Category: Blog

Autumn Decluttering Made Easy: 9 Practical Tips for Busy Families

Transform your home this Autumn with these quick and easy decluttering tips, perfect for busy families looking to create a calm and cosy space for the colder months ahead!

As the leaves are starting to turn golden and the weather becomes wetter here in the UK, your family will start to spend more time cosying up inside. Autumn is the perfect time to refresh and reorganise your home to ensure that it continues to work for your family over the coming months. For busy families, finding the time to declutter can feel overwhelming. But with a few practical tips, you can transform your living space into a cosy, clutter-free haven. In this blog, I’ll share eight simple and effective decluttering tasks that you can fit into your today-to-day life. You can create a warm and inviting home just in time for the colder months.

It can feel overwhelming when you feel that you have so much to tackle so let’s break down your decluttering efforts into small tasks that you can tackle one step at a time.

Blog Contents:

  1. Start with the Hallway
  2. Kitchen Clear Out
  3. Seasonal Wardrobe Swaps
  4. Tidy Up the Living Room
  5. Bedroom Refresh
  6. Bathroom Blast
  7. Toy Tidy
  8. Paperwork-Purge
  9. “One-In, One-Out” Rule

9 Practical Tips for Busy Families

1. Start with the Hallway

  • Create convenient homes for heavier coats, boots and umbrellas. Put away light jackets and summer shoes to make space for winter wear
  • Use containers or hang tote bags for easy storage of hats, gloves, and scarves in the entrance of your home so that they are easily available when you leave the house 

2. Kitchen Clear-Out

  • Work your way around your kitchen cupboards. Remove any expired foods or ingredients you no longer use. Dig out any appliances that you no longer use and donate 
  • Organise items that you commonly use together to that they are easily at hand (such as baking ingredients) and consider meal planning to use up short-date items and reduce waste over the longer-term

3. Seasonal Wardrobe Swaps

  • Pack away Summer clothes and bring out Autumn and Winter wear. Your wardrobe can be a great place to start because you can easily identify those items that you won’t wear over the coming months and put them to one side or pack them away to create more space. You may also move a bulky coat to your hallway for regular wear over the cooler months, which will make it easier to see what you have available in your wardrobe
  • Donate or recycle items – quickly filter off items that no longer feel great to wear, don’t fit well, are well worn or just not your taste any more. You don’t have to empty out your entire wardrobe or work through every item to make an impact – when you have little time, you can skim off items that are clearly no use to you and this will make a difference

4. Tidy Up the Living Room

  • Make space for indoor living – move around your lounge and review any magazines, books, and decorative items you find. Keep only what you use or love, donate the rest
  • Take the opportunity to review DVDs, CDs, computer games and any tech used in this room. Trade or donate anything that your family no longer enjoys

5. Bedroom Refresh

  • You’ve reviewed your wardrobe, now take a look at your bedlinen. Work out how many sets you need and donate or repurpose the excess and older bedding
  • Review surfaces and bedside-table drawers, decluttering things that you don’t need to have by your bed to create a calm sleeping environment

6. Bathroom Blast

  • Quickly go through your bathroom cabinet, clearing out any expired toiletries. Donate any unused products to a charity shop or food bank
  • Organise remaining items by person in containers for easy access. (Just so you know as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

7. Toy Tidy

  • Make tidying toys a family activity. Assign age-appropriate tasks to children to teach them the importance of organisation
  • Micro decluttering sessions are good to help children review their toys (allow them to make decisions about what they no longer play with). Set a timer and plan a little reward to keep everyone motivated and focused

    8. Paperwork Purge

    • Gather paperwork from around the home and review. Recycle/destroy envelopes, leaflets and paperwork you no longer need
    • Create a landing area to intercept paperwork as it enters the home; process, diarise, file or destroy it here to prevent it piling up around the house

    9. Finally, adopt a “One-In, One-Out” Rule

    • When a new item is brought into the home, prompt yourself to find an item that is no longer used or loved
    • Keep a bag in the car boot or hallway cupboard for items to donate – when it’s full pop it to your local charity shop to help maintain a clutter-free home

    It is possible for busy families to enjoy a clutter-free and cosy home this Autumn. 

    Decluttering doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By breaking down the tasks and involving family members, you can transform your living space into a warm and inviting retreat just in time for the colder months. The key is small, practical steps. 

    Which task will you try first?

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    You might also like to read Declutter your Towels with this Formular.

    Create a Relaxing Garden Space with These Quick Shed Organising Tips

    If your garden is a mess, it’s likely a disorganised shed is the culprit. Try these quick shed organising tips and make space for a relaxing garden.

    Imagine this; you walk out into your back garden to an inviting garden space. The calm, neat space is the perfect place to relax, work on your laptop or play with the family. 

    The problem is, this might be more like your experience: empty plant pots, last years growth wilting in containers, bikes, furniture and gardening equipment left out and piled up with good intention. You can’t fit anything else in the shed, and you’ll need them again sometime, so things are stacked up.

    If your garden is far from a neat and inviting sanctuary, now is the perfect time to tackle it! Whilst the weather is looking dry for a while (hello UK summer!) you can regain control of this wilderness!

    Your Shed is the key

    If your garden is a mess, it’s likely that your shed is far worse. A shed full of stuff you don’t use is no help whatsoever. 

    If you had the space to store the things you do need, and organise them so they are easily accessible, it would be super easy leave your garden a serene oasis of calm.

    The key to a calmer garden is your shed.

    So when can you carve out some time to work on it? Let’s get that in the diary and get started!

    My Top Tips for Regaining Control of your Garden Shed:

    Declutter

    Empty the contents of your shed onto your garden lawn or patio. I know it’s scary but it’s well worth the effort. You’ll see where you have duplicates, similar items and see the scale of your shed collection. 

    This is your opportunity to be ruthless and make space for the things you currently need to store. And if you could borrow or buy cheaply in future, don’t keep it ‘just in case’!

    Remove everything you can see that you know you no longer need and dispose of it. Would your neighbours or family use it? Could a charity shop sell it? Does it need to go to the household recycling centre to be recycled or disposed of?

    You don’t need to keep:

    • old paint
    • bits of wood or metal that you’ve held onto but never used
    • a vast range of screws and nails
    • attachments for tools, furniture and toys you no longer have
    • bike racks for cars long gone
    • children’s bikes and scooters long grown out of.

    All of these items and more can be given away to be used by someone else, recycled or safely disposed of.

    Check tools to ensure that it still all works and is needed. Working equipment can be given away. Local sharing groups such as Freecycle are good, and some charity shops take working electricals). Tools that have seen better days can be recycled at your local household recycling centre. 

    A handy tip for when you buy tools in future; the store where you make your new purchase will usually take your old equipment for the recycling.

    Organise

    We want your shed to be organised so that you and your family can access the things that you want, but more importantly they can be put them away easily.

    Use the wall space as much as possible. You don’t stay in this space for long so don’t need to worry about feeling overwhelmed by things on walls. Where practical, add shelves and hooks on the walls to enable you to hang tools, equipment, small items of furniture. 

    If you have space to hang or rack up your bikes, it’s worth investing in the appropriate racks. Hang an entire bike using a wall mounted rack or prop it using a Klug.

    Try to place or hang everything as if it is ‘on display’ in a hardware store. This will make it easy to see what you need whilst maximising storage.

    Place the things you use most often (such as bikes and lawn mower) nearer to the door, so that they can be accessed most easily. The things you use less often can be placed nearer to the back, or stored in harder to reach places.

    Use small bags in a larger box, jars or a container with small sections, to contain selections of screws, raw plugs, and other small items that you know you will use again in future. Label as needed to make it super easy to get to and find small items you need for DIY.

    Get Help

    You don’t have to do this work alone. You can rope in the children (make it a game), family or neighbours to support you with this task. 

    Read about Three Top Organising Principles here.

    And don’t forget I’m here for you. I’ve supported my clients to create calmer, more organised sheds, garages and outside spaces and can help you too. Find out more about my services here.

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    (Just so you know, I’m an Amazon Associate so I earn from qualifying purchases). 

    Boost Your Organising Motivation: 3 Must-Read Books

    How can you support yourself when you feel stuck, unmotivated or struggle to get started with your organising challenges?

    When I’m struggling with motivation to complete a project or feel overwhelmed by all the things on my to do list, I love to open my mind to creative ideas, listen to another perspective or learn something new.

    There are so many ways to access ideas. I love to listen to an audiobook (perfect when I’m driving or doing jobs around the house); watch a film; or read inspiring content online. 

    It can really galvanise you into action when you hear amazing, creative and inspiring stories, see what others have achieved, or learn a new idea that you can try out for yourself.

    Lately, I’ve explored some books that have inspired me and I think you’ll enjoy them too. 

    These resources can help you develop new habits, support better self-talk and help you to think differently about the things you spend your money on.

    Small Talk

    In this second book by Richard and Roxanne Pink, they talk about their own experiences of self-talk and that of their ADHD community. They highlight the negative beliefs and lies ADHD people tell themselves and offer ideas for how to overcome limiting beliefs, or support others to do so. 

    This book has really helped me better understand the impact of self-talk on well-being and behaviour and in particular for people with ADHD. It shares strategies that have helped Roxanne transform her self-talk and how we can better support loved-ones to do the same.

    People often say to me that they are ‘not an organised person’ or ‘just awful at organising’. I always find it’s not the case and they have strengths that they don’t recognise. I’m sure this book will help me better understand and support their experience.

    Atomic Habits

    I love this book by the award-winning author, James Clear. In it, he considers how to establish the habits that we want using his atoms model. He says it’s too difficult to make big changes. Instead we should concentrate on creating tiny habits that build and have a compound effect.

    This thinking is similar to my approach when I work with clients who want to become better organised. It can be difficult to sustain big changes. It may be better to make adjustments to the way the home is organised or tweak routines, so that it feels natural and easier to manage.

    James also recently created the Atoms app, available on IOS and Android. It enables you to set tiny goals and track progress as you create your habit. 

    The No Spend Year

    Intrigued by the title of this book – I dived into it on my kindle. 

    Once I started reading it I was instantly captivated by the challenge to not spend money on anything, other than absolute essentials, for an entire year. 

    I like to work out how to enjoy a camping trip whilst taking as little as possible with us, so know how a challenge like this has the potential to get creative juices going. Though I’m not sure I would go to the same extreme, it’s useful to reflect on how much we really don’t need in our daily lives to be happy.

    What have you been reading lately that you’ve loved or found inspiring? Do let me know on Instagram or Facebook – search or tag me @organisedwell.

    And if you want to see what Apps I use to help me be organised – read my blog Discover how the Apps I love could make you better organised

    Here’s How I Organise my Home for Maximum Laziness

    I’m always trying out new things to make my household feel better organised, it’s so satisfying. I know life feels better when we can quickly regain control of the house; find what we want, when we need it and feel prepared for our day. But it turns out, I’m also organising our home for maximum laziness!

    It’s OK to be lazy!

    “Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you’d actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient. And despite what the latest productivity best seller will tell you, this is a smart strategy, not a dumb one.” – James Clear, Atomic Habits Archives

    It’s nice to hear that my efforts are actually part of a smart strategy! It does make sense that we choose the path of least resistance. Afterall, if you are better organised, it takes less effort and time to maintain, manage and move items to clean and find things. Things you need appear or arrive when you need them, and you can put less effort into doing regular tasks. It’s more efficient.

    Over the years we’ve made improvements that have really made a difference to our lives. Some required new furniture or items, which we’ve bought when replacing things. But most are little tweaks or different ways of doing things.

    I get a lot of satisfaction from making improvements or coming up with ways to save time, energy or money. But, I also like to have more time to do fun things and to relax together!

    32 Things this Professional Organiser Does to Make Life Easier

    Below you’ll find some of the things I’ve put in place as part of my strategy!

    Meal prep

    1. I peel and prepare school vegetables in bulk at the beginning of the week. I store it in containers in the fridge ready to drop into school packed lunches each day
    2. Make up sandwiches, rolls, wraps and bagels in bulk for packed lunches. Freeze them and remove as many as needed each morning to make up lunch. They’ll defrost by lunch (this works great for most fillings apart from mayo)
    3. Store ingredients and equipment that you often use together (e.g. baking ingredients and equipment) near to each other. It’ll be super easy to tidy as you go or at the end of the task
    4. We use a white board velcro’d inside a kitchen cupboard and every Saturday create a meal plan and shopping list. We plan with ingredients from the cupboards and fridge, and may shop for a few additional fresh bits if needed. This way we don’t need to come up with a meal each night when we’re hungry!
    5. When cooking meals, cook more than you need and freeze the excess for an easy meal another day. Or turn the cooked ingredients into another dish to speed up meal prep later that week
    6. We jot a list on the white board or use our Smart Speaker to note foods as they run out. I then transfer them to my phone list when I go food shopping

    Laundry

    1. Hang clean washing on coat hangers to dry to reduce the need for ironing
    2. Schedule days for certain laundry tasks – strip beds Sunday night, change towels Monday morning
    3. We have dedicated days for wash loads so we don’t have to think about it. Towels Mondays, Light load Tuesdays, Uniform Fridays
    4. Wash days are scheduled to allow sufficient drying time between loads. Also to ensure that items are clean when needed (e.g. PE kit or clean towels). These consequences help keep us on track!
    5. We keep washing and dishwasher tablets in clear drawers so the household can easily see where to grab them from. I can also easily see when we are running low
    6. Only have 2 sets of towels for each family member (plus a set for guests) and 2-3 sets of bed linen for each bed. This ensures we have one set out and one in the laundry cycle
    7. Each family member has a location for their towels and their own colour face clothes, so they don’t get mixed up

    Life Admin

    1. Create a post management zone close to the letter box. We have a magazine rack for ‘Action Items’ and Filing. The recycling bin and shredder are stored close by so we can quickly tackle post when it arrives
    2. Only have rubbish and recycling bins in key rooms (e.g. kitchen, bathrooms, teens bedroom) so that we have less to empty
    3. We have recycling and contact lens bins in the bathroom so that it’s easy to separate recycling
    4. When I’m pushed for time, I use Royal Mail door step collection for returns. You can set-up safe place instructions for when you’re out too
    5. I use a password manager because I never remember passwords. I can also securely share them with my hubby as needed
    6. I use an online calendar that I can access on my phone and laptop to keep track of everything and share my diary with family members
    7. I schedule as much as possible in my diary as I think of it. I even add details, packing notes and travel instructions so that I don’t need to hold things in my head. (For more ideas on how to manage your paperwork read Banish Your Paper Clutter in 5 Easy Steps)

    Storage

    1. We store healthy snacks in an easy to reach drawer with small containers to make it easy to eat healthily. This was great when my daughter was young as she could help herself to a portion
    2. I store things close to where we use them – e.g. my hair dryer is stored in the bottom drawer close to where I sit to dry it
    3. We have clear square containers for pasta so that I don’t have to wrestle half-open bags
    4. We only keep the appliances that we use daily on the counter – toaster, coffee machine, milk frother. This makes it easy to clean and tidy
    5. I have simplified cupboards so that ingredients needed for common recipes are together. Tea and coffee are in a clear container in the cupboard above the kettle 
    6. Bedding sets are all folded into a pillow case to enable anyone of the family to easily find a full set to make a bed

    Automation

    1. Use a delivery service to receive milk and other products on repeat
    2. Have other foods you use regularly delivered e.g. a veg box, recurring coffee pod order
    3. Use subscription services for cleaning products, toilet paper and other products you use regularly (such as SMOL, Who Gives a Crap, etc). We also create a recurring order so that we always have products when we need them
    4. Set-up direct debits to pay regular bills and save admin time
    5. Use a bank that enables you to create pots to help you budget for household costs. You can then see what is left for other purchases
    6. Shop online for groceries and use the Favourites or previous order function to help you quickly shop for regulars. You’ll able to focus on what’s on your shopping list rather than being distracted by ‘bargain’ offers

    What could you do?

    How do you organise things to make it super easy for your household and maximise your laziness? What could you do to improve?

    Need some help with your lazy strategy?

    I began helping others to get better organised in 2018 because I wanted to share the benefits I’d discovered during my own organising journey. I love to help my clients declutter and organise their possessions, digital world and To Do lists so that they feel better organised and can create calmer homes and lives. Find out more about my services here.

    51 Tiny Tasks to Help you Feel More Organised

    Does your home feel untidy, disorganised and a struggle to keep under control? Do you feel frustrated by your lack of progress? Or tell yourself you should be able to keep on top of it all!

    I know if you feel disorganised or stressed out by your home, it can really affect how you feel about yourself. 

    Be kind, it’s not easy to get to everything.

    If you could dedicate a big chunk of time to organising and streamlining your home and habits that would be great, but not everyone has the time, energy or headspace. 

    But you can regain control of your home over time by focusing on the tiny tasks.

    Don’t Underestimate the Tiny Tasks

    “Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits”

    – James Clear, Atomic Habits.

    I love this quote because it sums up the importance of the little actions we take. In the moment it’s easy to overlook or underestimate the impact they can have, but they all add up. And this applies to organising your home too.

    Every tiny step you take to get organised and keep your home under control, or to anticipate and plan for your day, can have a huge cumulative impact on your life. The more you do, the more organised you’ll feel and the more you’ll want to do.

    And as each task is so small you’ll be able to take action regardless of the restrictions on your time, energy and resources.

    Over time, you’ll feel better organised, less overwhelmed and like you’re in control of your day.

    When is the Best Time of Day for you to Take Action?

    I feel more energised in the morning. So I know this is a good time to take quick action to make our home feel better organised. And it gives me a sense of achievement early in my day when I make the house feel calmer for when we return home later, or progress an organising project.

    If you are interested in understanding the best time of day to take action you may like to find out about your chronotype by doing this quiz.

    51 Tiny Tasks to Help you Feel More Organised

    Below is a list of tasks that will help you move forward.

    Make each action matter:

    • pick one task that you can fit into your day or fancy doing
    • remember to choose the optimum time of day that works for you and your energy levels 
    • try to do it mindfully – be present in the moment (feel the warm soapy water as you wash up), observe what you are doing and enjoy the process. 

    Repeat if you can – if you can, choose another task to move on to. But if you don’t have time or energy, that’s ok, you’ve achieved one thing already!

    Invest in these actions because the cumulative benefit will come. I promise it will make you feel great, give you a sense of achievement and help you feel that you are making the best use of the small amount of time you have available.

    What will you pick from the list?

    Kitchen

    1. Empty the dishwasher
    2. Wash up/load the dishwasher
    3. Tidy up and wipe around the sink
    4. Tidy jars, packets, containers into cupboards
    5. Clear and wipe counters
    6. Put a laundry load on
    7. Empty washing machine and hang up laundry
    8. Put away appliances you don’t use often
    9. Tidy a cupboard shelf, removing expired items
    10. Empty recycling and rubbish bins
    11. Put reusable shopping bags into the car/your handbag

    Bedroom

    1. Make the bed
    2. Hang or fold clothes that you have worn and can get more wear out of
    3. Tidy creams and make-up so that they are easy to find again
    4. Put away items that you aren’t using today
    5. Put away any clean laundry
    6. Tidy away items that live elsewhere

    Bathroom

    1. Fold/hang towels
    2. Display products used daily so they are easy to access
    3. Tidy away products you don’t use daily
    4. Restock toilet rolls
    5. Empty bins
    6. Quick clean round sinks and toilet

    Hallway

    1. Tidy shoes / put away lesser used
    2. Hang coats and bags
    3. Tidy away seasonal accessories
    4. Remove items that live in other rooms
    5. Create a home for school books & PE kit bags for easy access
    6. Hang keys and dog leads

    Lounge

    1. Tidy books onto bookshelves
    2. Gather magazines & recycle old copies
    3. Remove items that live in other rooms 
    4. Tidy remote controls and gaming tech back to their home
    5. Fold blankets
    6. Tidy up the sofa
    7. Stow childrens’ toys
    8. Tidy items from surfaces to their homes
    9. Vacuum round

    Planning

    1. Create a meal plan for the week
    2. Look through cupboards and make a shopping list
    3. Plan out what you need for the next day
    4. Book appointments
    5. Complete forms
    6. Check your emails and schedule any follow-up tasks
    7. Recycle/shred/file any documents hanging around
    8. Plan any journeys
    9. Write any cards, address, stamp and put on the front door
    10. Book an online food shop
    11. Set-up a subscription for toilet rolls, cleaning products or other regular items
    12. Set up a direct debit for a regular bill
    13. Fill a bag with donations from around the home that you can take to a charity shop as you pass by this week

    For questions to ask yourself when decluttering a room, get my free Declutter Guide download here.

    Read next – Sunday Evening Organising