Before & After

JENINE AND MICHAEL, BALLARAT

Jenine and Michael’s home office needed some love… It became the dumping room for clutter from around the house, making it hard to get work done. It got to a stage when it was no longer enjoyable to work in… that’s when l stepped in.

BRIEF

To declutter and create two separate work stations, so they could both work in the office at the same time. To create an efficient, user friendly filing system for paper work. To repaint walls, current desk and shelving white. Purchase new desk, desk light, chairs etc in white to create a calm, relaxing environment.

THE STEPS

  • Step 1: Organise for walls and furniture to be painted white.
  • Step 2: Measure room and current furniture and draw up a new room plan. Include new desk and desk accessory recommendations.
  • Step 3: Purchase new desk, chairs etc once client signs off ideas
  • Step 4: Begin the physical declutter and reorganise… removing items that are no longer and use.
  • Step 5: Clean all surfaces and arrange furniture to new room plan.
  • Step 6: Sort through all paperwork and file into filing cabinet. Label folders and file in alphabetical order.
  • Step 7: Put all items away in logical spots and label all shelves and boxes.
  • Note: Labelling helps keep items organised… “a place for everything and everything in its place”.

JANE AND HAMISH, BALLARAT

Mother of three, Jane, was sick and tired of the boys’ messy toy room. The overflow of toys made it really hard to keep organised. She wanted the boys to start to keep their own space tidy. Her next phone call was to me. The brief… she wanted a well-organised space that the boys would enjoy. Favourite colours… red, blue and white!

THE STEPS

  • Step 1: To declutter the toys and give unused toys to charity.
  • Step 2: Create a ‘toy rotation’ system. All you need are some inexpensive tubs (Bunnings Warehouse are cheap!) and to put away half of the remaining toys. Label the tubs and put them out of the kids’ reach. Rotate the toys every month or so.
  • Step 3: Off to Ikea for some inexpensive storage, table and chairs. I picked up the rug in red to link the colour through and to create a central area for the table.
  • Step 4: Reorganise all remaining items. Put ‘like’ items together and put away. Label everything so the kids know where everything goes. No more excuses!

PAIGE AND HARRY, ARMADALE, MELBOURNE

The brief was simple here: ‘I want my spare room back!’

Paige and Harry’s spare room had been taken over; not by aliens but by clutter and lots of it! So many clients have the same problem: a spare room that becomes the dumping ground for everyone’s clutter. So my first words of advice – ‘A place for everything and everything in its place’. So simply… have a place for everything in your house, put things away and don’t let clutter accumulate.

THE STEPS

  • Step 1: We went through one item at a time… putting items into categories. E.g. ‘Like’ items together.
  • Step 2: We assessed all items. Paige decided the items she longer wanted and we then made new categories… Sell / Charity / Throw
  • Step 3: We put away all remaining items. E.g. Clothes in drawers, tools in shed etc.
  • Step 4: Made bed up with fresh linen for her guests who were coming to stay!


RACHAEL AND TOBY, ARMADALE, MELBOURNE

Like the spare room, the coat or entrance storage can become a dumping ground for everyone’s clutter. Rachael needed a solution for their coat/shoe cupboard. It was a great spot to store these items but it was such a mess you couldn’t find anything! My advice was to only store the bare essentials here and put rest of stuff away. Use it to store the items you need before you leave the house… e.g. favourite shoes and coat, a pair of gloves and a hat, one umbrella, a bottle of sunscreen, and your handbag etc.

THE STEPS

  • Step 1: Remove all items and reorganise into categories… shoes together, hats together, etc.
  • Step 2: Go through each category and decide what you would like to keep here… then put the rest away in your bedroom wardrobe etc.
  • Step 3: Use baskets and hooks to separate items, keeping ‘like’ items together.
  • Step 4: You could even label the shelves and baskets to help keep items organised!
  • Idea: If you have a few people to organise, you could even have one basket for each person. Or alternatively, use baskets to separate shoes, hats, etc, whatever you prefer!

JACK AND SARAH, BALLARAT

With a third baby on the way, Sarah and Jack needed to move the home office out (and into their bedroom) and the nursery in! The space needed to be well organised and easy to keep tidy. All we needed was a little declutter and a well thought out office plan…

THE STEPS

  • Step 1: Jack and Sarah wanted to use their current desk and chair, so first step was to measure the existing furniture and the room area.
  • Step 2: Draw up a floor plan including… the current desk and chair and some new furniture. They needed a good filing system, desk lamp, magazine holders (to house the magazine subscriptions) and a book shelf for books and to store the stationery supplies.
  • Step 3: It was off to Ikea, for some good, practical, inexpensive pieces.
  • Step 4: Set up and arrange furniture, declutter and reorganise paperwork and finally label filing and magazine holders. My favourite item of the moment is the Dymo Labeller… it’s so easy to use, love it! Cheapest price… Office Works!

REBECCA AND TOM, ARMADALE, MELBOURNE

“My kitchen is always messy. And when l eventually get around to cleaning it up no-one adheres to the system. What can l do?”, Rebecca.

A place for everything and everything in its place! I recommended Rebecca reorganise her kitchen by storing ‘like’ items together and using a labelling system to help keep it organised. Then there’s no excuse!

THE STEPS

  • Step 1: Remove everything from the pantry!
  • Step 2: Throw out any ‘used-by’ food.
  • Step 3: Clean all of the pantry surfaces.
  • Step 4: Organise food etc into categories… ‘Like’ items together.
  • Step 5: Put items away in their new categories. E.g. Cereals together, spreads together, tea and coffee together.
  • Idea: You could also buy a few containers or baskets to help keep items together and organised. E.g. One for tea bags, one for spreads etc.


NATALIE AND GAVIN, FOREST HILL, MELBOURNE

We had a great day reorganising Natalie and Gavin’s home office. The space had become cluttered and they no longer liked to work in there.

“Our study over the years had become a dumping ground for all sorts of things (filing, books, design samples, cables, hobbies and even tools from the shed crept in!), it was the only room in the house l didn’t want guests to see. I used this room to do creative freelance work and with it being so cluttered l didn’t enjoy spending time there at all. It felt so overwhelming.”

We needed to get this space back into shape! We simply had to remove the items that needed to be stored elsewhere… e.g. tools! Then it was a simple reorganise. I purchased some new storage boxes and a magnetic board from Ikea to help keep things in order. I finished up by labelling everything! This made it easier when putting items away… everything had a place.

“I love being in my new space, l can find everything easily and love having a few special items on display to enjoy. Thanks Declutterhome.”