Expert Guide To Decluttering & Organising Your Home: Room by Room

Embarking on a journey to declutter and organise your home can be a daunting one. Taking the time to tidy and reorder each space in the house may feel overwhelming, but has the potential to benefit many aspects of your life. Not only does it make your home more visually appealing, but it can also create a sense of calmness and improve your mental clarity. Using this guide, you can tackle the mess and create a space that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Read on to discover practical tips recommended by experts on how to organise your home and make your living space a more harmonious and stress-free environment.

Quick Links

• Getting started: How to declutter your house in four easy steps
• Home organisation ideas by room
  • Living room
  • Kitchen
  • Bedroom
  • Home office
  • Bathroom
  • Laundry

Getting started: How to declutter your house in four easy steps

The best way to organise your home is to start with a decluttering plan or checklist. With the demands of everyday life, it can be easy to let a mess accumulate which makes your home feel chaotic and oppressive. The impact decluttering your home has on your mental health is profound, and taking it step-by-step will make the process feel much less unconquerable.

Step 1: Declutter room by room

Declutter each room systematically, one room at a time. Categorise the room into smaller areas and work through these one by one. This prevents the task from becoming overwhelmed by considering the entire house at once.

Step 2: Sort your items

Using containers or boxes, sort every item into one of the following categories:

• Keep: Items that you wish to keep in your home, put these aside so that they can be put away systematically during the organising process
• Discard: Items that you no longer wish to keep, hold no value, and cannot be recycled - bin it!
• Recycle: Put aside any items that can be recycled to go into the recycling bin or take to a recycling centre to be disposed of responsibly.
• Donate: Items you no longer want but may hold value to someone else in need. Donate to a charity store or secondhand shop.
• Sell: If you're on a budget or own some high-value items that you no longer wish to keep, consider putting these belongings aside to sell online or at a market.

Step 3: Remove unwanted belongings

Once your belongings in each room have been sorted into their categorised box or container, promptly remove them from your home accordingly. We recommend completing the decluttering process prior to attempting to organise each room, to avoid overwhelm and keep the tasks separate.

Step 4: Organise and maintain

The next step is to conduct an organisation refresh of your home. Designate storage areas for all belongings and items you wish to keep, and systematically implement this throughout the rooms in your home. Create a habit of putting things back in their designated places and regularly reevaluating your belongings. This prevents clutter from building up again in the future. Remember, decluttering is a process, and it's okay to take it at your own pace and timeline. Stay focused, stay motivated, and enjoy the benefits of a clutter-free home.

Home organisation ideas by room

Once your space is feeling less cluttered with unnecessary items, this is the perfect time to implement an organisational system that will help to maintain order in each room of your home. Since every item in the home is now something you wish to use or keep, assign it a designated space. Take inventory of what you have and find home storage solutions for anything that doesn't have a place. Each room in the house will need slightly different solutions based on its function:

Creating a Clutter-Free and Relaxing Living Room

An organised home starts with the living room. Absentminded clutter can quickly accumulate in such a common area of the home. Odds and ends conveniently find their way into this space - books, keys, bags, shoes, clothes - but there's an easy way to avoid this. Identify the items that regularly find their way into your living space, and find a storage solution for them.

Wash any living room cushions, rugs and throw blankets to immediately freshen up the space. Get rid of anything that cannot be restored or cleaned, keeping those extra pillows and blankets in a basket by the couch. At this point, you should have donated or discarded anything that doesn't bring you joy or speak to your individual interior style. Take the time to style your shelves and display your items with intentional placement. Clean up any electrical cords using a cable tie or a ribbon - you can even tape them to the back of your furniture to hide them for a cleaner look.

Designate an area with a bowl or tray for "grab-and-go" belongings that are easily lost and tend to pile up on communal surfaces. This could include keys, wallets, remotes, sunglasses, loose change or other items.

Once your living space is feeling tidy, refreshed and organised, consider adding an element of aromatherapy in the form of a scented candle or diffuser to promote a sense of tranquillity and harmony.

Enjoy a Functional and Organised Kitchen

Once your kitchen has been decluttered and rid of any broken appliances, chipped dining wares and expired products, you can effectively organise it to enhance its functionality.

We recommend starting with organising your pantry. After discarding any expired products, organise your remaining pantry items into categories. Before placing these back in your pantry, double-check all use-by dates. Utilise food storage containers with tight-fitting lids to decant any food staples such as rice, cereal and flour. This is an excellent way to keep your pantry looking organised. They help to keep items fresh, visually appealing, and easy to locate. Ensure to invest in a great spice rack to keep all of your seasonings in one place. The hidden secret to pantry organisation? Labels! Make sure you label everything you can - this will help to avoid any waste or the very easy-to-do double purchase. Clearly label your pantry shelves and storage containers to make it easy to find what you need quickly.

Once your pantry is feeling fresh, you can get started on the rest of the kitchen. Firstly, clear your countertops of any remaining clutter and only keep essential appliances within easy reach. Neatly store any less-used appliances in a cupboard or drawer. Cupboard organisers are also a great way to categorise your kitchen gear. When organising your kitchen drawers, additional cutlery trays throughout the drawers can help you to organise miscellaneous items and tools. Add hooks to the inside of cupboards to easily store kitchen linen such as tea towels and oven mitts. Keep your sink area tidy with a sink storage solution to hold all of your cleaning products. Utilising the space underneath your sink is a great way to store any cleaning items or a rubbish bin out of the way and keeps the not-so-pretty items out of sight. Go through your kitchen drawers to consolidate your kitchen tools and discard any duplicate items. This will allow you to pick out your most commonly used cooking utensils and collate them in a stylish utensil holder to sit next to the stove.

An easy way to make your kitchen feel more organised and tidy is to take advantage of vertical space. Install shelving or hooks on your walls to create additional storage space for pots, pans, and kitchen tools. These are just some of the most effective kitchen organisation ideas that will make your space feel more manageable and practical.

Ensure Your Bedroom Is a Rejuvenating Sanctuary

A well-organised bedroom promotes the right environment to ensure a good night's sleep. Treat your room as a sanctuary for rest - this means avoiding extra and unnecessary items that may be overstimulating. Make sure your bedside table is simple - keep a candle and a lamp but avoid mounting up a collection of unread books. On the same note, don't keep random items under your bed unless they are in suitable containers. If you are going to champion home organisation, implementing purposeful storage solutions is paramount.

Most of the clutter in a bedroom is due to an unorganised wardrobe. Establishing a capsule wardrobe and culling excess clothes is an effective, long-term solution to maintaining a tidy bedroom. Be ruthless with your clothes - donate anything rarely worn or throw out clothes that can't be mended. Store seasonal outfits in a sealable vacuum bag or in a collapsible organiser and keep shoes on a shoe rack.

Wash all of your bedding and bed linen, and thoroughly clean or vacuum your mattress and any rugs to keep the space fresh. It's recommended to do this every so often throughout the year. If you keep your spare bed linen in the bedroom, research creative ways to store your bed linen to maximise storage space.

Maximise Your Home Office Space and Elevate Productivity

Organising the home office or study area is essential for boosting productivity and focus. Determine your work requirements and the equipment or supplies you need. Make a list of essential items and prioritise them based on frequency of use. Sort through papers, stationery supplies, and any items that are no longer needed or used.

Start with your desk as the focal point. Keep only the items you use daily within arm's reach. Utilise desk organisers, trays, or drawer dividers to keep supplies tidy and easily accessible. Designate specific zones within your home office and desk area for different purposes. Establish separate areas for computer work, paperwork, storage, and any other activities you regularly engage in.

Set up a filing system for important documents. Use labelled folders or binders to categorise and store paperwork effectively. Consider going paperless by scanning and digitising documents whenever possible.

Ineffective cable management can quickly create a sense of chaos in an otherwise tidy space. Tackle the cable chaos by using cable management solutions such as clips, ties, or cable sleeves. Keeping cables organised and out of the way improves the overall appearance and functionality of your workspace.

Transform Your Bathroom In a Refreshing Space

The bathroom is where many of us start and end our days. This is why it's of the utmost importance to maintain a bathroom that feels serene and refreshing when you enter the space.

After decluttering your bathroom, take inventory of the daily items you need in your bathroom and evaluate these against the amount of storage space available. Take note of cabinets, shelves, and drawers. Determine if additional bathroom storage solutions like baskets, caddies, or over-the-door organisers are needed. If you use makeup or beauty products, a makeup organiser or vanity tray goes a long way when it comes to maintaining an organised bathroom.

Keep your vanity and countertop clutter-free by only keeping essential items out. Use trays or containers to corral everyday items like toothbrushes, hand soap, and lotions. Store less frequently used items in drawers or cabinets. Use drawer dividers to separate and organise smaller items like cosmetics, brushes, and accessories. This will prevent items from getting jumbled together and make them easier to find. Label containers or use clear bins to store items like cotton balls, cotton swabs, or small accessories. Arrange items by frequency of use, placing frequently used items at eye level or within easy reach.

Optimise your shower or bath area by installing caddies or shelves to hold soaps, shampoos, and other bathing essentials. Consider using a hanging organiser or stick-on hook for loofahs and washcloths. Excess bathroom linen looks great when organised effectively. Fold or roll up your unused bath towels to store them neatly in cupboards or stands. Have some fresh hand towels and face washers that match the rest of your bathroom's colour palette neatly on display. Make use of a toothbrush and shower caddy to maximise space, or purchase an accessories basket to keep smaller items neat and tidy.

Just like the kitchen, the bathroom is a functional room that benefits from taking advantage of vertical space. Utilise wall space and vertical storage options such as shelves or wall-mounted cabinets to store towels, toiletries, and other frequently used items. This frees up counter space while keeping daily-use items within reach.

Give Your Laundry The Attention and Organisation it Deserves

Laundry is an inevitable household chore that can be made easier by maintaining a practical and functional laundry room.

Set up a sorting system for your laundry. Use separate laundry hampers or bins to sort clothes by colour (Whites, darks, colours) or by specific needs (Delicates, hand wash). Create a designated area or basket for stain treatment supplies. Keep stain removers, brushes, and other necessary tools readily available to treat stains before washing.

In terms of laundry cupboard organisation ideas, ensuring everything is in a designated place and labelled is key. Label shelves, bins, or baskets to indicate their contents. This will help you quickly identify and locate specific laundry supplies or items.

If you don't own a laundry cupboard, consider installing shelves, cabinets, or storage bins in your laundry area. This will allow you to store laundry-related items such as detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets, and extra hangers. By using laundry storage solutions, these items will remain neat and tidy yet easily accessible.

Create A Tidier Home And Bring Efficiency To Your Daily Life With The Art Of Decluttering

Decluttering and organising your home can bring a sense of calm and harmony to your daily life. By investing time into organising each room in the house, you can create a harmonious home that truly reflects your personal style and enhances your overall well-being and mental health.

Before you embark on your home decluttering and organisational refresh, visualise what you want your interior spaces to look like - what items do you need to make the space functional? Think about practicality and usability. What storage do you have and what will you need? Make sure to purchase any products that will help make the process smoother beforehand - you don't want to be caught out in the middle of a messy, unfinished clean-up!

Learn to embrace the process to avoid overwhelm, and with a little effort and the right strategies, you too can enjoy the benefits of an organized and balanced living environment.