Our clients often tell us that they’re overwhelmed by the idea of organising because they don’t know where to start. And we totally get that! It’s hard to look at a room that’s full of stuff and see how to work your way through to a calm, clear and organised space.
But really, there’s no big secret! Whether it’s creating a beautiful wardrobe or organising your kitchen cupboards, organising projects follow the same simple steps.
So give yourself plenty of time (and seriously, think about how long you think it will take, and double it), and we’ll walk you through how to organise any space with confidence.
- Take everything out
To properly organise a space, this is a corner that can’t be cut! Take absolutely everything out so you can see what you have. If at all possible try to tackle similar areas of your home at the same time, (your whole wardrobe, or all of the kitchen cupboards etc) so you’re not duplicating effort. If you’re short on time though, the same rule applies for a single drawer and that can be a great start.
- Categorise
Now you can see what you have, sort everything so you have similar things together (all of your jeans/jumpers/skirts or all of your pasta and grains etc). Categorising your things before editing makes the decision making process so much easier. If you have a large category, you may need to sub-categorise, for example sort your jumpers by colour.
- Edit
Decide what you want to keep. Do you use, need or love the item? Is it a duplicate? Does it serve a purpose in your life now, or is it something that you used to use but don’t anymore? Is it something that you only think might be useful one day, but you don’t really need now? Ask yourself these questions, and be honest – do you really want to keep it?
If clutter is a problem for you in your home, you need to push yourself to think about what you really want to or need to keep and let go of the rest.
Always consider the space that you have available to store things when you’re editing, and remember to give yourself a bit of room to grow.
- Zone
When it comes to putting things away, group like with like.
Creating zones means you’ll always know where to look for things and how to put things away quickly and easily. Things get messy and cluttered because we often don’t like to make decisions about where things go on the fly. Give yourself some zones and you’re making the decisions up front, so if you buy something new it’s obvious where it should go.
- Contain and label
The final touch for any organising project is to contain and label. It could be drawer inserts for the junk drawer, or large baskets for seasonal clothes in a wardrobe. Don’t forget to measure, measure and measure again before buying any new containers. And then add labels to make sure that everyone in your home can find things and put them away.
