Pre motherhood I was a total hoarder of things, I was a clutter mouse and very happy to be so. Since having my son the sheer amount of 'things' in our house has started to make me feel a tad anxious. So at a few predictable times of the year I declutter. Last year I was ruthless, the tree was taken down on the 27th and bags were pilled for the charity shop the next day. I like to start the year with a clean organised space and I mean to go on this way (although this rarely happens).
As each season transitions I get the bug to 'declutter again' so with summer arriving I get itchy to 'simplify' my space again.
These are some of my top tips in doing so:
Every year I get ruthless about my clothes, I currently have seven much loved coats, which is probably as least five too many. Along with some dresses bought in sales last year and never worn (I know, I know!). I plan on photographing these in the next few days and uploading them on my Instagram account @tigerlillyquinn. I think social media is a much easier way of flogging your unwanted items and it's an added bonus sometimes that the person who is buying them is someone you know (I like to know my things are going to good homes).
Work on one room at a time. Currently I am working on sorting the living room out into an organised area. It's our largest room in the house and one we spend the most time in. We have roughly separated this into a lounge area, an eating area and working area. We use storage boxes in our lowest shelves and also a storage bench which doubles as a coffee table. I need to separate my son's toys to each box or things get too muddled and lost amongst each other. We currently have a Duplo box, a train set box, a softies box..you get the picture. It also helps to put away one set of toys before starting a different set although I'm not so good at enforcing this rule because what it the Duplo people want to hang out with the softies? Who am I to segregate them? I do think it's important that everything has a place though.
I also like to mix our storage solutions with new and vintage. We use a lot of IKEA furniture but we also collect vintage suitcases which make for perfect storage for things like building blocks and stickleback.
Running a shop means that the space under the stairs plus a large dresser in the living room are dedicated stock spaces. It's really important that these stay ordered for speed of packing orders but inevitably things get a bit messy! I plan on taking EVERYTHING out and re-ordering, labelling and keeping tidy for the new season. I think this can apply to the rest of the house also, especially the kitchen cupboards and dresser.
I think the best rule for me when decluttering is to have a plan and stick to it. my partner and I decided that our DVD's are no longer needed (bar a few Wes Anderson ones and the like) as we watch most our films through Netflix or similar. We have so many box sets that we are never ever going to watch again (24 anyone?) so these are all going to the charity shop to free up three shelves of much needed storage space. It's easy to get sentimental about things like this but in our case we haven't opened that cupboard in over a year so it's certainly time for them to go!
I think that's it! Do you have any tips for decluttering? I'd love to know!
Don't forget you can find more interior design tips on my blog