An organised and tidy home = a tidy mind, or so they say. I am more than guilty of ignoring this sometimes. Either I just don’t feel like it, or I’ve tidied where I am most and I can’t see the rest. Mostly though, I like to be tidy and organised. I’ve been following some home cleaning and organisation accounts on Instagram and they inspire me to do more. My favourites are MrsHinchhome, Stacey Solomon, OrganisingMum, and thisgirlcanorganise.
I thought I would do a post that puts all the useful home organisation tips and hacks I could find together so I can refer to it when I need to and of course help you guys out on the way. I find that if I can do a bit of cleaning and tidying each day then it is much better than letting it build up. Especially applies to the washing up and doing the dishwasher. Whilst my tea and toast is cooking, I unload and reload the dishwasher and collect empty plates and cups.
I’ve got myself in a better routine now that my life has stabilised somewhat – my kids are all in school, my work routine has slowed down (I work one day a week as a nurse and the rest of the time is blogging and social media) and I feel more at ease in my role at home. I don’t like hoarding or clutter and thankfully neither does my husband. He does leave his shoes in random places though. We both do our share of housework, I do slightly more as I am home more.
On to the home organisation hacks!
Declutter!
This one requires no outlay and little effort. Look at what you’re most struggling with. Is it toys, clothes or something else? If you don’t have a home for everything, you’ve got too much. Spend as much time as you can decluttering the main issue. Sell or give away what you don’t need and you’ll feel much better.
Clever Storage
If you’re tight on space there are so many clever storage solutions to streamline your home. Here are some great examples:
A coffee table with added storage that you can hide away.
Get some solid under bed drawers or storage boxes and easily slide those toys or spare bedding away.
I use long flat storage boxes for the kid’s toys under their bunk beds.
Our king size bed lifts up and we have extra storage under the bed. It’s been a game changer, I’d definitely recommend it if you’re thinking about getting a new bed. It’s called an Ottoman bed and I love it!
I keep bedding, fancy dress, birthday gifts and my wrapping paper and card stash. Which brings me on to:
My wrapping paper and card storage box. I actually asked for this as a Christmas present from my parents. I was really excited about it, because I’ve had issues for years with wrapping paper and card in inappropriate boxes or bags, so I got this purpose built storage box and it holds full size wrapping rolls with sections for gift tags and cards. I keep the sellotape and scissors there too so no more scrabbling around for the wrapping paper and bits before a birthday party. This is the exact one I have.
I keep any pretty boxes I get sent or gifted, and use them for extra make up, bath bombs and hats/ fascinators. I put them under my dressing table and they look nice.
Utilise any space you have, like bay windows. Make storage under the window seat and put shelves around the windows if you have a lot of books.
If you have a baby, they soon gather lots of little toys, and they can clutter up your living room. I really like Mrs Hinch’s play mat come storage box, it’s easy to tidy up at the end of the day and it looks nice too.
She folds the grey star play mat into a box shape and removes one of the stars to make it into a storage box at the end of the day.
Drawer organisers – I always thought they were not for me but it’s so nice being able to grab exactly what I need from my drawers and it makes me happy to see them neat.
Everyone has one of those drawers with cables in don’t they? I try to clear it every once in a while but then I always find myself needing something and buying a new one! Next on my list is to buy a cable organiser bag so we can easily locate what we need.
Under shelf storage: I’ve seen this a lot lately, you can store your mugs, tea lights, wax melts, whatever you need under the shelf, utilising that extra space you have. The most popular place to buy is IKEA, but there are other places to buy like Amazon or Ebay.
Are you sick of batteries falling out of their packets? I have a cupboard under the stairs and I bought several small storage boxes with lids for batteries, name labels, shoe shining bits and all those little miscellaneous things, or you could go full on like Stacey Solomon did, and get a storage bag specifically for your batteries!
We drink a lot of cans, so I use a can holder in the fridge to save on space.
I saw Mrs Hinch using plate stackers in her cupboards and I’d always thought it wouldn’t make much difference, but I bought them and it is so much easier, I can easily grab what size plate I need and it’s easier to put them away too.
I stack my bowls on the other side. Now, what about your spices? How do you store yours? Well mine are just shoved in the cupboard, but my goal is to organise them in some spectacular way. I see a lot of people decanting theirs into glass labelled jars, but so many come in jars already. I think once I start to go through each herb or spice I will buy their forever jar and just get refills that can be recycled. Take a look at these spice storage goals.
Home organisation hacks: toy storage
But Jenny, I need more toy storage ideas! How about these?
Sooo many great ideas there. Which is your favourite? Have you been inspired? Let me know your home organisation hacks and I’ll add them to the post.
