How To Declutter & Organise Your Home For 2023

A new year is a time for new resolutions and to introduce positive habits into your everyday routine. A great way to start this is through decluttering and organising any piles of unsightly mess - after all, a tidy home makes a tidy mind! But where do you start without overwhelming yourself? Fear not, our home experts at Northern Willow are here to help! In this article we outline some of the best decluttering tips for different areas of your home.

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How To Organise Your Kitchen Cupboards

How To Organise Your Wardrobe

How To Organise Your Baby Clothes & Drawers

How To Organise Your Bathroom

So, what are some of the most effective ways to declutter and organise your home? Start by organising your clutter into piles of keep, donate and throw away - be strict with yourself here, if you don't need it, don't keep it! After that step is complete, invest in quality and stylish storage solutions to help you maximise your space. We love using plastic bins or wicker baskets for a more sustainable solution. Once completed, invest ten minutes every day into tidying away items and maintaining your hard work!

Read on to find out more about our top tips on how to declutter your home ready for the new year and how our sustainable, stylish range of basket ware from Northern Willow can help you do this. 

So, What Does Being Organised Mean & Why is it Important?

Organisation is defined by the dictionary as an individual who is able to ‘plan things carefully, keep things tidy, and work effectively’. This essentially means you can be ‘organised’ in several areas, but often one area organisation can lead to the other. 

For example, by keeping your physical space organised, with everything tucked away in a certain place, you will have to spend less time looking for things and therefore have more time to focus on more important tasks - such as spending quality time with family and friends. The organisation not only increases productivity but can also help:

• Reduces stress and getting overwhelmed
• Creates a positive sense of balance within a home
• Can make your space feel cleaner, and you may enjoy spending time in your home more
• Gives you clarity of mind when approaching a task
• Creates better time management within your life, enabling you to meet deadlines
• Saves you money - you might not need to replace an item if you could actually find it!

Our Top Tips For Decluttering

Organising can be a daunting task, especially when a disorganised space can feel like opening a large can of worms. We’re all culprits in procrastinating and avoiding the task, particularly when we don't know where to start in the first place. But fear not, we're going to highlight our top tips on how you can manage your mess and declutter areas around your homes.

How To Organise Your Kitchen Cupboards

The kitchen can become very messy, very easily. When you are constantly cooking or baking, items such as spices, pots and pans and cutlery can end up spread across your space. A kitchen should be functional, and somewhere you look forward to entering, not a source of stress when you can’t find the right oil! A great simple layout to organising your kitchen can be:

1. Remove any expired food and any unwanted kitchen utensils- if you don't need them you don't need to waste time organising them!
2. Empty your kitchen cupboards and give them a good wipe-down with some hot, soapy water, removing any residue or crumbs that might be in there.
3. Next, take any large items that you don't use every day, this might be something such as a mixing bowl, and place them away in your kitchen cupboards rather than letting them clutter limited counter space.
4. Maximise your cupboard space by organising items into categories such as dry foods in one cupboard, utensils in another and so forth. Also, try and put items that are complementary near to each other so for example, you might want to place utensils near the even as you will often need them as part of the cooking process.
5. A final step is to add organisation products that can help to increase your cupboard space. This can include products such as cutlery holders, basket trays, bread baskets and a myriad of other kitchen storage products that can be adapted to suit your needs.

How To Organise Your Wardrobe

A wardrobe is one of the most important places to try and keep organised and functional, especially on those mornings when you're running late and can’t find your other shoe! For wardrobes, the trick is to be able to physically see everything so you can immediately find the style, colour or pattern of an item you're looking for. We’ve highlighted a simple outline to get you started and get your wardrobe looking fabulous:

1. Start by organising your wardrobe items into four piles: keep, donate, sell and throw away.
2. After you’ve done this, organise your clothes, shoes and accessories by category and then by colour. This will make everything not only look neater, but easier to see when getting ready.
3. Use your space wisely, and invest in the right organisation equipment. Wicker storage baskets and non-slip hangers are a great way to not only maximise your space but also add a touch of class and style.
4. A great idea as well is to use vacuum bags and pack away any seasonal items that are taking up unnecessary space. Just before winter time, pack all those swimming costumes away or perhaps save space in summer by vacuum-packing large knitted jumpers and winter coats.

How To Organise Baby Clothes & Baby Drawers

Babies are notorious for creating mess and clutter and it can be difficult (and timely!) to try and organise this, but a great place to start is by creating a system. This way it might not always look aesthetically perfect, but at least you’ll know where everything is when you’re trying to rush out of the door. An easy method to begin organising baby clothes and baby drawers is;

1. Begin by organising any clothes or items that are no longer needed or no longer fit, these can either be donated to recycling. 
2. Next group the remaining items by category, this could include groups such as baby grows, pyjamas and even formal outfits.
3. After this, organise the clothes and shoes by size, this shows you exactly what you have and can save you from any unnecessary purchases. If your baby hasn’t quite reached a certain size yet, vacuum these clothing items and store elsewhere.
4. Once this is completed, designate a drawer or section of the wardrobe to a specific group of items, this could mean a drawer for onesies and another drawer for nappies. 
5. To really use your space efficiently use items such as basket trays to organise and divide items within the drawer. You could even make labels for each drawer and wardrobe highlighting what is inside for easier organisation. 

How To Organise Your Bathroom

The bathroom is one of the most used rooms in a home. Because of this, your bathroom can quickly slip into clutter and disarray - but it doesn't always have to be like this. A functional and clean bathroom is easily achievable especially if you follow our top tips:

1. Start by throwing away any expired products, empty bottles, cosmetics, toilet rolls and any other rubbish that may have accumulated over time.
2. Whilst your shelves are empty, give them a thorough wipe down. 
3. Next, organise any products you have in your bathroom into categories, this could be beauty products, shaving products and even spare toothbrushes. Place these items into storage containers and place labels onto them highlighting what's inside, this makes it easy and accessible for everyone to see exactly where everything is.
4. Purchase a functional, yet stylish laundry basket, such as those stocked on our website. This stops piles of unsightly laundry from building up on the bathroom floor. 
5. Another common organisation problem is piles of toilet paper. A great way to store this is by placing it into a large toilet roll holder. This means it's tucked away but still available when needed. 
6. Finally, do a weekly spritz and tidy up your bathroom to prevent creating an overbearing task. If you live in a home where there are a few of you, you could even create a weekly cleaning charter.

Having an organised space is key to a space that helps you feel relaxed and at peace - or in other words a sense of hygge. If you'd like to find out how you can make your space feel cosy and calm, why not read one of our recent articles - 'What is Hygge & How Can You Hygge Your Home?'

Quality Storage Solutions From Northern Willow

At Northern Willow, we’re a family-owned business, so we understand the importance of keeping the busy home environment functional while still remaining stylish. That's why we offer a range of excellent, quality storage solutions for all areas of the home from the kitchen, to the bathroom and even the outdoor areas. Not only this but we ship UK-wide, with free shipping available on every order for ultimate convenience!

If you have any questions about our products, please feel free to contact one of our friendly team members via the contact us page or by email, we’re always happy to help.