Article - Decluttering
Maximise the space you have –
Get rid of the clutter!
Before starting on any new design scheme, or before a restyle, or even just
for your sanitys sake! – you need to look at your belongings. See what
you already have, and decide on what you want to keep, what needs
to be given away, and what can be re-housed.
Many of my clients have found that just de-cluttering a room
can transform it – and possibly saves the need for complete redecoration
as it gives the whole space a new lease of life. Your decoration and
accessories can get lost amongst the clutter collected in everyday life
very easily. People constantly strive for the modern, show home look so
that they can have friends round and feel proud of their home – but it is often
easy to forget that show homes are NOT real life – they do not have to have
all the items that we all collect during our lives cluttering up the
place, and they can be seen to be more spacious and thus more enticing.
In recent years the term “de-cluttering” has a very bad press, and is thought
only to refer to those houses that you can barely walk around for the mess.
In actual fact we all have clutter in our homes, it’s a fact of life! Clutter is
simply anything that is not needed or loved in your home, or something
that is not in its correct home. Therefore the only thing we need to be
wary of is keeping it under control, and that can make all the difference
in a design scheme, and will make or break it. You can have the most
beautiful home, but if it has clutter (to whatever level) it will never
feel as comfortable and relaxing and finished as you would like.
There are many reasons why we have clutter in our houses – life is
busy and it is inevitable that some amount of clutter will build up.
But it should be noted that it can make people depressed and unable to
relax in their own home. They may feel overwhelmed at the task of sorting
everything out, and many just start to ignore it. However, if it’s kept under
control it is easier to create a beautiful and relaxing home.
But the question is - where do you start?
There are businesses out there (including mine!) that offer de-cluttering
as a stand alone service – and you may well decide that it is easier
to tackle the job together, or hand it completely over. Innerspace is one of the
where more information can be found. But if you feel confident to start organising
your home, then there are a few key things to remember:-
First things first – prepare! Have a variety of boxes and bin liners to hand,
along with sticky labels, marker pens etc. This will make your life
easier as you go through your home.
Start with one room/area at a time. For every item you find,
ask yourself whether you want to keep it or get rid of it.
If you want to get rid of it, is it rubbish/recycling or could it be given
to charity/family/friends? – have a box for each, and start to fill them!
If you want to keep it, ask yourself whether it is in the right room /area
and whether it is useful or beautiful. Keeping items grouped together
will help you have a more organised home (wrapping paper and cards
stored with pens and sticky tape for example will make life easier when
you come to someones birthday!). If an item is beautiful – where can you
show it off to its best advantage (this will help you when you are restyling a
room – you will know exactly what you have and where you want it to be
seen – always a good starting point).
Other handy hints for de-cluttering and organising your home are
as follows:- Keep wardrobes and rooms more organised by rotating
with the seasons. Pack away items that are out of the current season
(i.e. in summer you won’t need jumpers and coats, and your home will
look fresher without the heavy curtains and throws
you bought in the winter). When the next season comes around,
pack away what you don’t need and get out of storage what you do.
This is a great way of restyling your home easily, as most people have so
much in their homes that you can’t put it all on display easily. By splitting up
into seasons you can appreciate all your accessories at different times
of the year, and create a refreshing change at the same time!
Take one area at a time – you will then start to see a real
difference rather than if you jump from place to place.
For a family why not have colour coordinated boxes in the hallway – then
anything that needs to be done/moved can be put into that persons box rather
than put in piles that create a cluttered look in even the tidiest of houses
(this can be done with post, toys, school bags, shoes and much more).
This can create a very stylish and practical storage solution.
So by now you will have thrown away, recycled, given away and
packed away - and you will be left only with those things you need and
those that you really love. At this point you will have a much better view of your
home, and the space each room has. Now is the perfect time to assess the space
and create the room design that you want. You won’t have to work around items
that you don’t want to keep, and you can really see what you have to work with.
You can now start accessorising
your home and creating that all important new look.
Get rid of the clutter, create space, and get that beautiful home!
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