5 ways to declutter the mess in your bedroom

image credit:  ninamalyna 

1. THE BIG PICTURE

ALLOCATE AND CONQUER

If you arrive home and find yourself chucking your keys, phone, mail and bag at any random space, do this: set aside space or shelves near your home or room entrance for them. And put them at the same place every time as soon as you come home.

REACH IT EASILY

The golden rule for organising your cupboards, kitchen cabinets and wardrobes: place the most commonly used items in the most accessible space (usually the middle shelves or those at eye level), and the rest on higher or lower ones.

LABEL

Label your shelves or drawers or have a checklist of all your storage places and what's in them, to remind you of where your things are. Use details like "Tech – cables and adaptors" and "Craft – ribbons and stickers", so it's easy for everyone in the family, especially the kids, to put everything back in the right places.

2. IN THE BEDROOM 

ROLL 'EM UP

Roll up your towels like a log and adjust the height of your wardrobe shelves to about 10cm high to store them. It's easier to take them out than if they were stacked up.

WINTER CLOTHES

Vacuum pack winter gears into storage bags (available from stores like Daiso and Howards Storage World) and store them in your luggage. Pack in a charcoal sachet (from Daiso) to absorb any musky odours.

SOUND ASLEEP

Fold sheets neatly and place them into their correspondng pillowcases so it's easy to find each set.

STACK AND STORE

Love your jewellery? Stack bracelets onto a kitchen towel holder – it makes a pretty sight on your dressing table too.

3. IN THE KITCHEN

SEEK THE SQUARES

The next time you buy food containers, go for the clear and squarish ones instead of the opaque round ones – they take up less space in the cabinet and fridge, and let you see what's inside.

FORGET IT NOT

Keep a roll of masking tape and a marker in the topmost kitchen drawer, so you can label containers to mark what you keep inside.

KEEP IN SIGHT

Place leftovers at eye level in the fridge so they dont get forgetten.

4. IN THE KIDS' BEDROOM

CRAFT CONTROL

Dedicate a corner to your kids' art and craft projects. Display the nicest pieces, and for the rest, take pictures of them before relegating them to the recycle bin.

BIN THERE

Have two or three bins in your kid's room – one for bigger plush toys, the other for medium-sized toys and a small one for things like toy cars and Lego pieces, and make it a habit to get kiddo to return all her toys into them at the end of the day.

STATIONERY STATION

Use a cutlery tray to sort out pens, pencils, colour pencils, markers, crayons and any other stationery. One with deep compartments (available from Tott) is great if you have lots to keep. Place it in an accessible drawer and get the kids to pop in their stray pens in there consistently.

5. IN THE STUDY

DRAWERS FOR DOCS

If you don't have time to file documents like warranties, credit card bills and insurance documents, chests of short drawers (available from Muji and Ikea) are useful for organising documents. Go through them once every six months to recycle or discard what you don't need to keep.

TACKLE JUNK MAIL

"I have a huge laundry bag outside my house and make it a point to separate my mail before I step inside. Junk mail immediately goes in," says Georgina.

STICK THEM ON

Attach a magnetic knife rack to the inside of your drawer with strong double-sided tape and let it hold loose bobby pins and paper clips.

This story was first published in the digital edition of Simply Her November 2014.