The more I’m invited into people’s spaces to resolve their clutter issues, the more patterns I see. There seem to be 3 main enemies to getting organised;
1) Flat surfaces – Cupboards, shelves, sideboards, dining tables etc. When people use an item or come home with something new, it’s too easy to get into the habit of putting it on the nearest flat surface and dealing with it ‘later’. Before you bring home new items, you need to think about where it’s going to go. If it doesn’t have a home, maybe it shouldn’t come into the house?
2) Too much storage – This probably sounds odd, but ultimately the more storage you have, the more you’ll accumulate. Instead of buying more storage containers, pair down what you currently own to make space.
3) And now that I’ve said ‘too much storage’ the other issue is ‘not enough storage’. I’m shocked at how many homes don’t have linen closets. This usually results in people stashing linen in completely obscure rooms. I would suggest either purchasing a nice chest of drawers for a hall area or somewhere central and storing all the linen there. Otherwise, you can utilise high shelves in the wardrobe of each room and store the linen for that room in that room.