So here we are again, Lockdown 2.0 in Ireland. I don’t know about you, but I survived the first one, furiously getting the garden summer ready and enjoying the gorgeous Spring weather we had. This time, however, in Autumn and with Winter approaching, all eyes will turn to inside the home. Tackling some of those projects which, let’s face it have been put on the long finger.
Let me ask you a question. Do you have a Monica cupboard, or ten?! If you were a fan of the TV show Friends like me, you will remember how Monica was always obsessed with tidiness, but she had this one cupboard she’d shove all the clutter in to and you were most definitely not allowed to open it!!
Well, it’s no co-incidence my flatmates nicknamed me Monica when I house shared. I talk regularly on Instagram about tackling the Monica cupboard on our upstairs landing, a walk-in storage space you can nearly never actually walk in to! Sound familiar?
I’ve recently been watching some episodes of The Home Edit and Marie Kondo, and whilst we can’t all have American sized walk-in closets, we can still get creative with our storage solutions. It’s definitely inspired me to get cracking during these weeks of lockdown, to systematically go through each room, decluttering and making better use of the space we have.
So, when The Holding Company got in touch to share some of their innovative and most importantly, attractive storage solutions with me, I thought I’d pass on the knowledge and share some tips and tricks for a happier, organised home.
The Hallway Dumping Ground:
If you have kids, you undoubtedly have issues with all their shoes! I seem to remember we only ever had one pair as kids and of course the obligatory wellies. Nowadays kids seem to have shoes for all occasions, with them kicked off at the front door until a pile builds up! Add the odd bike helmet, football, sports rackets etc in-to the mix and you’ve quickly got a mess right as you come in the door.
I’m all about encouraging my kids to be responsible for their own belongings, so having storage for shoes at or as near as possible to the front door definitely helps to persuade them to actually tidy them away. We built our shoe rack out of reclaimed wood but if you aren’t the handy DIY type, then The Holding Company have some gorgeous racks and benches to choose from:
I particularly love their Chedworth benches, pictured here as you can label each child’s cubby hole so there’s no excuse for them not to follow the rules as to what goes where.
And for all those helmets and footballs? Having handy baskets, they can throw them in to as they get in the door is my essential hallway clutter defence tool. For similar to ours these definitely caught my eye.
The Seasonal Wardrobe Switch:
It seems to get a little later every year as our Autumns seem to get warmer, but I’m in the process of doing my dreaded seasonal wardrobe switch right now. For me keeping the seasons separate helps me to clearly see what I have and limit the 'what to wear' dilemma’s. Packing away summer and getting Winter ready is never my favourite way around, but needs must and I can put it off no longer!
Folding up all the summer t-shirts, dresses and shorts, to make space for cosy woollens. That’s when under-the-bed comes in to its own. It’s the perfect place to store them, for when you need easy access but not regularly.
Here I've used these storage bags, but I'm loving these brilliant under bed boxes which are a great investment and definitely on my wish list:
Or I often use suction bags to maximise space for the items like beachwear, I know I definitely won’t need access to until a summer holiday is on the cards. And who knows when they might happen again right now!
When it comes to draws, this is the place more than any other I find hard to keep organised, especially when it comes to the children.
Draw dividers like these are a brilliant way to stop them becoming a jumbled mess, enabling you to clearly see what’s inside and not rummage the piles! These draw dividers from The Holding Company are stylish as well as practical.
Then, of course, there’s the challenge of where to put all our shoes isn’t there ladies! Bringing out the winter boots and shoes, packing away the sandals and flip flops.
As we have very limited attic space being a dormer bungalow, these storage boxes for under the bed are a brilliant idea to hide away all the shoes you don’t need access to on a regular basis.
The Kitchen Clutter:
Lockdown 2.0 has spurred us in-to action to get our kitchen spruced up. Our tired kitchen units are getting a facelift, so it’s left me with no excuse but to clean and declutter the contents of each cupboard, throwing out-of-date contents that got shoved to the back!
Re-arranging them has given me some added incentive to make said 'shoved to the back' phenomenon a thing of the past. Using a system of baskets and boxes, means when you need to reach for spices, packet etc, you can simple pull a box out easily and find the thing you need with the closest dates to the front.
For similar try these containers from The Holding Company:
So, I hope this has inspired you to get winter ready and tackle some of your Monica spaces. Now I've blogged about it here, I have no excuse but to practice what I preach! 😉
Oh, and there’s one last tip I’ve found invaluable in the last few months, have a small basket by the front door for face coverings! It serves as the perfect reminder, so there’s no excuse for leaving home without one as you grab your keys!
Stay safe and happy organising treasures!!
Sarah 💚