Refresh Your Space: Declutter and Organise Your Home This Autumn

It’s that time of year again when the (Northern Hemisphere) kids go back to school and we all start afresh. I don’t know about you but I always see September as time to start a new routine, have a good clean up and sort out my home. I get that this is what people also feel after new year but I just don’t. At that stage of winter I’m just not ready to be making any grand cleaning and organising plans as it just doesn’t fit with the snuggling in blankets and drinking hot chocolate that I reserve for awful January. So, today I’m going to share with you some of my favourtite ways to declutter and organise your home this autumn (or fall for our American friends!)

Pantry/kitchen Organisation

Gee, I live for a well organised pantry well and my go to is always a variety of different glass jars to decant all your pasta, flour, rice etc in to. Some may say it’s a bit of a faff but this way you can see what you have left which will save you time when prepping for a food shop. I always recommend having larger baskets as well for packets and things that don’t stack well. The shelves can also hold all your tins but obviously that’s not as aesthetically pleasing especially if the pantry is open to the kitchen so in that instance I’d have solid doors on the bottom cupboards rather than the glass shown here to hide anything you don’t want on show and save the shelves for the pretties.

Wardrobe/closet organization

With the seasons changing now is the time to go through your clothes and start to take away summer items and add your autumnal, warmer clothes back in. If you’re anything like me this means the joy of vacumm packing and these are a great option as there’s multiple sizes. Whilst you’re at it you can go through everything and decide if there’s stuff you’re just not wearing anymore or never really suited you and get rid be that through selling on Vinted, passing to a friend or donating to charity there’s loads of ways to offload the old clobber!

I love it when all the hangers are the same in a closet and really like these velvet hangers. Velvet is good because of the texture, meaning clothes don’t slip off as easily or move around on the hanger as much which leads to less creasing (I’ll basically do anything to avoid the ironing!)

Lots of people have IKEA pax wardrobes hacked to look bespoke and built in but the beauty of these is really the inserts and layout options which are hugely versatile whatever you want to store. Even if you don’t have IKEA ones it would be worth checking out drawer dividers like these from Amazon. I have them at mine and they are totally fabulous for separating underwear drawers particularly and I do love the smug feeling knowing my drawers are in order.

Home Office Organization

I’m loving a built in home office situation these days and with that I think multiple storage options are best. Think having drawers, cupboards and shelves. That way you have the correct storage options for each thing you need be that papers, stray pens or books. At this time of year I like to go through my papers a shred anything I don’t need, check all my pens and stationary for ones that no longer work and get rid of those and organise my desk drawers in to sections so I have all the bits I used regularly to hand.

I find it much easier to get my head around working once my office space and desk are clear and organised - tidy home, tidy mind and all that! In all honesty since I began working from home and sharing the office with my husband the office space has got a little cluttered and we could definitely do with some solutions for storing things and a new desk set up. I can’t wait to get it all sorted and be working somewhere which is organised down to a tee and feels slightly calmer!! Even as an Interior Designer my spaces aren’t perfect.

Another thing I like to keep on top of, although this might be more aspirational that real, is digital storage. So at this time of year I take my time to go through all my computer files and neaten them up, delete duplicates and get my file naming conventions in order. This really makes for a an easier working day where I can find things and crack on with important tasks.

Kids room Organization

Now they are safely back at school and out the way I find September a really good time to declutter their spaces. Mine are total hoarders and letting go of anything is a drag for them, even things they are too old for. Now I’m not completely callous here and will get them to help as much as I can by getting them to pile things into keep, sell or donate piles so they have some autonomy and I do find the key to this is to get rid of stuff quick so they can’t change their minds!

For all the things that they do still want and need I find baskets are my friend - I love H&M home for this particularly this cute little one that you can hang on a peg rail or these which we use for soft toys. I also recently discovered the joy of a beanbag you can buy empty and stuff with all your spare bedding and towels! I do love a product that kills two birds with one stone. I’ll link that here (we went for unicorns at my kids request but you can search for other designs to suit your space.)

Storage is always so key for kids and I do think it’s worth making the most of every inch and getting something built in if you can to really get everything away and give them the space to play and go wild.

Hopefully this has given you some inspiration to declutter and organise your space this September,

Happy new school year,

Claire

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