Reorganise for a relaxing home

Home. A sanctuary. Our safe haven. Shelter, in good times and bad. For me, home is represented both by my family, and by the physical structure in which we live. I love my house; but it is only home because the people I care about live there with me. Home will always be wherever they are; it is important to me that our surroundings are comfortable, family-friendly and easy to live in, so we can get on with playing and having fun together. If I could sum up my home style in one word, I would choose "relaxed". What word best describes your home? Is it a calm place... or is it fun, busy, chaotic or perhaps even stressful?

Have you ever arrived home and paused on the threshold with a feeling of dread? Fearing what awaits you on the other side of the door - a whirlwind of papers, a pile of washing, an endless to-do list. My goal when working with clients is to help them create their dream home environment; I do this through decluttering (clearing out the things that overwhelm them), reorganising spaces to maximise the efficiency of their home, and introducing simple systems that help them spend less time battling the mess and chaos, and more time on the things that matter most to them.

One of my favourite techniques is an oldie but a goodie - the simple notion of there being a place for everything, and everything in its place. It is such a simple idea, but really can be transformational for disorganised and stressful homes. By giving our possessions a home of their own, it becomes easy for the whole household to put things away "where they belong". Keys go in the key bowl, shoes go in the closet, toys go in the toy basket, and so it continues. To minimise the tidy up at the end of each day, encourage the whole family to tidy as they go. If you have kids, make a game of it - whenever something is put down where it doesn't belong, point out the mess magnet and encourage them to put it away properly, immediately. I'm sure you'll find the kids will cotton on quickly and LOVE catching their parents out - "mess magnet" will become your family's battle cry!

I firmly believe home should be a place that makes us say "aaaahhhh" instead of "argh". With some simple ideas and a bit of discipline, your home can be transformed into a place that will have bounding across the threshold with relish, every single day.

This article was originally published in the April 2019 edition of Channel Magazine, a publication I proudly write for each month.

Cover photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash