The Decluttering Tasks You Can Tackle in Half an Hour
We're delighted to share this guest blog by APDO member Hannah Young about bite-size decluttering tasks. Hannah is also a contributor for Houzz, the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device (Original article first published on Houzz)Got half an hour to spare? Spend it productively with these small organising jobs that will have a big effect:
A really thorough declutter and organising blitz should be done in short chunks over several weeks, but if you don’t have time for this there are still ways to get your home in order. These simple half-hour ideas will be perfect to help you organise the most visible and frequently used areas of your home, to make daily life that little bit easier.
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Photo by Anthony Edwards Kitchens[/caption]
Clear your kitchen surfaces
Kitchens can be a clutter magnet, with all sorts of things ending up on the worktop. Items that are used most days can be kept out if you prefer, but try to keep similar items together in attractive storage canisters. This means that multiple items become a single entity, which looks more streamlined, and it also makes cleaning underneath much easier.
Start by clearing all the surfaces in your kitchen – you may be surprised at how much you have accumulated. Think carefully about which items you want to display on the surfaces. A good tip is to keep only those items that you find beautiful, or that are used daily.Sift out items that you’re happy to let go of, and those that don’t belong in the room. The other items can be stored in cupboards and drawers out of sight.
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Photo by Neptune[/caption]
Streamline your toiletries
Gather together all your toiletries and cosmetics from around your home. Throw away or recycle anything that’s old. You can find out the shelf life of toiletries by looking for a number next to a picture of a pot. There are a few charities who specifically accept new and nearly-new toiletries and cosmetics, such as Give and Makeup. Check online to find organisations locally, too.As you go along, make note of which items you haven’t used, to ensure you avoid buying them again in the future.
Put items back in cupboards and on shelves and corral smaller things into pretty jars and baskets. This will keep them all together and make it easier to clean the bathroom.
Discover clever storage solutions for bathroom essentials[caption id="attachment_6028" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Photo by Schmidt Kitchens Palmers Green[/caption]
Sort the silverware
How many things in your cutlery drawer have ended up there without you realising? Set aside half an hour to completely empty the drawer and sort through everything that’s there. When the drawer is clear, give it all a thorough clean. This is a good time to replace an ill-fitting drawer divider with one that sits neatly, too.
Put aside any unwanted utensils, tools or cutlery to donate to your local charity shop or recycle at the local household waste centre. Then only put back what you want to keep, allocating a section for each type of item, including utensils and baking accessories. The roomy drawer divider pictured even has a section for clingfilm.
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Photo by Dura Supreme Cabinetry[/caption]
Investigate under the sink
Slide-out storage that fits in the awkward area underneath your sink is a great solution to avoid having half-used bottles of cleaning products festering at the back of the cupboard. A good immediate solution is a small box or two that you can pull out like a drawer to easily access products stored at the back.
There are so many single-purpose cleaning solutions available now that it’s easy to end up with zillions of products that are rarely used. With a few exceptions, multi-purpose cleaning products are the best option. And many people are now choosing chemical-free products, or microfibre cloths that can be used simply with water.
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Photo by LEICHT New York[/caption]
Hang up that broom
Broom cupboards can easily get out of control, with mops and brooms falling out every time you open the door. Keep things in order by hanging as much as you can from hooks on the wall. It’s then easy to locate the cleaning implement you need, and to pop it away securely.
Hanging pockets or baskets like those pictured are also a great way to organise your cleaning products, keeping them up high out of the reach of pets and children. Allocate a basket for your cleaning cloths, too. Storing them in this way has the added benefit of allowing them to dry and air between uses.
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Photo by Sims Hilditch[/caption]
Post your mail
Do you have somewhere to put the post in your home? Or do you end up finding unopened mail in random places? A post and stationery station will hopefully make it easier to deal with your incoming letters.
You won’t be able to create a recessed area like this in 30 minutes, but you can easily invest in some wall-mounted pockets or box files. Remember to label each box in a way that works for you. A good place to start is by having a slot for each of the following categories: mail in, to action, to file, mail out.
Tackle the desk
If you need to work from home, it helps to have a clear desk space and everything you might need close to hand.
Before you organise, you’ll need to try out all your pens and chuck any that don’t work. Donate any duplicate tools to charity. Make a note of what you tend to over-buy and put it on your ‘no-need-to-buy’ list.
Utilise shelves for books or relevant files and hang up a pocket tidy to keep all your stationery items in order. If you’ve space for a drawer to hold pens and other stationery essentials, a great way to keep it in order is to use a cutlery tray to compartmentalise different items.
Check out these tidy work spots for small spaces[caption id="attachment_6033" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Photo by California Closets[/caption]
Sift your socks
A whole wardrobe declutter can be a daunting prospect, but tackling your socks and tights is a perfect place to start. In fact, professional organiser Vicky Silverthorn advises clients to “start with your sock drawerâ€