province of the teenager - we’re all susceptible to leaving clothes strewn around. But the floor is no place for your clothing. If you want certain items left out because you might need them later in the day, they should be hung up neatly, leaving any dirty items to find their way into the hamper.
If you’re always having to pick up after yourself, it could be time to work some better storage into your space. A fitted wardrobe can max out your bedroom’s potential by taking your storage right into every corner and up to the ceiling, so none of your space is wasted. (And with our Sharps Space+™ formula, we can even give you 40% more wardrobe space than other fitted furniture providers!)
7. Sort out your surfaces
Bedside tables and chests of drawers often get saturated with trinkets. Try to pare them back to a minimum, ideally only one accent piece per item of furniture. If you make a habit of leaving your phone or books on your bedside unit, make sure to put them in a drawer instead. Again, think about what storage solutions could help you out if you’ve got a lot to keep. Alternatively, it’s probably high time to take some things to the charity shop.
8. Make a full inventory of your clothes
Not got enough room for clothes? It could be time for a deep declutter of your wardrobe. Take out every piece of clothing from your collection and think about the last time you wore it - if at all! Aside from smart or formal wear, anything not worn regularly is ripe for donating, and it goes without saying that pieces worn or frayed should go to textile recycling. For anyone with an extensive walk-in wardrobe or dressing room, this point goes double for you!
9. Create a space for seasonal clothing
But don’t throw out your seasonal gear! It’s better for it not to take up wardrobe space so have as much of it folded neatly away as you can. Overbed storage is great for bulky winter items like jumpers and blankets, where the extra cupboard space effectively hides everything out of sight. Sharps Space+™
Hallway
10. Revamp your understair space
It’s brimming with potential but all too often overlooked. If you don’t have storage in your understairs area, definitely start considering whether it could do with a transformation. Whether you go with pigeonhole shelving or cupboards, your under stairs storage can free up so much room in hallways by absorbing all of the clutter that tends to get left on the floor. And it can make it look super stylish at the same time.
11. Think about where to hang coats and bags
Ill too often, coats and bags get slung over the end of the bannister. And it’s not a great look. Your coats might be best served with a simple rack attached to the wall but bulky bags could be a bigger issue. Look to overhead storage cupboards or boot room style benches for extra organisation. They’re a sure-fire way to keep your hallway looking spotless!
12. Keep console tables organised
If you’ve got a console table in your hallway, chances are that it’s the dumping ground for all of your bits and pieces as you come and go from the house. Keys, letters, a random assortment of coins… all of these things should be kept out of sight in drawers where they can stay organised. That way your console table can just have homey accent pieces that set the mood when visitors come through the door.
Home office
13. Stay on top of paperwork
Don’t have a shredder? Now’s the time to get one. Paperwork can quickly add up so gather everything together, sit down and work through it systematically. File away anything important (and maybe do a big sort out of the filing cabinet at a later date!) then the remainder can get destroyed. If you find that paperwork migrates through the house, pick a new designated spot for it to live and have it stay there.
14. Look at a smarter desk space configuration
Desks can get swamped with ‘stuff’. From stationary, to notebooks, to tech, it all adds up and can turn into a chaotic mess in no time. For anyone whose desk space isn’t living up to expectations, it’s well worth considering a more bespoke option. A fitted home office gives you far more extra storage by using your space in a smarter way. Designed to fit the contours of your interior perfectly, you can even work in some vertical storage to give yourself extra room for filing.
15. Assess your desk layout
With computers, printers and extra screens to contend with, your cable situation can easily get out of hand. But there are easy ways to tame all of that wiring. Clips and cable tidies can help to create a neater pathway for any cables and make them as unobtrusive as possible. It can also help thinking about your power needs. Office power solutions like desk power points and USB chargers can help to free up other plug outlets and cut down on the need for extension leads.
16. Desk tidies make all the difference
It’s an oldie but a goodie - who can argue with the simple desk tidy? They look great, come in a huge range of styles and are a superb way to keep your home office clear. You might even save enough desk space to bring in some more chic decor! When you’re shopping around for your perfect desk organiser, just keep in mind the types of things you need storing away and let that inform the style you choose.
The secret to organisation heaven…
There we go - 16 fantastic tips to get you on the way to a calm and clutter-free oasis. Once you’ve completed the grand task of tidying up, it’s all about staying on top of it with some light but regular organising. Ideally, spend just 15 minutes every day making sure everything is where it should be. But if you’re looking for a more substantial transformation, there’s only one way to go.
As the experts in home organisation, Sharps can help you create bespoke storage solutions that upgrade your quality of life. From gorgeous made-to-measure fitted bedrooms to elegant dining room cabinets, we make staying beautifully organised an art.
Find out how by booking your own Free Design Visit today!
