Do This One Thing At Home For Greater Success In 2017
The turn of a new year always fuels the need to tidy! Try these tips to declutter your home for a clearer mind and greater productivity...
I don't know about you, but the turn of a new year always turns me in a compulsive declutter-er! Even if it takes me a month, I leave no cupboard unturned in my quest to be out with the old and in with the new. New stationery, wardrobe staples and storage containers purchased - and of course big black garbage bags for the masses of unwanted clothes going to charity, expired food going into the trash and bundles of recyclable fodder in the bin with the yellow lid. Have you been procrastinating? Here are some top tips to get you started on your own decluttering mission in some of the notoriously out-of-control spaces in your home.
Your Office
I don't know about you, but walking into Typo for me is akin to a little kid walking into a lolly shop! So who better than the good people at Typo to give us some top tips on how to transform our work space into a creative sanctuary - take note (pardon the pun!)
- Start the New Year as you mean to go on by organising your life and your desk. A pleasant and clutter free working environment could be the key to productivity and happiness at work. Ever heard the phrase “a clear space is a clear mind?” Well this could be key to your success in 2017. Surveys have shown that the more clutter you can see, the more easily you will be distracted and therefore the less productive you will be. Typo has a number of products to keep you organised from manila files and diaries to pencil cases and stationary boxes.
- Just because you are organised doesn’t mean your personal office space needs to be devoid of personality, quite the opposite in fact. How you decorate your desk (be it at in you home office or workplace) will show your clients and colleagues what sort of person you are and highlight your individual sense of style, something which may be lacking in a corporate environment.
- A sense of harmony is also important so you can also choose to decorate your new space with soothing candles which can also double up as statement pieces with slogans or stand out colours and prints.
- Whatever you decide to do with your new creative space, make sure it is your own and will help you to start the year in a positive light.
Your Wardrobe
As a personal stylist, I have the opportunity to help many women reorganise their wardrobe and rediscover their style identity in the process! Here are my top tips for decluttering your wardrobe.
- Go through your entire wardrobe and make three piles - KEEP, DONATE, REPAIR/TAILOR/DRYCLEAN.
- Reorganise everything you want to keep into style and arrange by colour. For instance I have sections for tees, tops, shirts, dresses, skirts, pants, jackets and then I arrange them by colour.
- Donate anything that's still in good condition but doesn't suit your style anymore or is ill-fitting. Throw out anything that is beyond repair, pilling or not able to be donated.
- Now is the time to address the ever-growing "To Be Repaired / Dry-cleaned Pile". It happens to the best of us, a button falls off, a zip breaks on your favourite piece of clothing or you spill something down your favourite dry-cleanable only dress and it sits in the back of your wardrobe in the 'To Do' pile - which never gets done. This is the time to pull out all those pieces, plus any other items that might need minor alterations to make them fit better A minor adjustment like taking up of the hem, tailoring a blazer or shortening a strap will breath new life into your pieces.
- Clean out your accessories and shoes! Donate anything that is in good condition, bin anything that is broken or irreparable and repair anything that is in good condition. Buy jewellery storage containers, hooks and plastic tubs and sort and store your jewellery neatly so it is accessible when you're getting dressed. Stylist tip: if your shoes have a leather sole or slippery sole, get them resoled immediately to prevent them from being damaged or you having a big spill! Always get shoes reheeled as soon as you notice them wearing.
Your Pantry
Besides a highly organised wardrobe, nothing makes me happier than a tidy and well-stocked pantry. I know it's not rocket science, but here are my top tips for getting your pantry ship-shape.
- Go through your entire pantry and bin anything past it's expiry date or that's gone stale from being left open too long
- Reorganise what's left - I like to group my items by type i.e.; cans, bottles, and jars, baking stores (flour, sugar, coconut, nuts etc) cereals / snacks / and cooking stores (pasta, rice, quinoa, polenta)
- Store any opened items in air-tight containers to keep them from going stale.
- Make a list of missing pantry stores and buy them on your next grocery shop.
