by Natalie Morey | May 19, 2016 | Declutter tips, Home Office, Home Organisation, Office Organising, Tips
Clutter are things that you no longer use or love and it’s also those items that start to effect the way you run your house or life because they start to build up and take over the space. I’m sure that if I asked the question, most people would say that I have clutter in my house.
Clutter in my house
I believe that there are two main types of clutter. Emotional clutter and physical clutter. Both of these types of clutter have an impact on your life. In this blog, I am going to concentration on the physical clutter in your home and home office.
Clutter in your house is:
- All those odd socks that are still in your draw – but clearly you are never going to wear
- The broken TV or printer.
- The piles of unopened junk mail and old newspapers.
- All those plastic butter containers or jam jars that might come in useful one day.
- All the piles of papers on your desk or office floor
- Expired medicine in your bathroom
- Things that might be broken but (for sentimental reasons) you cannot throw it out (even though it can be no longer used)
- The boxes of stuff that have not been unpacked from your recent house move, because there is no space for them
- The junk mail that you collected from the mail box. (You know it’s just junk mail, but you still bring it inside, telling yourselves – I will read that later)
- The things that remind you of a difficult time in your life.
- The things you liked ten years ago but your tastes have changed.
- Those shoes that you wore once but can’t bear to part with because you paid $300 for them!
We all have clutter in our house. Some people just have more clutter than others and as a result don’t know what to do with it.
Clutter in my house becomes a problem when:
- You run out of room
- When there is “stuff” sitting on benchtops or on the floor
- You feel frustrated at the state of your own home or home office
- It takes you an extra 15 minutes in the morning to get ready, because you cannot find anything to wear
- When you cannot find things.
- When you pay a bill late because you misplaced the invoice.
- You don’t want to invite friends over because of what your house looks like
- You buy duplicate items because you could not find the original one.
What stops people from clearing the clutter?
The key thing that stops people from dealing with their clutter is:
- Procrastination
- Feeling whelmed and not knowing where to begin.
Did you know that on average we use 20% of our possessions 80% of the time? Now that is a lot of clutter that is not being used at any one time. So that is something to consider when the clutter starts building up in your home, wardrobe, kitchen or home office.
Clutter in my house
For tips on help you clear the clutter click here.
If you need help to clear the clutter in your home then contact The Lifestylers Group. We are experts at helping people to clear the clutter and reclaim your home and life. We have a team of trained professional organisers, all of whom specialise in different areas of the home. They are experienced, discrete and love helping people clear the clutter.
by Natalie Morey | May 18, 2016 | Declutter tips, Home Organisation, Tips
Clutter is unnecessary and causes us to be unproductive. However, the good news is that you can easily manage the clutter in your home or life. Follow our tips on clearing clutter and you will be well on your way to a clutter free home and life.
Tips On Clearing Clutter
Tips on Clearing Clutter
When you want to get organised and clear clutter in your wardrobe, kitchen, home office or house in general start by asking yourself:
- Do I love this item?
- Have I used or wore it in the past year?
- Is it really garbage?
- Do I have another one that is in better condition?
- Should I really keep two of them?
- Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?
- Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see the item?
Tips on Clearing the Clutter
My key tips to help you start clearing your clutter are:
- Pick one room first (don’t worry about the rest of the house)
- Start small. It is often quite overwhelming when you look at the whole house or a room so only look at one area first i.e. one shelve in one cupboard first. Clear that space and then move on.
- If you don’t have a whole day to spend clearing the clutter, set aside 15 minutes every day. Don’t get sidetracked, just focus on the job.
- Set a timer and don’t stop until you are finished.
- Create piles or categories for sorting items. i.e. keep, donate, rubbish, repair.
- Get a rubbish bag and fill it with rubbish or items to donate. If you did that every day, seven bags of rubbish would be cleared in a week. Now, that’s a great start.
I have also listed below some of my key tips to help you work through the process of actually clearing the clutter.
Sentimental Items
Be sentimental but selective. Choose a beautiful box in which to keep sentimental items. For example, keep a few cherished baby clothes and give the rest to someone who will use them. Put photos into albums only keeping the best ones and let the others go.
Broken things
Give yourself a deadline by which broken items must be fixed by. If they are not fixed by then, they need to be recycled or thrown out.
Presents
Ask yourself, can I re-gift or give them to someone else who will use them?
Paper
Be ruthless with paper. Put junk mail straight in the recycling bin and decide how long you will keep other newspapers and documents for. Use your recycling bin and ask yourself; When will I really have time to sit down and read that pile of papers or junk mail ?
Clothes
Ask yourself when was the last time I wore it and did it make me feel amazing?
Kitchen items
Again, ask yourself when was the last time I used it. Do I really need two of them?
How does it feel when you clear the clutter?
As you put things in the bin or charity shop bag, you may feel good and even feel a huge sense of relief. Or you may feel guilty that you are wasting money by throwing things away. You may also feel guilty that you are letting go of unwanted presents or baby clothes.
Many of my clients come from families where hoarding is a common problem. Often people have lots of clutter because that’s what they were taught and brought up with. You need to identify this and take action to change those behaviours.
I take the approach – “one in, one out”. Remember, you can only use one vacuum cleaner at a time.
Helping you decide what to declutter
If you really feel panicky about letting go of something then store it for three months.
Put a date on it before you store it away. If you haven’t used it in three months then give it away, knowing that it has not been used.
The benefits of clearing the clutter
There are massive benefits for you to get motivated, clear the clutter and become more organised. You will:
- Have a more relaxed and organised home
- Feel more organised and in control of your live
- Find that getting dressed and ready for work in the morning will be so much easier when you know exactly what is in your wardrobe.
There are massive benefits physiologically as well. I know myself; if I have a messy desk then my mind feels cluttered. I am not as productive when I sit down to work because I am surrounded with papers. A clear, uncluttered desk helps me think straight.
If you don’t have lots of clutter in your pantry, you won’t go and buy extra grocery items, thinking you need them. Often because of the clutter and lack of systems, clients will end up buying duplicate packets of food because they cannot find them in the pantry. They don’t have a set stop to store certain foods. It all just gets put in the pantry on different shelves and it starts to build up after a while.
With an organised wardrobe you will have a much better idea of what you actually need when you go shopping.
Good luck with clearing your clutter. Remember, be focused and have a plan of attack. If you find you need some assistance, then one of our clutter experts is only a phone call away. A free, no-obligation chat with us may be the first step you need to help you clear the clutter in your home and life.
by Natalie Morey | May 10, 2016 | Declutter tips, Home Office, Home Organisation, Office Organising, Tips
We were pretty chuffed to be included in this months edition of the Home Beautiful Magazine – 40 ways to get sorted.
As you know, we love to declutter and get our clients sorted. These clever out of the box storage ideas will help you declutter and restore order in the most stylish ways.
In the article, 40 ways to get sorted – Storage solutions for every room of the house, it gives lots of tips and solutions to help people get organised.
Whether you need to declutter and organise your hallway, need some stylish home office organising tips or need to organise your living room, there is some great storage solutions.
We hope you get some ideas or inspiration to get inspired and organised this February. To read the full article click here.
Happy Organising,
Natalie Morey
by Natalie Morey | Mar 21, 2016 | Declutter tips, Home Organisation, Tips
Hickson Hanger
Do you have clothing items you don’t wear just because you can’t find them in your wardrobe? Are you sick of trying to find a matching bra for your dress or top? Are you running out of hanging space? If you answered yes, then we have got the right hanger for you.
The multiple-garment Hickson Hanger will keep your wardrobe organised and saves you precious time. Fit up to 8 items on 1 hanger. Cost: $10.00
Under Bed Storage
Need more space to store stuff? This bed storage lets you keep things like duvets or winter clothes in under bed storage boxes or in a storage unit at the foot of your bed. So your things stay out of the way but still close at hand. Cost: $39.95
Skubb Storage Boxes
If chaos is king inside your drawers or wardrobe, the SKUBB storage series puts you back in charge. The boxes and hanging organisers come in different sizes which means you can divide your clothes, shoes and accessories so you find everything fast. The boxes also fold flat when not in use so you can store them away easily. The come in a range of colours including white, black, light green and pink. Prices range from $9.99.
Scarftastic
A two in one product which holds all your scarves or holds all your ties for him.
The Scarftastic has 8 rows to hold over 20 scarves or more than 40 ties. Cost $12.00
Valet
As a professional organiser I cannot help myself. I like to get my clothes already and ironed the night before work so I’m all organised in the morning. This little number is perfect for this. Keep your suits crinkle free and in ready-to-wear condition with this Valet.
The hanger is designed with its sturdy in-built coat hanger at the back for jackets and a rail for pants to drape over. Neat and petite this handy all in one hanger looks elegant in the corner of your master bedroom, guest room or office. Cost: $99.00
Boot Keeper Clip – White
As experts in wardrobe organisation we know that shoe storage can make a difference to your life; and now it’s easy to preserve your boots and keep them next-occasion-ready thanks to the Boot Keeper Clip.
Use the Boot Keeper Clip to keep your prized winter shoes upright, in-shape and wrinkle-free. When you’re not using your boots, simply hang the ring on a doorknob or store them neatly in the base of your wardrobe! Whether you store your shoes in your wardrobe, the garage or at the front entrance to your home, the Boot Keeper provides a clever, easy to use space saving storage solution. Cost: $14.95
Inflatable Boot support
As another alternative, Booty Shapers are an inexpensive and simple way to preserve your investment. Don’t leave boots bending and crumpled at the bottom of your cupboard or tossed into a corner.
Inflate the inserts to keep boots in shape when they’re not being worn. It’s that simple. They are also a great travel accessory as they prevent your boots from getting squashed in your suitcase and they are reusable and ideal for summer storage. They contour to shape the boot but won’t stretch the leather and best of all, it keeps your wardrobe neat and organised. Visit Howards for more details. Cost $9.95
by Natalie Morey | Mar 21, 2016 | Tips
An organised wardrobe
With the change in seasons, it’s the perfect time to declutter and organise your wardrobe with all your winter items. Here’s 10 tips to help get you started.
1. Set time aside to declutter. Depending on the size and state of your wardrobe, it may take a couple of hours to get it organised, so set some time aside – perhaps half a day.
2. What to keep. Ask yourself when was the last time I wore it? Did it make me feel amazing? Have I worn it in the last 12 months? If not, then perhaps it’s time to go.
3. Group like items together and colour code. Colour coding your wardrobe makes finding things easier. As part of the declutter process, hang your clothing within categories (i.e. all blouses together and then colour coordinate them from light to dark, then pants again colour coordinated from light to dark and so on.
4. Make more room in your wardrobe. Store out-of-season clothes in boxes up high or under the bed.
5. Maximise the space in your wardrobe Use the space (both above and below the hanging rod) to store more items.
6. Hooks are great. Hooks can create extra storage space when you hang them inside the closet.
7. First Impressions. Use colour coordinated hangers for a clean organised look. Then place all the items facing the same way so it looks neater. It is also easier to go through your wardrobe when they are stored like this.
8. Logically organised. Store your most-used items at eye level, less-used items below, and least-used items up high.
9. We love baskets. Group like items together in baskets. We use lots of the Skubb boxes from Ikea. They come in a heap of different sizes and shapes and are perfect for storing socks, underwear and small items etc.
10. Show off your shoes. Get rid of any cardboard shoe boxes which make it hard to see what’s in each box. Opt for clear, front-loading boxes like plastic drop-front translucent shoe boxes found at Howards.
by Natalie Morey | Nov 26, 2012 | Declutter tips, Home Office, Home Organisation, Office Organising, Tips
Christmas Organising
Now is the perfect time to get organised and make sure you write and mail your Christmas cards this year. Getting your Christmas cards out on time, only takes a little bit of forward planning, so what are you waiting for.
Tips To Get You Organised
Here are some of our key tips on making sure your Christmas cards get mailed this year.
- Type up your Christmas card list and keep it in a safe place so that you can refer to it (to add or delete names) year after year. I also put an asterisk next to any overseas addresses, as a reminder to post their card early.
- I find the easiest way to manage my Christmas Card list is in Excel. That way I can mail merge and print off addresses directly onto labels. You can also print directly onto the envelope, which saves you not only time but also the cost of the label.
- Create your own “return to sender labels” using labels purchased from Office Works. I have used http://www.coastallabels.com.au before and they were very quick and well priced. Also check out: https://www.thatsmine.com.au
- Set a date and plan to write your Christmas cards in the last week of November, because otherwise Christmas day will be here before you know it and that pile of blank Christmas cards will still be sitting on your desk.
- Christmas cards with ‘card only’ marked on the envelope can be posted at a reduced rate during November and December.
- Overseas mail at Christmas time takes longer to arrive. Plan ahead and arrange to send cards or presents in early to mid November, to avoid disappointments (and the very long queues at the post office).
- For great savings, buy Christmas cards, wrapping paper, ribbons and decorations at post-Christmas sales – you would be amazed how much you can save.
Until next time, happy organising.
Natalie Morey, Professional Organiser.
