31 Days to a calm, clutter-free home

Confession time: I am addicted to organisation blogs and could easily spend entire evenings browsing various organisation ideas and tips online, but despite this little habit of mine, I am not a very organised person. At all. But, with a baby on the way, the necessity for a calm and orderly home has become all the more apparent so when it came to making my new year's resolutions, it comes as no surprise that getting my home under control is at the top of my list. Baby's due date is today in exactly a month's time so I'm hoping that with any luck, he'll be just like his parents and arrive later than anticipated (much to the irritation of our friends and family, Mr and I are always late!), giving his mom the required 31 days to declutter our humble abode. The inspiration behind this project came to me via The Complete Guide to Imprefect Homemaking's fabulous 31 day series, which you'll find here. Like Kelly, I'll be tackling one project each day and blogging about it - mainly to keep myself motivated and accountable, but also to give you some ideas and tips for decluttering and organising your own home.

To start, I've identified a few key 'problem areas' in my home that I'll be focusing on - these are:

1. My kitchen - I'm still not entirely happy with the way it's been organised and feel that there must be a simpler, more efficient way to do so. This is probably the easiest room of the lot, but somehow I see this one being relegated to day 31... I am not a fan of the kitchen!
2. The scullery - you know you've reached adulthood when you have a scullery, but how on earth do you keep this room relatively spotless? It seems to be the one room in the house that accumulates the most clutter - that pile of grocery bags? Oh, just chuck them into the scullery. Unexpected guests and you still haven't done this morning's breakfast dishes? Scullery, it is! I'm determined to clean up and tidy out this room for good, thank you very much!
3. Our bedroom - I am the biggest hoarder known to womankind. I have a ridiculous pile of unread books waiting to be devoured next to my bed, and about 50 different foundations scattered across my dressing table. This room is a constant work in progress and it seems as though I'm reorganising and decluttering our bedroom on a weekly basis. It would be so nice to finally sort out this bedroom for good!
4. And on that note - our wardrobes. Or rather, the sad excuse for a wardrobe that we've both been forced to live with. They are teeny-tiny (no, really. Don't believe me? Post and pictures coming soooon), so we need a few clever storage solutions to help us deal.
5. The main bathroom - this is one room that is fairly organised. I already have a system in place, but considering we'll be sharing our bathroom with a baby in the next few weeks, it may be time for a few simple tweaks.
6. The 'landing strip' - No, I'm not referring to the pubic hair style favoured by Brazilians, but rather that little spot just inside your front door that tends to collect a pile of junk (and your handbag, keys, scarves, etc). I've wanted to fabulous little corner for this sole purpose for ages now, and Mr finally bought me a gorgeous, vintage display table to use - now it's time to organise this little spot.
7. Home office - No, I don't work from home but I'm desperate for a little corner of my own. Just a little spot where I can leave my magazines lying around, prop up my vision board and blog to my heart's content.
8. The spare room - This room has already undergone quite a big change over the December holidays, but I'd really like to finish it up and decorate it so it looks beautiful for any guests we may have in the upcoming months.
9. A make-shift linen cupboard - although rather big in terms of space, our house has virtually no storage space in comparison. As a result, I've had to use an old chest as a linen cupboard. Great in theory, but not entirely practical when you're 35 weeks pregnant and have to lift a heavy trunk lid to get fresh linen! I'm happy to keep the chest if I can't come up with any other options, but I'd like to reorganise and come up with a better system, if possible.
10. And then there is the question of beauty products. Despite going through my collection on a fairly regular basis, donating unused products and tossing the old, I still seem to be drowning under a pile of products. I know I shouldn't complain, and I've embraced the fact that, given my job and passion for beauty, I'll always have piles of products. My new goal, then, is to find a systematic way to organise and store said beauty products.

Over the next month, I'll be doing regular posts focusing on these areas, as well as any other problems I may encounter along the way. I'll also be doing posts on any clever storage solutions and organisation resources I may come across. My inner neat freak is doing her happy dance!


image: Pinterest