Summer is finally here, which means, the time has finally come to open the windows and let in some light and fresh air. Summer is always a good time to sort out cluttered spaces which make a home more difficult to clean, tougher to find things and, most of all, adds to a general sense of stress in what should be a welcoming, relaxing space.
While decluttering the house can be intimidating, home organising pros often say that slow and steady wins the race: a daily 10-minute declutter is often better than an overwhelming mammoth session every six months. To help you get started we suggest focusing on the following 5 quick wins for a cleaner, more organised home. With these small changes, you’ll not only notice huge improvements to your space, but you might just be inspired to keep going and declutter your whole home.
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Decluttering the study: Sort out the stationery drawer
One of the easiest places to tackle in your study or at your desk is the stationery drawer. Start by testing out all those pens and throwing out any that no longer work. Remove old receipts, shred any old mail and ditch any mystery junk objects. Then, use small jars or boxes to hold objects like your staples and stapler together, for example, or all paper clips and thumbtacks in one spot. Opening it up will feel so much nicer.
Decluttering the bedroom: Get rid of excess hangers
How do we end up with so many hangers? From those pesky wire ones handed out with your dry cleaning to the plethora of tiny plastic ones you often get with kids’ clothing, our wardrobes can be packed with hangers we neither like nor need. The thin, velvet versions are the most space-efficient, with wood ones being a good option for chunkier clothing. Drop the rest at your local charity shop, where they can be put to good use on the rails.
Decluttering the living room: Trim down those toys
Does your living room floor look like sale day at Toys ‘R’ Us by the end of the week? We wouldn’t wish the misery of standing on a piece of Lego on our worst enemy, yet often find ourselves doing it multiple times a day due to overly full toy bins and messy play areas. Explore the idea of toy rotation, which will instantly remove at least half the toy clutter from your space. Donate or store toys the kids have outgrown (making sure to give soft toys a good wash) and set aside toys they may not be ready for yet to bring out later.
Decluttering the bathroom: Cull the cabinets
An almost empty tube of toothpaste, some old skincare samples, nail files and an ancient bottle of cough syrup – our bathroom cabinets are typically one of the first places clutter builds up. And no doubt you’ve noticed that when a cupboard or drawer becomes full of things we don’t use, we tend to avoid it, hence losing very useful and functional storage space. People often resist cleaning out bathroom cabinets as they don’t want to throw out ‘perfectly good’ unused products, but bear in mind that most cosmetics do spoil, so that half-empty container of shampoo you didn’t quite love the smell of isn’t going to do your hair any favours in six months’ time. Bin the product, rinse out and recycle the packaging and keep the cabinet for things you actually do use on a regular basis.
Decluttering the kitchen: Tackle that Tupperware
Constantly searching for the lid to a piece of Tupperware? Got a stack of mismatched food containers? Take 10 minutes to go through them all. First, make sure everything has a lid and get rid of any cracked or broken containers (these can often be put to good use as drawer organisers). You’ll be surprised at how many are no longer fit for purpose and just taking up valuable space. When you’re done, nest the containers from biggest to smallest and store the lids vertically alongside them in a big storage box or drawer for easy future access.
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