The Importance of Organisation

How decluttering will help your home, health and happiness.

How many of us get to the weekend, would love to spend that precious time relaxing, but instead have to spend a big chunk of it tidying and cleaning our homes? It feels like the last thing you want to do – it’s not called ‘chores’ for nothing!

But what if you could do something that would not only cut down on your cleaning time, but also make you happier, more energised, less-stressed and even help you to sleep better? Who wouldn’t want that? Well, we have one word for you: organisation. If you declutter and organise your home the benefits are huge.

A 2010 study published in the scientific journal ‘Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin’, found that people with cluttered homes had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It also found that those in messy environments were more likely to be depressed and fatigued. In 2011 researchers at Princeton University found that clutter makes it more difficult to focus on a particular task, therefore cutting productivity. And another study found people who made their beds in the morning were more likely to sleep better at night.

Not only that, but it has been proven that a tidy and organised home means you are more likely to eat healthier, stick to your workout goals and even boosts your relationship. It all makes sense when you think about it. Clutter creates stress, which means you are more likely to pick comfort foods over healthier alternatives, less likely to feel motivated to work out, and more likely to argue with your partner over the cleaning and trying to locate lost items.

So how can you organise your home to achieve a stress-free haven? We have compiled a handy checklist for you:

• Purge

Let go of the clutter and be ruthless.  Go through your home and ditch everything that doesn’t help you to function or make you very happy. Remember also to focus on using the space you have. So, if your wardrobe is bursting at the seams, don’t hold onto things dreaming one day you will have a bigger wardrobe, get rid of the clothes you never wear so that they then fit the space you have available.

• Everything in its place

Once you have de-cluttered then turn your attention to what is left and organise it. Install shelving where you need it, Freestanding Chrome Wire Shelving Units could be the simple answer which can easily accommodate Storage Boxes, label these according with their contents to make future hunting an easy find.  For areas you’d rather not have everything on show, add a Cover to your unit for privacy and added protection. A more practical solution might be Adjustable Wall Shelving, using just one lone shelf or perhaps a multitude of shelves at varying heights to create a wall of storage space.
Go through every room and see what you need to make items easy to store and readily accessible. So for example, the bedroom can be organised with space saving shoe organisers, and you can tidy away seasonal items in vacuum storage bags. Being smart about kitchen organisation, means you can even have your very own pantry (Read more on our separate blog ‘Creating an Organised Pantry’. Another useful piece of advice is to store things where you use them. It sounds simple but many people miss this valuable time-saving tip.

• Put things away

This is great opportunity to give the odd piece of clothing, accessory or home furnishing that you thought you’d lost but still love a chance for a quick refresh with a clothes steamer and return it back to its home neatly. For those that need a deeper clean, it’s off to the laundry basket! Once you’ve organised everything, you need to make sure it stays that way. Every time you get something out, put it away afterwards. Even if you think you will use it again later, still put it away. That way you can find it easily later if you need it, and it’s tidied away if you don’t. One useful mantra is ‘never leave a room empty handed’. And don’t forget to make your bed as soon as you get up in the morning.

• Cleaning schedule

To avoid spending hours every weekend cleaning, spread it across the week instead with a cleaning schedule. Clean the bathrooms one day, vacuum the next, dusting another day. Then plan in the deeper clean things once a month, like wiping skirting boards, and moving furniture to clean under it. Set a schedule to suit you – be realistic about what you can do when, keep it in small manageable chunks, that way you will be more likely to stick to it.

If you do all of these things, you will reap the rewards, and have more time to relax and enjoy the comfort of your home.

If you would like advice on easy shelving and practical storage solutions to suit your home, please do get in touch, we’d be happy to help.