THE BIG PICTURE
ALLOCATE AND CONQUER If you arrive home and find yourself chucking your keys, phone, mail and bag at any random space, do this: set aside space or shelves near your home or room entrance for them. And put them at the same place every time as soon as you come home.
REACH IT EASILY The golden rule for organising your cupboards, kitchen cabinets and wardrobes: place the most commonly used items in the most accessible space (usually the middle shelves or those at eye level), and the rest on higher or lower ones.
LABEL, LABEL, LABEL Label your shelves or drawers or have a checklist of all your storage places and what’s in them, to remind you of where your things are. Use details like “Tech – cables and adaptors” and “Craft – ribbons and stickers”, so it’s easy for everyone in the family, especially the kids, to put everything back in the right places.
IN THE BEDROOM
ROLL ’EM UP Roll up your towels like a log and adjust the height of your wardrobe shelves to about 10cm high to store them. It’s easier to take them out than if they were stacked up.
SWITCHING SIDES Slot folded clothes sideways into a drawer. “It makes every garment visible and accessible, and gives me 25 to 30 per cent more space. I use dividers to separate tees from tank tops, or to organise by colour,” says Georgina Wong, owner of Asian Professional Organisers.
SOUND ASLEEP Fold sheets neatly and place them into their corresponding pillowcases so it’s easy to find each set.
WINTER WHERE? Vacuum pack winter gear into storage bags (available from stores like Daiso and Howards Storage World) and store them in your luggage. Pack in a charcoal sachet (from Daiso) to absorb any musky odours.
STACK AND STORE Love your jewellery? Stack bracelets onto a kitchen towel holder – it makes a pretty sight on your dressing table too.
IN THE KITCHEN
SEEK THE SQUARES The next time you buy food containers, go for the clear and squarish ones instead of opaque round ones – they take up less space in the cabinet and fridge, and let you see what’s inside.
FORGET IT NOT Keep a roll of masking tape and a marker in the topmost kitchen drawer, so you can label containers to mark what you keep inside.
KEEP IN SIGHT Place leftovers at eye level in the fridge so they don’t get forgotten.
SIZE IT DOWN Tuck large plastic bags in plastic bag dispensers and small ones in an empty tissue box – sorting them out by size makes it easier to find what you need.
IN THE STUDY
DRAWERS FOR DOCS If you don’t have time to file documents like warranties, credit card bills and insurance documents, chests of short drawers (available from Muji and Ikea) are useful for organising documents. Go through them once every six months to recycle or discard what you don’t need to keep.
STICK THEM ON Attach a magnetic knife rack to the inside of your drawer with strong double-sided tape and let it hold loose bobby pins and paper clips.
TACKLE JUNK MAIL“I have a huge laundry bag outside my house and make it a point to separate my mail before I step inside. Junk mail immediately goes in,” says Georgina.
IN THE KIDS’ BEDROOM
STATIONERY STATION Use a cutlery tray to sort out pens, pencils, colour pencils, markers, crayons and any other stationery. One with deep compartments (available from Tott) is great if you have lots to keep. Place it in an accessible drawer and get the kids to pop in their stray pens in there consistently.
CRAFT CONTROL Dedicate a corner to your kids’ art and craft projects. Display the nicest pieces, and for the rest, take pictures of them before relegating them to the recycle bin.
BIN THERE Have two or three bins in your kid’s room – one for bigger plush toys, the other for medium-sized toys and a small one for things like toy cars and Lego pieces, and make it a habit to get kiddo to return all her toys into them at the end of the day.
REUSE AND STORE!
BRIGHT IDEA For spare bulbs without their original packaging, place them in a shoe box lined with bubble wrap, and pack crushed paper between each one to protect them.
THE ODD ONES Zip-lock bags of different sizes are great for storing irregularly shaped tech spare parts like adaptors and cables. Or use empty toilet rolls or kitchen rolls to bundle them in, then line them vertically into a tall drawer. Label the bags and paper tubes so you remember what each spare part is for.
This article was originally published in Simply Her's November 2014 digital edition. For more exclusive stories found in our digital magazine, click here to subscribe: http://bit.ly/1xx3IAP