Discover the Art of Decluttering

Jessica Hodges

Manager - Interior Design

"Your home should be an antidote to stress, not the cause of it." - Decluttering expert Peter Walsh

With so many of us currently indoors, we're looking for ways to make our homes a sactuary, as well as a place where our productivity can flourish. It's worth mentioning that the "calm" you are searching for does not come with clicking "add to cart". As the Marie Kondo trend of the past year has shown - there is simply nothing that "sparks joy" as much as organised and decluttered life.

Here we take you through practical tips that can be achieved in an afternoon of organising your kitchen, pantry or laundry. We'll show you that this does not need to be a huge undertaking but it can be just the repreieve you were looking for. After all, nobody has ever said; "I regret decluttering."

Bonus tip: tune out to tune in. Put earphones on while you work and listen to a podcast or your latest Spotfiy mix. Instantly, organsing is less of a chore and more time for you.

Kitchen

Ah, the pure joy of a clean benchtop. No bills waiting to be filed, no containers searching for lids, no appliances collecting dust. Lets explore this list of top tips to achieve the relief that comes from a decluttered, organised and calm kitchen.

If it can’t stand the heat. 

In other words If you can’t cook with it or eat it -use this time to move it out the kitchen. Create a dedicated “paper zone” somewhere else -the kitchen bench is simply not the place for junk mail and bills. Pro tip: Wall mount a magazine rack to hold and sort your bills and paperwork.

Adopt the urge to purge. 

We recommend you start from the top– cull your benchtop appliances and only keep what you use and need. Getting rid of items that you do not use or double ups will give you the instant relief you need to feel motivated on your decluttering journey. (You might even be able to resell them on Ebay or facebook marketplace!)

Claim back your cupboards. 

Take a look through your cupboards and assess which items are really necessary. Often we have duplicate items or chipped and cracked plates and glasses – bin these and reduce the clutter. Do you really need a fondue set or a dedicated brownie maker? Match your containers with lids and bin the odd ones. We don’t know where the Tupperware lids have gone but we know it’s time to give up hope of their return!

Once you have done the major purge and re-organised the cupboard space you just need a simple maintenance program.

Pro tip: End each day as you mean to begin the next one. 

Reset your kitchen every night for the next day. Make it part of your personal bedtime routine to make sure everything is put back where it belongs and nothing is on the kitchen counters that shouldn’t be. We promise you will then go to sleep feeling less stressed and begin each day feeling more positive when you start with a clutter-free kitchen.

Pantry/Butlers Pantry

If you, like us, find the sight of a well-organised pantry calming then you have come to the right place. The good news is that an organised pantry is actually achievable in any size home if you follow these tips from the experts:

Deep dive. 

That’s right - everything out on the counter at once. Every. Last. Bottle. You will be surprised at how much you actually have and your shelves will benefit from a thorough clean.

Take inventory. 

Even the most organised amongst us have been known to have 2 or 3 of the same spice bottle as well as packaged food that has expired.

Invest in clear containers and labels. 

They don’t need to be fancy and many retailers and supermarkets stock a good range of options. Decant all your dry goods such as rice, nuts, flour and pasta into neatly labelled clear jars or containers. Then you can see what you have which reduces wastage. Go one step further and invest in re-usable labels such as these blackboard labels with a wipe-off chalk pen.

Divide your shelves like the supermarkets do. 

Narrow or deep pantries can be very easy to overstock so use shelf racks to tier your storage and not lose packets to the back of the shelf.

Bins, baskets and shelf dividers. 

Miscellaneous packaging, kids snacks or cans should be grouped and organised together so that you can clearly see what you have. Place them in bins or baskets so you can pull them out. That way you can start using everything on the shelf before you buy more.

Pro Tip: 

The joy of co-ordinated containers is where the Marie Kondo method really comes into its own. Invest in matching sets of containers in various sizes that stack neatly, not only will they save you shelf space, you will love how organised and styled your pantry looks.

Laundry

Believe it or not, your laundry can actually be a sanctuary rather than being met with chaos. Of course, it's easy to let clothes pile up but when you have a system in place, you're less likely to allow clutter to build.

Start by following the same rules we have provided for your pantry - take everything out of the cupboards, take inventory, get rid of anything you don’t use and then divide and display. Once you’ve organised your cupboards you can follow these additional tips for the luxury laundry life.

Create an enviable laundry sorting system. 

If space permits use four laundry hampers side by side - for whites, colours, darks and delicates – if this is impractical space-wise, have four stackable tubs on hand for sorting laundry.

Divide and conquer. 

Laundry cabinets tend to be deep and undivided so it’s easy for products to pile up, get lost and doubled up. Fix this with baskets, shelf dividers and shelf racks.

Hang it up.

Installing a drying bar under an overhead cupboard or across a narrow laundry wall-to-wall is an easy fix that will give you space to hang items for drying or after ironing, ready to transfer them directly into your wardrobe.

Pro tip: 

Go to the extra effort of decanting powder, pegs and other items into clear containers or jars with labels. Not only is this pleasing on the eye it also enables you to easily see when they are running low.

We wish you luck on your de-cluttering journey. We know that once you start you will find that the joy it brings to your life and the clean space you achieve will free up your mind for more productivity and positivity.