HOW TO GET ORGANISED AND KEEP IT THAT WAY

By Aidel Pinesr

A lot of people find the thought of getting unpacked and organised after a move stressful and overwhelming. At Spaceover, we start the process of getting you organised before you even start packing so that moving is a dream and you'll be organised and settled into your new home quickly. Organising services are available for homes & offices throughout London. You can find us online at www.spaceover. co.uk, email us on info@spaceover.co.uk, contact us on 07786 281 138, or check out our Instagram @spaceoveruk. Designing useful and effective storage when planning your home is an important first step, and will go a long way to ensuring that your beautiful new space will be as tidy and as organised as you dreamt it would be. Once you move in, The key to getting and staying organised is not just having enough storage space, but also managing that storage properly. Contrary to popular belief, this does NOT involve running out to buy a bunch of containers! Rather, it involves pointers, like giving items a home that makes sense, using effective organising products and going through your items every so often to make sure you really need everything that you have. (Yes, the dreaded declutter word – sorry!) The process of organising is the process of managing your storage. The steps outlined below can be used on any space in the house; it stays the same whether you’re organising a drawer or a whole room. If you’re moving soon, you’ll be one step ahead by doing the first few steps before or as you pack, so that you don’t even have to wait for your new house to become disorganized before tackling it! Step 1: Declutter

This is the very first step to take any time you run into an organising problem. Whether you’re trying to make more space in the kids’ wardrobe or playroom, or just getting the junk drawer sorted once and for all, sorting through each item and making a decision on whether it stays or goes has to be the very first thing you do. I’m not saying you need to be a minimalist, just a realist. No one needs 3 sets of meaty measuring spoons, no matter who bought it for you or how new the set is. You have permission to get rid of things that are still in good condition if you don’t use them. If you’re packing, this is the perfect time to be making these decisions since you’re literally touching all your items anyway. Don’t pack things that you don’t need - you don’t need that extra baggage in your new house.

It’s one thing to know that you need batteries and candles and wooden spoons. But you’d never keep them together! Categorising your items – all your items – into sections, is how you start to find homes that makes sense. It’s also what you need to do before you run out to buy boxes! How you categorise your items will differ depending on what you have and how you and your family use them. Some examples include: Grouping outdoor toys together (skipping ropes, balls etc), separating Shabbos silverware from silverware used only on Yom Tov, or having a category called ‘memories’ for special cards and pictures. Think about when and how you use your things to help you decide how best to categorise them. At the same time, think about where you use them. This will help you decide where to store them. This is what I mean by a home that makes sense.

If you’re doing this while packing (a huge time saver), you can use Ziploc bags or separate packing boxes to pack each category. If your cupboards are already installed in the new place, you might even be able to do the next step already, and go out and buy the containers you’ll be using. Pack them straight into there so that unpacking will be quick and easy.

Step 3: Measure

Now that you’ve decluttered and categorised, you can start thinking about boxes and containers. Wait! Don’t go running out just yet! If you want to avoid the hassle of returns, frustration at still not having the right products, and the possibility of your categories getting mixed up because it’s taking too long to get containers, then do this first. Measure your cupboard or drawer. Measure again. Then check the measurements of the boxes you want to get. And check it again. Go back to the cupboard. How many boxes can you fit on the shelf? Will there be dead space at the end? Are the boxes big enough for the categories you’ve made? Small enough? This is the part a lot of people don’t like. But numbers don’t lie and space is finite. If you want this to work properly, take the time to check all the details before you start ordering. Put the work in now and then once those containers arrive, it’ll be a piece of cake to throw your categories in - and bingo! A beautifully organised cupboard.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t used to label my things. And although I had to keep reorganising them, I didn’t realise why. Then I started labelling, and everything changed. There was no more thinking! I didn’t have to take even a second to recall where to unpack baking items after shopping. Moreover, categories didn’t get mixed up anymore because everyone could see what’s what. If you find yourself reorganising often, labelling is often what’s missing. I’ve seen beautifully organised cupboards stacked with neat containers, and clients telling me that it’s not working. Do you know why? Because there were no labels on the containers, so they had to think and look inside each one to find what they needed. A simple label would solve the problem. Label everything. Even in a drawer with dividers that seem self-explanatory, give labelling a go. There will be that much less thinking involved when looking for something or putting things away. In short, DO NOT MISS THIS STEP!

So there you have it. Four steps to organising any space. Take it slow and do one small space at a time so that you don’t get overwhelmed, and before you know it, you really will be living in the house of your dreams! Here are three of my favourite organising products that will give you a head start on organising your house: Long Baskets

If you have a deep pantry or cupboard, this is your friend! It maximises the space towards the back of the shelf and then will function like a drawer – just pull the basket forward and you’ll pull forward everything with it. You can find the above at https://amzn.to/3o3DPKe. Turntables

Every kitchen I’ve organised has at least one of these. Aside from transforming your cooking prep by keeping all your oils and little spices bottles easily accessible, these are also really useful on higher shelves. Just a quick spin and you can access anything that’s up there without stretching a muscle! Buy yours at https://amzn. to/3ktN063 Really Useful Boxes

These sturdy boxes come in a wide range of sizes, making them ideal storage for toys, crafts, stationary, tools or in the garage or loft. No, they’re not cheap but these will last! Available at shorturl.at/dsGJP.

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